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William Gouge
William Gouge (November 1, 1575 – December 12, 1653) was an English Puritan preacher, scholar, and author whose 45-year ministry at St. Ann Blackfriars in London made him a leading voice in 17th-century Reformed theology. Born in Bow, Middlesex, to Thomas Gouge and Elizabeth Calton, he grew up in a devout family tied to the merchant class—his father a liveryman of the Wax Chandlers. Educated at Felsted School, Eton College (1590–1595), and King’s College, Cambridge (B.A. 1598, M.A. 1602), Gouge excelled in classics and theology, mastering Hebrew and Greek. Ordained around 1607, he married Elizabeth Calton (possibly a cousin) in 1604, fathering 13 children, seven of whom survived infancy, despite losing her to childbirth complications in 1626. Gouge’s preaching career began in 1608 when he succeeded Stephen Egerton as rector of St. Ann Blackfriars, a Puritan stronghold near St. Paul’s Cathedral, where he served until his death. Known for his methodical, practical sermons—delivered twice on Sundays and once midweek—he drew diverse crowds with expositions of Scripture, notably a 15-year series on Hebrews published posthumously as A Learned and Very Useful Commentary on the Whole Epistle to the Hebrews (1655). His most famous work, Of Domestical Duties (1622), outlined Christian family roles, sparking debate for its strict views on wifely submission. A Westminster Assembly member from 1643, he helped draft the Westminster Confession, advocating Presbyterian governance over episcopacy.
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William Gouge preaches about the sin of covetousness, emphasizing the importance for every Christian to examine themselves to see how deeply it has taken root in their hearts. He highlights that covetousness is an inward desire that can be deceiving, often masked under seemingly harmless qualities like prudence or thriftiness. Gouge warns that if left unchecked, covetousness can consume and destroy like thorns choking the soil or like the accursed thing brought into the camp of the Israelites by Achan.
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Of Examination of a Man's Self About Covetousness
Covetousness being such a sin, as hath been declared, in the nature, practice, and heinousness of it, it nearly concerns every Christian to consider how far it hath seized on him, and how guilty he stands thereof. This duty lieth on every one in these especial respects: 1. Covetousness doth especially consist in the inward desire of a man, which is best known to himself. A man's desire is one of the things of a man which no man knoweth, 'save the spirit of man which is in him,' 1 Cor. ii. 11. 2. It is so hereditary a disease, as no man is altogether free from it. It will in some degree or other be found in the best, if they thoroughly sift themselves. Certainly he found himself addicted thereto who thus prayed to God, 'Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness,' Ps. cxix. 36; yet he was 'a man after God's own heart,' Acts xiii. 22. 3. It is so deceiving a sin, covering itself under the veil of prudence, providence, good husbandry, thriftiness, harmlessness, and sundry other presences, as if it be not thoroughly examined, it will hardly be discerned. 4. It is so eating, fretting, and consuming a sin, as if it be not searched out, but suffered to lurk and grow, it may prove like the thorns which soak out the heart of the earth, and make the seed fruitless, Mat. xiii. 22. The heart of many that frequent the word 'goeth after their covetousness,' Ezek. xxxiii. 31. This covetousness in the heart of a professor may prove like the wild gourds that were put into the pot of pottage, 2 Kings iv. 39, 40; and like that accursed thing that was by Achan brought into the camp of the Israelites, Josh. vii. 11. 5. Many, for want of thorough trying of themselves in this case, think better of themselves than there is cause. The Pharisees were covetous, yet they thought too highly of themselves, Luke xvi. 14,15, and xviii.
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William Gouge (November 1, 1575 – December 12, 1653) was an English Puritan preacher, scholar, and author whose 45-year ministry at St. Ann Blackfriars in London made him a leading voice in 17th-century Reformed theology. Born in Bow, Middlesex, to Thomas Gouge and Elizabeth Calton, he grew up in a devout family tied to the merchant class—his father a liveryman of the Wax Chandlers. Educated at Felsted School, Eton College (1590–1595), and King’s College, Cambridge (B.A. 1598, M.A. 1602), Gouge excelled in classics and theology, mastering Hebrew and Greek. Ordained around 1607, he married Elizabeth Calton (possibly a cousin) in 1604, fathering 13 children, seven of whom survived infancy, despite losing her to childbirth complications in 1626. Gouge’s preaching career began in 1608 when he succeeded Stephen Egerton as rector of St. Ann Blackfriars, a Puritan stronghold near St. Paul’s Cathedral, where he served until his death. Known for his methodical, practical sermons—delivered twice on Sundays and once midweek—he drew diverse crowds with expositions of Scripture, notably a 15-year series on Hebrews published posthumously as A Learned and Very Useful Commentary on the Whole Epistle to the Hebrews (1655). His most famous work, Of Domestical Duties (1622), outlined Christian family roles, sparking debate for its strict views on wifely submission. A Westminster Assembly member from 1643, he helped draft the Westminster Confession, advocating Presbyterian governance over episcopacy.