A Discourse on Sinful Imaginations or Inclinations and Their Cure (Puritan Paperbacks Series)

The Cure for Sinful Thoughts is one of the most extraordinarily profound expositions on a biblical analysis of human thoughts and their sinfulness, by one of the most scholarly Puritans, Stephen Charnock, author of the voluminous and excellent work Discourses Upon the Existence and Attributes of God. This Puritan, basing his exposition on Genesis 6:5, and in classic Puritan style, provides us with an explanation of the text, moving through the doctrines found there and then providing an application of it all.

In this short treatise, Charnock shows us the nature, guilt, sinfulness, and provocation of sinful thoughts, teaching us the great malignity that exists in those sinful imaginations and impulses, and the great care we must take to prevent such things in our hearts and minds.

Then, in the application part, our author provides us with various excellent instructions for managing our thoughts. Firstly, he gives us instructions for cultivating good thoughts, and here he urges us to study, meditate, and reflect on the Holy Scriptures constantly in such a way that our minds are filled with the holy things of God. Secondly, he goes on to give us instruction to avoid and prevent evil thoughts, and here he urges us to humiliation, to avoid worldly things and idleness, to be conscious of God's omniscience, etc. And thirdly and fourthly, he provides us with instructions for ordering evil thoughts and good thoughts.

We can only recommend this book to each and every believer, in which they will be both confronted and examined in the light of biblical teaching on this subject. And it is undoubtedly a great pleasure to have this scholarly author in our language. We hope that it will be of much edification for the Lord's church.