John Howe (1630-1705) was born on May 17 in Loughborough, Leicestershire. He ministered in England, Ireland, and the Netherlands, and became one of the most thoughtful and elevated voices among the later Puritans and Nonconformists.

Howe’s father was a minister who suffered for Nonconformity under Archbishop William Laud. The family moved to Ireland when John was a child and later returned to England. Howe studied at Christ’s College, Cambridge, and then at Oxford, where he earned his degrees and served for a time as a fellow and chaplain at Magdalen College. In 1655 he married Katherine Hughes, the daughter of a fellow minister.

Howe’s theology was shaped by Puritan piety and by the thoughtful moral and philosophical concerns of the Cambridge Platonists. He was neither narrow nor careless: his work joined spiritual earnestness, intellectual breadth, and a deep concern for the life of God in the soul.

During the Commonwealth, Howe served as chaplain to Oliver Cromwell, a position he accepted reluctantly. After the Restoration he was ejected from his ministry at Great Torrington under the Act of Uniformity in 1662. Like many Nonconformists, he preached privately, faced official pressure, and later spent time in exile in Utrecht.

Howe is best known for The Living Temple, a major work on God’s existence, his presence with humanity, and the ruin and restoration of the human soul. The book displays the qualities that marked Howe’s ministry: reverence, seriousness, philosophical patience, and pastoral depth.

Though respected by many, Howe did not seek prominence. His contemporaries remembered him for humility, moderation, and a reluctance to be drawn into needless controversy. He died on April 2, 1705 in London after a long period of declining health, remaining cheerful and composed amid pain.