The Life of God in the Soul of Man: A Modern Revision (Henry Scougal)

The Life of God in the Soul of Man

A Modern Revision by Jeffrey D. Johnson

“I never knew what true religion was till God sent me this excellent treatise.”

—George Whitefield

“There are books that never grow old, and this precious little volume, by Henry Scougal, is to be numbered among them. In it is an eternal freshness and beauty as its bloom actually brightens with the advancing of time. These words, for two centuries, have been bread of life to thousands. They have guided, comforted, and inspired; from that fact, they possess additional interest, for they have stood the severest test, and been found adequate to meet the deepest wants of human nature in its most trying needs.”

—The Preface of the 1867 edition

“Few books have been as useful as Scougal’s classic to awaken people from external religion to seek a living, loving, lasting relationship with God through Jesus Christ. By God’s grace, this is a reviving book, and may God use this modernized edition to revive many people in our needy day.”

—Joel R. Beeke, President, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary

“With this new and revised edition, my prayer is that The Life of God In the Soul of Man will become a book that is found in the hands of every person. More importantly, my prayer is that Christ will be found in the soul of everyone who reads this book.”

—Jeffrey D. Johnson, Author of The Pursuit of Glory and The Absurdity of Unbelief

About the Author

At the age of fourteen, Henry Scougal entered King’s College Aberdeen and graduated four years later with an arts degree. As a student he proved to have qualities of leadership as well as academic ability. He served as president of the student society and gained a reputation for deep spiritual seriousness. His book of meditations — Private Reflections and Occasional Maxims – was authored at the age of eighteen.

Scougal’s most celebrated publication was The Life of God in the Soul of Man. Originally a pastoral letter to a friend, its evident merits as a work of devotion led to its being copied until it reached the hands of Gilbert Burnett, Professor of Divinity at Glasgow from 1669-74. A future Bishop of Salisbury and a close ally of Archbishop Tillotson, whose writings provided Hume with the opening for his essay on miracles, Burnett arranged for Scougal’s book to be published in 1677. Although Scougal died eighteen months after publication, his book went through nine major editions between 1677 and 1830.