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Thomas Brooks
Thomas Brooks (1608 - 1680). English Puritan preacher and author born in Glastonbury, Somerset. Likely educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, he entered ministry during the English Civil War, possibly serving as a chaplain in the Parliamentary navy. By 1648, he preached in London, becoming rector of St. Margaret’s, New Fish Street, in 1652, where he ministered through the Great Plague and Great Fire of 1666. A nonconformist, he was ejected in 1662 under the Act of Uniformity but continued preaching privately. Brooks wrote over a dozen works, including Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices (1652) and The Mute Christian Under the Rod, blending practical theology with vivid illustrations. Known for his warm, accessible style, he influenced Puritan spirituality, emphasizing repentance and divine sovereignty. Married twice—first to Martha Burgess in 1640, with whom he had four sons, then to Patience Cartwright—he faced personal loss but remained steadfast. His sermons drew crowds, and his books, reprinted centuries later, shaped Reformed thought. Brooks’ legacy endures through digital archives and reprints for modern readers.
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Thomas Brooks emphasizes that holiness is the true beauty and glory of a Christian, surpassing all natural beauty found in the world. He argues that holiness makes a person amiable and desirable, drawing admiration from others and reflecting the beauty of God. Brooks compares the beauty of holiness to the loveliness of renowned figures, asserting that it is the most exquisite beauty that endures beyond this life. He urges believers to pursue holiness as it not only enhances their attractiveness to others but also makes them lovely in the eyes of God. Ultimately, he warns that unholy souls are deformed and unlovely, contrasting sharply with the splendor of holiness.
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The Beauty and Glory of a Christian
Holiness will render you most beautiful and amiable. As holiness is the beauty of God, and the beauty of angels —so it is the beauty and glory of a Christian also. Holiness casts such a beauty upon man, as makes him very amiable and desirable. The redness of the rose, the whiteness of the lily, and all the beauties of the natural universe—are but deformities, compared to that beauty which holiness puts upon us. If all natural beauty were contracted into one beauty—yet it would be but an obscure and an unlovely beauty, compared to that beauty which holiness puts upon us! Holiness is lovely, yes—loveliness itself. Purity is a Christian's splendor and glory. There is no beauty compared to that of sanctity; nothing beautifies and bespangles a man like holiness. Holiness is so attractive and so lovely a thing—that it draws all eyes and hearts to an admiration of it. Holiness is so great a beauty—that it puts a beauty upon all other excellencies in a man. That holiness is a very beautiful thing, and that it makes all those beautiful who have it—is a truth that no devil can deny! "Demetrius," says Plutarch, "was so lovely of face, that no painter was able to draw him." Just so, holiness puts so rare a beauty upon man—that no painter under heaven is able to draw him! Scipio Africanus was so lovely a person, that the Spaniards stood amazed at his loveliness. Holiness puts such a loveliness, and such an amiableness upon a person—that many admire it, and stand amazed at it. O sirs, as ever you would be amiable and desirable—be holy! As ever you would be attractive and lovely—be holy! As ever you would outshine the sun in splendor and glory—labor to be holy! Many have ventured their names, their estates, their liberties, their lives, yes, their very souls—to enjoy a lovely Bathsheba, an attractive Helena, a beautiful Diana, a lovely Cleopatra, etc., whose beauties have been but clay, well-colored. Oh, how much more, then, should you be provoked to labor and venture your all for holiness—which will imprint upon you that most excellent and most exquisite beauty—which will go to the grave and to glory with you; yes, which will render you not only amiable and excellent in the eyes of men—but also lovely in the eyes of God! Unholy souls are . . . foul souls, ugly souls, deformed souls, withered souls, wrinkled souls, altogether unlovely souls.
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Thomas Brooks (1608 - 1680). English Puritan preacher and author born in Glastonbury, Somerset. Likely educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, he entered ministry during the English Civil War, possibly serving as a chaplain in the Parliamentary navy. By 1648, he preached in London, becoming rector of St. Margaret’s, New Fish Street, in 1652, where he ministered through the Great Plague and Great Fire of 1666. A nonconformist, he was ejected in 1662 under the Act of Uniformity but continued preaching privately. Brooks wrote over a dozen works, including Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices (1652) and The Mute Christian Under the Rod, blending practical theology with vivid illustrations. Known for his warm, accessible style, he influenced Puritan spirituality, emphasizing repentance and divine sovereignty. Married twice—first to Martha Burgess in 1640, with whom he had four sons, then to Patience Cartwright—he faced personal loss but remained steadfast. His sermons drew crowds, and his books, reprinted centuries later, shaped Reformed thought. Brooks’ legacy endures through digital archives and reprints for modern readers.