William S. Barker has been professor of church history since 1987 and vice president for academic affairs at Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was editor of The Presbyterian Journal (1984-87) and previously president, Covenant Theological Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri. He is editor of Theonomy: A Reformed Critique (Zondervan, 1990) and a frequent contributor to various magazines and scholarly journals. He also authored Puritan Profiles: Leading Figures of the Westminster Assembly (Christian Focus Publications, 1996) from which this edited article has been excerpted with appropriate changes for journal style.