Of the Creatures and the Condition of Their State by Creation

Thomas Goodwin's treatise emerged from his deep engagement with Reformed theology during the tumultuous middle of the seventeenth century. Writing as one of the Westminster Assembly divines and a leading Independent minister, Goodwin sought to provide a comprehensive theological account of the created order and humanity's original condition before the fall. The work reflects the Puritan commitment to systematic theology that could address both scholarly questions and pastoral concerns about human nature and divine purposes.

Goodwin argues that understanding creation properly requires grasping both the inherent goodness of the created order and the specific dignity of human beings as image-bearers of God. He carefully distinguishes between the natural capacities humans possessed by creation and the supernatural endowments they received through divine grace, contending that even in their unfallen state, humans required divine assistance to achieve their ultimate end of communion with God. The treatise explores the relationship between reason and revelation, the nature of human freedom before sin, and the cosmic scope of God's creative purposes. Goodwin demonstrates that creation itself was oriented toward grace, making the incarnation not merely a response to sin but the fulfillment of God's original design for uniting the divine and creaturely realms.

This work has endured as a sophisticated example of Puritan theological method, combining rigorous scholastic reasoning with experimental knowledge of divine grace. Goodwin's insights into the relationship between nature and grace influenced later Reformed discussions of common grace and the cultural mandate. Who should read this: students of Reformed theology seeking to understand Puritan anthropology and creation theology, and those interested in how seventeenth-century divines integrated systematic and practical concerns. This is not light devotional reading but demands serious engagement with technical theological argumentation.