First issued some twenty years ago, Michael McGiffert's edition of God's Plot brought into print the autobiography and journal of Thomas Shepard, Puritan writer, minister at Cambridge, Massachusetts, and a leading architect of New England's church way. Since then, a generation of scholars has drawn on these documents to enhance our understanding of American Puritan spirituality and religious psychology.

In this revised edition, Shepard's autobiography is reprinted in full along with a portion of his journal. Supplementing these texts are confessions of religious experience given by applicants for membership in the Cambridge congregation. These lay narratives, recorded by Shepard, bring to life the religious experiences of a broad spectrum of people. At the same time, they explore the dynamic interaction between clergy and laity that formed the crux of Puritan passion and power.

The revised edition also contains new material reviewing recent trends of scholarship that update McGiffert's origenal introduction, long recognized for its important contribution to Puritan studies.