Geoffrey F. Nuttall, 1911-2007

Dr. Michael Haykin comments on the recent passing of one of the most important modern scholars of puritan history, Geoffrey F. Nuttall.

This past July, 24 July 2007 to be exact, one of the most influential church historians of the twentieth century died: Geoffrey Fillingham Nuttall (1911-2007). His way of doing church history I have always found exhilarating and profound, and a delight to read. He often focused papers on “small” figures of church history—but he was equally at home with the thought of major authors like Richard Baxter and Philip Doddridge. ...

I highly recommend Nuttall's The Holy Spirit in Puritan Faith and Experience (1946; revised with Peter Lake, 1992) to anyone desiring an understanding of the basic tenets of puritan religion. It helpfully describes the puritans' views on the role of Scripture and that of the Spirit, differentiating these from those of other early modern Protestants, like the Quakers.