Today we’re confronting one of the most misunderstood traditions in Christian history: the Puritans.

My guest is Dr. J. Stephen Yuille — theologian, historian, and pastor whose work focuses on Puritan spirituality and the life of the affections. Far from cold moralists, the Puritans were pastors of the heart — men who endured suffering, cultivated holiness, and treated souls with extraordinary care.

This episode explores why modern Christians often misunderstand the Puritans, what they can teach us about spiritual formation, and how their lives of endurance and pastoral wisdom still challenge believers today.

In this conversation we examine suffering, mentorship across generations, the Puritan vision of the heart, and the idea of the pastor as a “physician of the soul.” We also discuss why many young men instinctively sense something missing in modern Christianity — and how the Puritans offer a deeper inheritance.

If you’re seeking a faith that is serious, lived, and capable of carrying the weight of suffering, this conversation is for you.

In this episode

• Why the Puritans were not cold moralists but pastoral guides

• The Puritan focus on the affections and the life of the heart

• How suffering shaped Puritan spirituality and ministry

• The pastor as a physician of the soul

• Why modern Christians often misunderstand historical faith

• Mentorship across generations and learning from “dead men”

• What the Puritans can offer young men seeking formation

• How devotional reading can reshape spiritual life