John Boys (1571 - 1625) was made Dean of Canterbury by King James I in 1619. Please note that this John Boys should not be confused with the John Boys that served as one of the translators of the King James Bible. This John Boys enjoyed a great reputation as a preacher and scholar, especially as a noble defender of Protestantism against Roman Catholicism. All of his extant writings can be found in The Works of John Boys, published by Soli Deo Gloria.

Charles Spurgeon said of Boys' compendium of works in his day - "Racy, rich, and running over. We marvel that it has not been reprinted. English churchmen ought not to leave such a book in its present scarcity, for it is specially adapted for their use. Boys is all essence." As well, Spurgeon quotes Boys throughout his own three-volume Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

Although Boys was entrenched in the Church of England, his writings display a vibrant spirituality, as you may well see from the following quotations.

"Pray ye after this manner, Our Father which art in heaven - admonishing us of our divine adoption - our Father - and of our being strangers or wanderers on earth - who art in heaven - that we may feel our need of aid, because pilgrims, and at the same time have faith in seeking it, because we are sons of God." The Sentences

"As the serpent doth cast up all his poison, before he drinks, so we must disgorge our malice before we pray." The Lord's Prayer

"All our life is nothing else but a lent, to prepare ourselves against the Sabbath of our death, and Easter of our resurrection." The Lord's Prayer

"AMEN: Let it be so - the ipse dixit of faith; the word in which all the promises concentrate. Prayer knocks at the door but faith seizes the door by this handle and forces an entrance... This word is the seal of all our petitions, to make them authentic, importing both assent and assurance that our requests shall be granted, and therefore this AMEN is of more value than all the rest, by as much as our faith is more excellent than our desire, for it is a testification of our faith, whereas all the petitions are only testifications of our desire." The Lord's Prayer

"If we desire to be doorkeepers in God's house, let us entreat God first to be a doorkeeper in our house, that he would shut the wicket of our mouth against unsavory speeches, and open the door of our lips, that our mouth may show forth his praise." Psalm LI. 15

"The key of the mouth ought not to stand in the door of the lips, but to be kept in the cabinet of the mind." Psalm LI. 15

"Idle words are not little sins, for of them we must hereafter give great account... He that will not speak idly must think when he speaks; and he that will not speak falsely must speak what he thinks." Psalm LI. 15

"If Caesar sought his image in the money, may not God seek his image in man?" Venite Exultemus Domino

"Let us worship and fall down, and kneel before the Lord our Maker: not before a crucifix, not before a rotten image, not before a fair picture of a foul saint: these are not our makers, we made them, they made not us... we must not fall down and worship our lady, but our Lord; not any martyr, but our Maker." Venite Exultemus Domino

"Learn from examples in history lest thou be made an example. The judgments of God are like thunderclaps. Punishment to one, terror to all." Venite Exultemus Domino

"Let no man in his affliction despair: for (as Ambrose notes) if we change our manners, Almighty God will alter his mind. He will not only restore that which was taken away, but also give more than we can expect." Benedictus. Luke I.68

"He [God] is called Omnipotent in doing what he wishes, and not suffering what he does not wish." The Creed

"His [God's] almightiness doth prove that he is God, and the creation of the world that he is almighty." The Creed

"Only God made all things of nothing, and can at his good pleasure bring them again to nothing." The Creed

"Almighty God is known by his effects, ad extra, though not in his essence, ad intra." The Creed

"The Father is of none, the Son is of the Father alone, the Holy Ghost of both. I will send (saith Christ) from the Father, even the Spirit of truth. Adore simply, rather than explore subtilly, this ineffable mystery. To scrutinize, is temerity; to believe, is piety; to know, is life." The Creed

"Whatsoever the Son receiveth of the Father, he receiveth it by nature, not by grace, and he receiveth not as others, a part, but all that the Father hath, saving the personal property." The Creed