This is Dr. Bickel's master's thesis and doctoral dissertation on "The Puritan View of the Pulpit" and "The Focus of the Gospel in Puritan Preaching." The Puritans were indeed physicians of the soul, and the entire scope of their ministry was an outgrowth of how they saw themselves as preachers of the Word. The second part of this book is a careful examination of the gospel the Puritans preached--a God-centered message as opposed to today's popular man-centered message.