Holiness and Happiness

Holiness and Happiness acquaints readers to the life and writings of Isaac Watts (1674-1748). Opening the book with an informative biographical introduction, Britt Stokes reveals how Watts was more than just an accomplished hymn writer–he was a dedicated pastor-scholar pursuing sincere Christian devotion among the people of God. Stokes then presents thirty-four selections from across Watts’s writings so that readers can benefit firsthand from Watts’s teaching on holiness and happiness as the nature of piety, how he grounds this in key Christian doctrines, and the means he says are at our disposal to cultivate further love for God.

Table of Contents:

The Life and Piety of Isaac Watts (1674-1748)

Section One: The Nature of Piety

1. Aversion of Sin

2. Above this World

3. Enjoyment of God

4. Zeal for God

5. Love for the Saints

6. Happiness is Nearness to God

7. First Degree of Happiness

8. Second Degree of Happiness

9. Third Degree of Happiness

10. Fourth Degree of Happiness

11. Fifth Degree of Happiness

Section Two: The Foundation of Piety

1. The Ruin of Man

2. Hymn: Adam’s First Sin

3. Forms of Sin

4. The Law

5. The Flesh

6. The Recovery of Man

7. Christ’s Mediation

19: Hymn: Access to the Throne of Grace

1. Christ’s Atonement

2. The Use of the Atonement

3. Death the Last Enemy

4. The Intermediate State

5. Perfection of Heaven

6. Reality of Heaven

7. Preparation for Heaven

Section Three: The Cultivation of Piety

1. Holy Wonder

2. The Invaluable Regulator

3. Meditation

4. Prayer

5. Worship

6. The Lord’s Supper

7. Virtue

8. Friendship

Reading Watts