Exploring Boston: A Child of Providence

The Beginnings of a Godward Life

Introduction

How are we to interpret life under the sun? How do we view our lives in a fallen world and still have true joy? Our theology, whether good or bad, informs how we view the circumstances of our lives, the difficult and the joyous. A life well-lived through difficulty will depend upon the truth believed in the heart.

Thomas Boston had a deep understanding of the doctrine of God. His understanding of God and his saving encounter with Christ caused him to bestow on his life the title, “Child of Providence.” Writing to his children in his Memoirs, he mentions, “Providence” over 20 times from the introduction to the end of the third chapter.

As he lists various hardships and disappointments, he sees all things as being from the hand of his heavenly Father, causing him to suffer well. His doctrine of God was foundational to coming to grips with the highs and lows of his life and ministry. 

Boston’s Beginnings

Thomas Boston was born in Dunse Scotland on March 17, 1676. Being one of seven children raised by honest, virtuous parents, Boston experienced much hardship at a young age. From losing his youngest sibling to keeping his non-conformist father company in a prison cell, Boston knew what it was to suffer and witness the sufferings of others.

Christians in Scotland faced much opposition in the 17th century. Boston was born during the time of Prelacy, a time when the Church of England was wedded to the state in such a way that the church vested its highest authority in the reigning monarch, like how the Roman Catholic church vests its highest authority in the Pope. Boston wrote later that he thought he would face the same sentence as his father who chose to reject the authority of a corrupt monarch, but he never did.

Boston was enrolled in school under the teaching of a “Schoolmistress” who lived with the family. She taught him and trained him in biblical teaching and often expressed that she believed he would become a preacher. By the time Boston was seven, he enjoyed reading the Bible. He would read it in bed, with his teacher, and when the other kids were out and about.

And at the age of twelve, under the ministry of Mr. Henry Erskine, the preached Word—lit on fire by the Holy Spirit—rushed into his mind and heart, causing him to see the beauty and ineffable worth of the Savior. The texts preached were John 1:29 and Matthew 3:7 of which Boston writes,

“By these, I judge, God spake to me; however, I know I was touched quickly after the first hearing, wherein I was like one amazed with some new and strange thing. My lost state by nature, and my absolute need of Christ, being thus discovered to me, I was set to pray in earnest… (13).

Boston’s Burdens

After his conversion and attending closely to the means of grace, Boston continued to experience various hardships that shook him to the core. Being in grammar school, he was made to see, in the school-yard, an open grave with an open coffin, revealing a decaying body, “the which made an impression on me, remaining to this day; whereby I perceive what a loathsome thing my body must at length become before it be reduced to dust; not to be beheld with the eye but with horror” (14).

After this encounter, right before entering college, Boston described his life in pretty melancholy terms:

“And here began more remarkably my bearing of the yoke of trial and affliction, the which laid on in my youth, has, in the wise disposal of holy providence, been from that time unto this day continued, as my ordinary lot; one scene of trial opening after another” (15).

Another “scene of trial” that opened to him was the reproach brought upon the Christ through the moral failure of an esteemed minister of his day. A giant of the faith, who seemed to walk straight with every step he took, fell face first into adultery, and when he did, the ground shook, causing waves that shook the soul of young Boston.

The next “scene of trial” to open soon after was the death of his mother who was not over fifty years of age and who’s sickness was short-lived. And while she lay in one room dead, his father lay in another room, severely ill.

Boston went to the foot of his garden, threw himself to the ground, and moaned and wailed at the thought of losing both parents in such a short time. But learning that his father had recovered from his illness brought him great comfort. After his father’s recovery, Boston himself was sick for eight days; chronic illness became a normal part of Boston’s life from this point forward.

Boston’s Beliefs

As Boston put pen to paper, reflecting upon such a turn of events, how did he view them? Did he believe God had a greater purpose in all of the pain he endured?

In my next post, we’ll look at what Thomas Boston believed about the providence of God and how that colored the difficulties he faced. We’ll dive into his other writings to uncover how he reached these conclusions biblically and why these conclusions produced joy that transcended every circumstance.