Abstract This paper examines how Puritan theologians interpreted the crown of thorns placed on Jesus Christ during his Passion, arguing that they developed a remarkably coherent theological reading organized around the logic of covenantal curse-bearing. Drawing on primary texts by John Flavel, Thomas Watson, Thomas Brooks, Charles Herle, Isaac Ambrose, Samuel Rutherford, Matthew Henry, John Gill, Matthew Poole, and John Trapp, the paper demonstrates that the Puritans understood the crown of thorns as simultaneously an emblem of substitutionary atonement (connecting Genesis 3:17–18 to Galatians 3:13), an expression of ironic kingship, a symbol of priestly consecration, and a locus for devotional meditation on Christ’s sufferings. The paper situates these interpretations within the broader Reformed confessional framework of the Westminster Standards and Calvin’s commentaries, and surveys the current state of modern scholarship on Puritan Christology and soteriology.
Johannis Trisfant (Tue,) studied this question.
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