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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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Sermon Summary
Thomas Brooks emphasizes the profound consequences of ignorance in his sermon 'Below the Ox and the Donkey,' using Isaiah 1:3 to illustrate that while animals recognize their owners, God's people often fail to understand their relationship with Him. He argues that ignorance is the root of all sin, leading to spiritual enslavement and a lack of awareness of one's need for salvation. Brooks warns that this ignorance not only breeds sin but also prevents individuals from recognizing the beauty of holiness, ultimately locking them in a state of spiritual blindness. He calls for a deeper understanding of sin and holiness to foster true repentance and spiritual awakening.
Below the Ox and the Donkey
"The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s feeding-trough, but Israel does not know; My people do not understand." Isaiah 1:3 Ignorance is the source of all sin, the very well-spring from which all wickedness does issue. Ignorance . . . enslaves a soul to Satan; lets in sin by troops; locks them up in the heart; shuts out the means of recovery; and so plasters up a man's eyes, that he cannot see the things which belong to his own eternal peace. The Scripture sets ignorant people below the ox and the donkey. Did men either see the deformity of sin, or the beauty and excellency of holiness—they would never delight in the one—nor cry down the other! Ignorance is a breeding sin, a mother sin; all sins are seminally in ignorance. Ignorance is the mother of all the mistakes, and of all the misrule in the world.
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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.