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Thomas Manton, an English Puritan clergyman from the late 1600s, is best known for his skilled expository preaching and was a favorite of John Charles Ryle and Charles Spurgeon.
托马斯·曼顿（Thomas Manton），是17世纪晚期的一位英国清教徒牧师，以他精湛的释经讲道而闻名，同时深受约翰·查尔斯·莱尔（John Charles Ryle）和查尔斯·司布真（Charles Spurgeon）的推崇。
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Spurgeon said his works contained “a mighty mountain of sound theology” and his sermons were “second to none” to his contemporaries.
司布真称他的著作包含“一座庞大的健全神学之山”，他的讲道在同时代人中“无与伦比”。
He went on to say, “Manton is not brilliant, but he is always clever; he is not oratorical, but he is powerful; he is not striking, but he is deep.”
他接着说：“曼顿并不炫目，但他总是聪明的；他并不雄辩，但他却有力量；他并不引人注目，但他却深刻。”
This exposition on the book of James is considered by many to be his finest work.
他对《雅各书》的释经被许多人认为是他的最佳作品。
J. C. Ryle says of Manton,
约翰·查尔斯·莱尔（J. C. Ryle）这样评价曼顿：
“I do not regard him as a writer of striking power and brilliancy, compared to some of his cotemporaries.
“与他的一些同时代人相比，我并不认为他是一个具有震撼力量和辉煌才华的作家。
He never carries you by storm, and excites enthusiasm by passages of profound thought expressed in majestic language, such as you will find frequently in Charnock, and occasionally in Howe.
他从未用雄伟的语言表达深邃思想的篇章震撼你或点燃你的热情，这种表达方式你会在查诺克（Charnock）的著作中经常发现，在豪（Howe）的著作中偶尔也能看到。
He never rouses your inmost feelings, thrills your conscience, or stirs your heart of hearts, like Baxter.
他不像巴克斯特（Baxter）那样唤醒你内心深处的感受，让你的良心战栗，或激起你内心对真理的澎湃情感。
Such rhetoric as this was not Manton’s gift, and the reader who expects to find it in his writings will be disappointed.
这样的修辞不是曼顿的恩赐，期望从他的著作中找到这些的人将会感到失望。
As a writer, I consider that Manton holds a somewhat peculiar place among the Puritan divines.
作为一名作家，我认为曼顿在清教徒神学家中占据着一种稍显独特的地位。
He has pre-eminently a style of his own, and a style very unlike that of most of his school.
他卓越地拥有自己独特的风格，这种风格非常不同于他所属学派的大多数人。
I will try to explain what I mean.
我将试图解释我的意思。”
Manton’s chief excellence as a writer, in my judgment, consists in the ease, perspicuousness, and clearness of his style.
在我看来，曼顿作为一位作家的主要优点在于他文风的简明易懂和清晰明了。
He sees his subject clearly, expresses himself clearly, and seldom fails in making you see clearly what he means.
他能够清晰地理解自己的主题，清晰地表达自己的意思，并且很少让读者无法明白他的意图。
He has a happy faculty of simplifying the point he handles.
他有一种令人欣慰的才能，可以使他所处理的问题变得简单明了。
He never worries you with acres of long, ponderous, involved sentences, like Goodwin or Owen.
他从不会像古德温（Goodwin）或欧文（Owen）那样，用冗长、晦涩、复杂的句式让人感到烦恼。
His books, if not striking, are generally easy and pleasant reading, and destitute of anything harsh, cramped, obscure, and requiring a second glance to be understood.
他的著作，即使称不上引人注目，但通常易读且令人愉悦，不含任何让人感到生硬、局促、晦涩、或需要反复阅读才能理解的内容。
For my own part, I find it easier to read fifty pages of Manton’s than ten of some of his brethren’s; and after reading, I feel that I carry more away.
就我个人而言，我觉得阅读曼顿的五十页比阅读他一些同僚的十页更轻松；不仅如此，读完之后我还能获得更多收获。
Manton was a Calvinist in his theology.
曼顿在神学上是一位加尔文主义者。
He held the very doctrine which is so admirably set forth in the seventeenth Article of the Church of England.
他坚持英格兰教会第十七条信条中精妙阐述的教义。
He held the same views which were held by nine-tenths of the English Reformers, and four-fifths of all the leading divines of the Church of England down to the accession of James I.
他所持的观点与十分之九的英国宗教改革者，以及五分之四的英格兰教会主要神学家（直至詹姆斯一世继位之前）一致。
He maintained and taught personal election, the perseverance of the saints, the absolute necessity of a regeneration evidenced by its fruits, as well as salvation by free grace, justification by faith alone, and the uselessness of ceremonial observances without true and vital religion.
他坚持并教授有关个人拣选、圣徒坚忍、凭果子显明的重生之绝对必要性，以及因自由恩典得拯救、唯独因信称义、以及没有真实且活泼的信仰时宗教仪式毫无用处的教义。
As an expositor of Scripture, I regard Manton with unmingled admiration.
作为一位圣经的释经者，我对曼顿怀有毫无掺杂的敬佩之情。
Here, at any rate, he is ‘facile princeps’ among the divines of the Puritan school.
在这一点上，无论如何，他都是清教徒学派神学家中的“公认首席”（facile princeps，拉丁语意为毫无争议的领袖）。