20 Things You Should Read

I am always thrilled when someone recommends the riches of our Christian past. A new book from Tyndale House, entitled 20 Things You Should Read (2006) and co-authored by four writers—David Edwards, Margaret Feinberg, Janella Griggs and Matthew Paul Turner, each of whom takes turns introducing the various works—is a good way to dip into some of the riches of our heritage. The authors/compilers rightly emphasize that these works of the past reveal how our Christian forebears struggled with many of the questions we wrestle with and how their beautifully-framed answers still convey hope and inspiration (p.vi-vii). The Christian writers chosen are quite eclectic, ranging from Augustine to Madame Guyon, Julian of Norwich to Karl Barth. Some readers, myself included, would question the wisdom of such a wide range of authors, but I was glad to see the two key Reformers Luther and Calvin included as well as Bunyan, Charles Wesley (interesting that John is not included), Whitefield and Spurgeon. All of the writings are taken from documents available on the net, but it is great to have them in one compass like this.

The omission of John Owen and Jonathan Edwards—both masters of spirituality—is curious. But any such collection is bound to omit favourite authors of other Christians.

I also felt that at times the introductory comments were not helpful in doing justice to the historical context of the various authors. To say, for example, that Augustine “partied like a rock star before his conversion” and that up until that event, which took place when he was thirty-one, he had led “a promiscuous, unruly lifestyle” (p.1) simply is not true. After a year or so of such living when he first went to university in Carthage, Augustine actually settled down to a fairly prosaic life, seeking truth in the cult of Manichaenism and the Platonic philosophy.

But the intended audience of the book is obviously young men and women who have not been interested in the riches of Christian authors of the past. And in recommending these riches to such, the book succeeds admirably.

The Irony of NT Wright’s Anti-Constantinianism

Have been reading “The ‘Fresh Perspective’ on Paul: A Theology of Anti-Americanism” by Denny Burk and deeply appreciate his take on NT Wright and the New Perspective. It strikes me as deeply ironic that Wright, who is so anti-Empire and critical of Constantinianism, is, by virtue of his position as an Anglican Bishop in the Church of England, deeply enmeshed in a Constantinian structure! If he were to think through the ramifications of his critique he should exit the Church of England pronto and become—say it not in Gath—a Dissenter or Nonconformist!

Profiles in Reformed Spirituality

Reformation Heritage Books (www.heritagebooks.org) is launching a new series by the end of the year entitled Profiles in Reformed Spirituality. Its editors will be Dr. Joel R. Beeke—President of Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary and Editorial Director of Reformation Heritage Books—and myself. I am thrilled to be able to work with Dr. Beeke on this series. The first book will be on Alexander Whyte and along with an introduction to his piety, it will include selections from his works. What follows is the general introduction to the series. Charles Dickens’ famous line in A Tale of Two Cities—“it was the best of times, it was the worst of times”—seems well suited to western Evangelicalism since the 1960s. On the one hand, these decades have seen much for which to praise God and to rejoice. In His goodness and grace, for instance, Reformed truth is no longer a house under siege. Growing numbers identify themselves theologically with what we hold to be biblical truth, namely, Reformed theology and piety. And yet, as an increasing number of Reformed authors have noted, there are many sectors of the surrounding western Evangelicalism that are characterized by great shallowness and a trivialization of the weighty things of God. So much of Evangelical worship seems barren. And when it comes to spirituality, there is little evidence of the riches of our heritage as Reformed Evangelicals.

As it was at the time of the Reformation, when the watchword was ad fontes—“back to the sources”—so it is now: the way forward is backward. We need to go back to the spiritual heritage of Reformed Evangelicalism to find the pathway forward. We cannot live in the past; to attempt to do so would be antiquarianism. But our Reformed forebears in the faith can teach us much about Christianity, its doctrines, its passions, and its fruit.

And they can serve as our role models. As R. C. Sproul has noted of such giants as Augustine and Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Jonathan Edwards: “These men all were conquered, overwhelmed, and spiritually intoxicated by their vision of the holiness of God. Their minds and imaginations were captured by the majesty of God the Father. Each of them possessed a profound affection for the sweetness and excellence of Christ. There was in each of them a singular and unswerving loyalty to Christ that spoke of a citizenship in heaven that was always more precious to them than the applause of men.” [“An Invaluable Heritage,” Tabletalk, 23, No.10 (October 1999), 5-6].

To be sure, we would not dream of placing these men and their writings alongside the Word of God. John Jewel (1522-1571), the Anglican apologist, once stated: “What say we of the fathers, Augustine, Ambrose, Jerome, Cyprian? …They were learned men, and learned fathers; the instruments of the mercy of God, and vessels full of grace. We despise them not, we read them, we reverence them, and give thanks unto God for them. Yet …we may not make them the foundation and warrant of our conscience: we may not put our trust in them. Our trust is in the name of the Lord.” [Cited in Barrington R. White, “Why Bother with History?” Baptist History and Heritage, 4, No.2 (July 1969), 85].

Seeking then both to honor the past and yet not idolize it, we are issuing these books in the series Profiles in Reformed Spirituality. The design is to introduce the spirituality and piety of the Reformed tradition by presenting descriptions of the lives of notable Christians with select passages from their works. This combination of biographical sketches and collected portions from primary sources gives a taste of the subjects’ contributions to our spiritual heritage and some direction as to how the reader can find further edification through their works. It is the hope of the publishers that this series will provide riches for those areas where we are poor and light of day where we are stumbling in the deepening twilight.

Other books in the series that are planned include ones on Jonathan Edwards, Horatius Bonar, Thomas Goodwin, John Owen and Hercules Collins.

Reading John Owen: A New Edition by Kelly Kapic & Justin Taylor

Like many other Evangelicals who encountered John Owen’s writings through the Banner of Truth reprint of the nineteenth-century standard edition, it was for me a literally life-changing experience. I have been intrigued by his life and erudition, as well as his friendship with Oliver Cromwell and John Bunyan (Bunyan drew upon his character for one of his heroes in The Holy War), and taught by his passionate interest in the work of the Holy Spirit that was fully biblical and balanced. Owen on sanctification

But what especially impacted me was his view of sanctification, which I first met in the treatises The Nature, Power, Deceit, and Prevalency of the Remainders of Indwelling Sin in Believers (1667), Of the Mortification of Sin in Believers (1656), which were sermons he delivered in the university of Oxford; and Of Temptation: The Nature and Power of It, first published in 1658, which also consists of sermon material preached during the 1650s.

Though our technological and historical circumstances are very different from those of Puritan era, the hearts of men and women have not changed. Indwelling sin, now as then, is an ever-present reality, as Owen details in The Nature, Power, Deceit, and Prevalency of the Remainders of Indwelling Sin in Believers. Basing his discussion on Romans 7:21, Owen shows how sin lies at the heart of even believers’ lives, and, if not resisted by prayer and meditation, will slowly but surely eat away zeal for and delight in the things of God.

Of Temptation: The Nature and Power of It, essentially an exposition of Matthew 26:41, further analyzes the way in which believers fall into sin. Owen enumerates four seasons in which believers must exercise special care that temptation not lead them away into sin: times of outward prosperity, times of spiritual coldness and formality, times when one has enjoyed rich fellowship with God, and times of self-confidence, as in Peter’s affirmation to Christ, “I will not deny thee.” The remedy that Owen emphasizes is prayer. Typical of Puritan pithiness is his remark in this regard: “If we do not abide in prayer, we shall abide in cursed temptations.”

The final work, Of the Mortification of Sin in Believers, is in some ways the richest of the three. Based on Romans 8:13, it details how to fight indwelling sin and ward off temptation. Owen emphasizes that in the fight against sin the Holy Spirit employs all of our human powers. In sanctifying us, Owen insists, the Spirit works “in us and with us, not against us or without us.” Owen would rightly regard those today who talk about “letting go and letting God” take care of the believer’s sins as unbiblical. Yet, he is very much aware that sanctification is also a gift. This duty, he rightly emphasizes, is only accomplished through the Holy Spirit. Not without reason does Owen lovingly describe the Spirit as “the great beautifier of souls.”

In a day when significant sectors of evangelicalism are characterized by spiritual superficiality and shallowness, and holiness is rarely a major topic of interest or discussion, these books are like a draught of water in a dry and thirsty land. They remind us of the great spiritual heritage that we possess as evangelicals. Even more significantly, they challenge us to recover the biblical priority of holiness.

Overcoming Sin and Temptation

Now, in the just-about-to be-released Overcoming Sin and Temptation (Crossway Books, 2006), Kelly M. Kapic and Justin Taylor have produced “an unabridged but updated edition” of these three classic works of Owen “that preserves all of Owen’s original content but seeks to make it a bit more accessible” (p.17). Reader, buy this book and read it meditatively. It will change your life!

John Piper on why to read John Owen

John Piper has a Foreword to the work in which he writes this about Owen—and his favourite theologian Jonathan Edwards (also one of my favourites!):

“The two dead pastor-theologians of the English-speaking world who have nourished and taught me most are Jonathan Edwards and John Owen. Some will say Edwards is unsurpassed. Some say Owen was the greater. We don’t need to decide. We have the privilege of knowing them both as our friends and teachers. What an amazing gift of God’s providence that these brothers were raised up and that hundreds of years after they have died we may sit at their feet. We cannot properly estimate the blessing of soaking our minds in the Bible-saturated thinking of the likes of John Owen. What he was able to see in the Bible and preserve for us in writing is simply magnificent. It is so sad—a travesty, I want to say—how many Christian leaders of our day do not strive to penetrate the wisdom of John Owen, but instead read books and magazines that are superficial in their grasp of the Bible.

“We act as though there was nothing extraordinary about John Owen’s vision of biblical truth—that he was not a rare gift to the church. But he was rare. There are very few people like this whom God raises up in the history of the church. Why does God do this? Why does he give an Owen or an Edwards to the church and then ordain that what they saw of God should be preserved in books? Is it not because he loves us? Is it not because he would share Owen’s vision with his church? Great trees that are covered with the richest life-giving fruit are not for museums. God preserves them and their fruit for the health of his church.

“I know that all Christians cannot read all such giants. Even one mountain is too high to climb for most of us. But we can pick one or two, and then ask God to teach us what he taught them. The really great writers are not valuable for their cleverness but for their straightforward and astonishing insight into what the Bible really says about great realities. This is what we need.” (p.12).

Here is the link to the book on the Crossway site: http://www.gnpcb.org/product/1581346492

One-Volume History of the Church: Addendum

There is a one-volume history of the Church by a single author that I have found scintillating and that is Jeremy Jackson, No Other Foundation: The Church across Twenty Centuries. (1980). He has well captured a biblical perspective on the metanarrative of the history of the church. On details, I would differ here and there. Jackson studied under Francis Schaeffer at L’Abri, Switzerland, and later became his assistant, editor and historical advisor. He has also taught European history at the College of William and Mary and at Syracuse University, and earned his Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania. He co-pastors Trinity Fellowship in Syracuse, New York.

A One-Volume History of the Church

Back in March of this year, Tim Challies asked me for a suggestion of a one-volume history of the Church. I am glad I am finally able to say a few words on this subject. I am leery of one-volume histories of the church, since they tend to be written by single authors, who, no matter how gifted they are as historians in certain areas, simply cannot know the entirety of church history well enough to provide a summary of it all. One sees this, for example, in K.S. Latourette’s history of Christianity. His specialty was the history of mission. In other areas, he is so-so. Even the great historian Jaroslav Pelikan, who has recently gone to be with Christ, has his weaker moments in his five-volume magnum opus on the history of doctrine. The first volume, on the patristic era, I consider utterly splendid and standard reading for anyone studying that era. But I found his treatment of post-Reformation Puritanism, Jonathan Edwards, and the New Divinity men sadly lacking.

With that said, then what would I recommend? Well, the text that I have used consistently over the past few years is Tim Dowley, ed., An Introduction to the History of Christianity (1990 Rev. ed.; repr. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1995). It has a number of advantages. It covers the entire history of the church. It has been written by experts in the numerous fields. So it capitalizes on the strengths of a number of great historians of the church. And then Dowley has good editing skills and has produced a seemingly seamless text. I also admit to loving the many pictures, maps, sidebars (the latter essential for the post-modern reader who cannot handle large blocks of text without break!), and mini-chronologies.

I may find time to make a comment or two on church history sets. But that will have to wait.

Some Sort of Game about Books Read

Not sure what this game is called, but I was asked by two individuals—first Darrin Brooker and then Jenson Lim—to participate in this. They “tagged” me, which sounds somewhat ominous at first hearing—almost like being pulled over when speeding or even worse getting the mark of the Beast placed on one! Since I have been talking about what I have not read (for links, see my answer to the last question below) I am quite game to play along—though the idea of “tagging” another militates ‘gainst some deep personality structures! I have always hated being coerced to do something that everything in me revolted ‘gainst, so I shall let that aspect of the game pass. Of course, some might say, I wasn’t really playing the game—but then…

1. One book that changed your life (other than the Bible):

Mortification of Sin by John Owen

2. One book that you’ve read more than once:

Augustine of Hippo, Confessions.

3. One book you’d want on a desert island: There are far too many to choose from—maybe if the question was “twenty-one books you’d want on a desert island”—after all, if I was able to carry one, I would be just as able to carry twenty-one—it is very unlikely that I would not be carrying a briefcase in which I would have these books—now if that was the question, here’s my answer (by the way, why twenty-one? Because it is the sum of three times seven!)

a. Augustine, Confessions b. Basil of Caesarea, De spiritu sancto c. The letter to Diognetus d. Patrick, Confessions e. Martin Luther, The Freedom of a Christian f. John Calvin, The Institutes of the Christian Religion g. John Owen, Mortification of sin h. John Bunyan, Grace abounding to the chief of sinners i. Blaise Pascal, Les Pensées j. John Newton, Cardiphonia k. Andrew Fullers, Works (the one-volume edition from the 19th century) l. The Olney Hymns m. The hymns of Charles Wesley n. The hymns of Ann Griffiths o. Adolphe Monod, Les adieux p. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings q. The poems of Edward Taylor r. C.S. Lewis, The weight of glory (the small book of essays) s. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life together t. Iain Murray’s life of D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (yes I know it is two books—but it is a two-volume work) u. Jonathan Edwards, Religious Affections

4. One book that made you laugh: G.K. Chesterton, The Man Who was Thursday

5. One book that made you cry [or feel really sad]: Lady de Lancey, A week at Waterloo in June 1815

6. One book that you wish had been written: The Complete Exegetical Handbook of the Calvinistic Baptists, 1638-1892

7. One book that you wish had never been written: Too many to name here!!!!

8. One book you’re currently reading: John Lukacs, Democracy and Populism

9. One book you’ve been meaning to read: See my WHAT I HAVE NOT READ & MORE STUFF NEVER READ.

Reading Flannery O’Connor

I have been reading Flannery O’Connor. In a fascinating essay entitled “The Catholic Novelist in the Protestant South” [Mystery and Manners, selected and eds. Sally and Robert Fitzgerald (London: Faber and Faber, 1972)], she makes this extremely revealing remark about how a Catholic writes fiction: “The Catholic novel…cannot see man as determined; it cannot see him as totally depraved. It will see him as incomplete in himself, as prone to evil, but as redeemable when his own efforts are assisted by grace” (p.196-197).

She goes on to talk about the centre of meaning of the Catholic novel being Christ—but the above quote is so quintessentially Roman Catholic.

More Stuff Never Read

Some might think that the previous list of unread stuff was no big deal since a number of the figures I said that I had not read are suspect theologically, so who wants to read them anyway. Ok, point taken. What about the mainstream of orthodox Christianity—what have I missed reading there? Well, I have hardly read anything by Beza, let alone most of the French & Dutch Calvinists. Have read little of Kuyper, and nothing of either Berkhof or Berkouwer or Bavinck! Would like to have read Grundtvig, but only know a little about him. Know next to nothing about J. Oncken.

Then there are all those Puritans I have never read: Dod, and Winthrop, and Increase Mather, and John Cotton, and only one thing by Roger Williams, and even that not all the way through. Nothing by Philip Henry and very little by Ussher. The list could go on and on!

It has been said that the older an historian gets the more he realizes he does not know. How true this is. And how true also the realization of how much has never been read or even touched upon.

Now, having made this confession (partial, I must indicate) of what has not been read, I see no way of rectifying it. I seriously doubt if any of the figures I have mentioned that I have not read will ever get read by me. So be it. Here is another key principle of all history-writing: The historian by perforce of his human limitations sees through a glass darkly.

What I Have Not Read

As somebody like myself, an obvious bibliophile, looks back on a lifetime of reading—around forty-seven years if I began with age-appropriate material when I was five or so!—it is interesting to note what I have not read. Here is a small sampling—with the stress on small. There are many others I could note! I have not read John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress—cannot warm up to the notion of allegory. I have read very little of the Russians like Dostoevsky or Tolstoy, though I do like Solzhenitsyn.

I have hardly touched Aquinas or the late Patristic author John of Damascus.

And as for the Germans of the 20th century like Tillich (ugh!) or Moltmann or Pannenberg, I have read very little. I have read Bonhoeffer—whom I deeply admire despite some evident doctrinal flaws in his thinking—I have read through some Barth and Brunner. Of Bultmann I have only touched his commentary on the Johannine Epistles.

I am amazed I have not really read Van Til, or Bahnsen or Rushdoony.

So many books, so little time was what C.S. Lewis once said, or something like that.

Making Notes in Books

A good blog by Scot McKnight on how to make notes in one’s books: On Marking Books.

What to Read in the Church Fathers

A correspondent, Peter Foxwell, asked about where to start in reading the Church Fathers. There are a number of good places to begin. For second-century apologetics, start with the Letter to Diognetus, a gem. Then, with regard to conversion, Augustine’s classic work of his conversion is fabulous, The Confessions. The earlier North African Father, Cyprian, also wrote a fascinating account of his conversion, The Letter to Donatus. Much smaller than the work by Augustine, but Cyprian’s work also has a keen emphasis on sovereign grace.

Much evangelism in the pre-Constantinian church was done in the courts of law, when Christians were on trial for their lives. For an account of martyrdom, see The Martyrs of Lyons, found in the Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius. On evangelism, there is another gem, the Confession of Patrick, a stirring defense of mission to Ireland in the world after the fall of the Western Roman Empire.

Then, in terms of doctrinal material, two musts are Athanasius, On the Incarnation of the Word, and Basil of Caesarea, On the Holy Spirit. The former may have been written in response to the Arian controversy in the fourth century. The latter was the definitive work of orthodoxy in the midst of the Pneumatomachian controversy, which came at the tail-end of the Arian controversy and in which there was a battle about the deity of the Holy Spirit. Hilary of Poitiers’ On the Trinity or the Augustine’ work by the same name are very good responses overall to the Arians

Finally, a favourite of John Wesley, Macarius-Symeon’s Homilies, is an excellent analysis of the Christian life.

Of course, you won’t agree with everything, but these will give a good exposure to the best of the early Church.

Enjoy and be edified!

Chalmers on Reading Biographies

Here is a great quote from Thomas Chalmers that George Grant has noted. Chalmers once asserted, “I am thankful to say that no reading so occupies and engages me as the biography of those who have made it most their business to prosecute the sanctification of their souls.” See Chalmers Conference for details of a conference on Chalmers that George is hosting. Looks great—wish I could go. One of my heroes, Horatius Bonar, believed Chalmers to have been one of the greatest Christians he had ever known. George also mentions that he is writing a biography of Chalmers. This is really good news. It does amaze me sometimes that highly significant figures in the history of the church should be lacking in good biographies. Others would be the Bonar brothers themselves. They are long overdue for a large biographical study that goes all the way back through their remarkable forebears, many of whom were ministers. The bigger the better!

And who has really done justice to Spurgeon as a Calvinist? For that matter, despite the fact that there are tens of biographies of William Carey, none of them really grapples with Carey the Calvinist, apart from that by Timothy George. And what about the Southern Baptists Boyce and Broadus? There are older ones available, but we need new studies that show the value of their lives for the present day. And speaking of Baptists, we surely need a good solid study of that remarkable Irish Baptist, Alexander Carson.

And why have so many of the Puritans been ignored? We have the great study of Sibbes by Dever and much written on Owen and Baxter. But where is a contemporary biography of Thomas Goodwin? Or John Flavel? Or even that latter-day Puritan Matthew Henry? Or what about William Perkins? And then one biography this non-Welsh-speaking lover of Wales would love to get his hands on is a big solidly-researched biography of William Williams Pantycelyn, that “sweet singer of Wales.”

There is enough here for several lifetimes of work. May God raise up historians for the task!

Daniel Webber’s Recent Book on Carey

Among the books that I read on my trip to the UK last week was Daniel Webber, William Carey and the Missionary Vision (Edinburgh/Carlisle, Pennsylvania: Banner of Truth Trust, 2005), xii+116 pages. I have about sixty biographies of Carey and this is among the better. What follows is an initial reflection on the book. In the first half of the nineteenth century, Francis Wayland, the American Baptist theologian and educator, noted that the “names of Carey, Marshman, and Ward, in India, and of Fuller, Ryland, and Sutcliff” are as “familiar to us as household words.” [A Memoir of the Life and Labors of the Rev. Adoniram Judson, D.D. (Boston: Phillips, Sampson, and Co., 1853), I, 121.] He was speaking for the Baptists of that day, on both sides of the Atlantic. But that was then, and the situation is quite different today.

Only Carey’s name is really well-known to the general Christian public today. This new study by Daniel Webber, the present Director of the European Missionary Fellowship (EMF), based at Welwyn, Herts., England, capitalizes on this fact, but seeks to present a side of Carey that is not that well-known, namely his time in England before he went to India in 1793 (p.ix). Webber especially wishes to lay before his readers “Carey’s passionate advocacy of world mission” and encourage them to reflect on how this passion of the eighteenth-century Baptist can inform the church’s ongoing responsibility (p.ix-x, 4).

The slim study contains just over fifty pages of textual introduction to Carey’s An Enquiry Into the Obligations of Christians, to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens, originally published in Leicester in 1792 (p.53-100) and Andrew Fuller’s The Instances, the Evil Nature, and the Dangerous Tendency of Delay, in the Concerns of Religion, a sermon that Fuller preached in 1791 (p.101-116). As a study it has its origins in a 1993 lecture and subsequent publication that has long since been out of print. Webber has “fully revised” this earlier publication.

It is great to have the entire text of Carey’s Enquiry reproduced in a newly typeset format, since Parts II and III, Carey’s mini-history of missions and his “Operation World”-like survey of the world known to him, are usually omitted. Webber rightly identifies Fuller’s sermon as being central in the chain of events that convinced his and Carey’s fellow Baptists of the rightness of Carey’s vision.

Webber’s stated goal in the book is to detail Carey’s passion for world mission as displayed in his Enquiry. He only enters into biographical matters to further this end. As far as this goal is concerned, Webber does an excellent job. Carey’s biblical reasons for engaging in cross-cultural missions are delineated, his response to objections set forth and his practical recommendations for engaging in such mission discussed (p.13-35).

And yet, I was a little disappointed. Having long pondered and read about the story of Carey, I feel that the area of Carey’s story that is not well-known at all is the time in India. Given Webber’s goal in the book, this part of the story occupies only a small portion of the book (p.37-42). Yet, this is the truly unknown Carey. There is so much about Carey’s time in India that is not well-known, especially from 1812 onwards. Also I wish Webber had taken some time in examining Carey’s Calvinism (which he mentions on p.4). His theology totally undergirded his missionary thought and it strikes this reader that the latter cannot really be understood apart from it.

These quibbles aside, Webber well depicts the passion that burned in Carey’s heart and often he is able to aptly sum up Carey’s thinking and that of his closest friends with an apposite quote. For example, when many in England were clamouring for a portrait of Carey—for which Andrew Fuller told his friend in India that “eight hundred guineas” had been offered—Fuller rightly commented that such adulation posed a grave spiritual danger. But, he added, “if we be kept humble and near to God, we have nothing to fear” (p.41). It is noteworthy that the first clause is in the passive. Fuller’s prayer to God for himself and Carey was: “Lord, keep us humble and near to Thee.” Though we must use the means of grace to stay in the place of humility and use those same means to cleave to our God, ultimately this is his great work. If we are kept humble and near to him—then truly we have nothing to fear. And Webber is surely right to comment that in this statement we get “some insight into the spirit that prevailed both with Carey and his friend, Andrew Fuller” (p.42).

I noted one historical error: Samuel Pearce died in 1799, not 1792 (p.20). For details on ordering this book, its ISBN is 0-85151-921-0 and see William Carey.

Benjamin Keach–Baptist Hymnwriter

Benjamin Keach (1640-1704) wrote a number of key works defending the use of hymns in worship. In arguing for this he also wrote some of his own hymns. Now, it was Charles H Spurgeon who said of Benjamin Keach’s hymnody that the less said about it the better! But Paul Martin has an example of a good hymn by Keach—and a Christmas one to boot! Many thanks for this Paul: A Good Baptist Christmas Carol! PS For a great book on Keach see the recent bio by Austin Walker, The Excellent Benjamin Keach (Joshua Press, 2004). A second edition is due out in the new year.

“Bucket-Worthy” Books

I really appreciated Tom Ascol’s post “Bucket-worthy books” where he relates which books from his library he stored in plastic containers in light of the impact of Hurricane Wilma. There is a poignancy to the post and a call for the rest of us to pray for our brothers and sisters in the direct path of this storm. As Tom shared, “It is an agonizing experience. Like most bibliophiles I have more books than container space. How do you decide which books are ‘bucket-worthy?’ ” I note that Andrew Fuller’s Works found space in a bucket. As Tom said, “not because they are irreplaceable (although some of my early editions of his works would be harder to replace) but because my blood, sweat and tears mark their pages. Ditto John Gill's Body of Divinity.”

Tom concluded with an important reflection on the place of books in the Christian life: “Under God I owe much to my books. Through them I have been challenged, corrected, strengthened, rebuked, humbled, instructed and encouraged in my Christian life. The thought of losing any of them to wind or rain or storm surge saddens me. If God in His mercy and wisdom spares me that loss, I will once again be very grateful. If in His mercy and wisdom He does not, perhaps I will at least have those who are riding out the storm in buckets to help me in its aftermath.”

PS It appears that the books—and most importantly—the Ascols came through the storm safely. There are some pictures of Tom choosing which books are “bucket-worthy” on his daughter Becca’s Blog. See http://www.xanga.com/bballnpianovideogal and scroll down to the sixth, seventh and eighth pictures.

Nehemiah Coxe

Reformed Baptist Academic Press (Palmdale, California) are about to publish Nehemiah Coxe’s A Discourse of the Covenants. Edited by Ron Miller, James M. Renihan and Francisco Orozco, this important work by Calvinistic Baptist Nehemiah Coxe (d.1689), a one-time associate of John Bunyan (1628-1688), has not been reprinted since it first appeared in the 17th century. This is strange, for some of our Calvinistic Baptist forebears—men like John Sutcliff (1752-1814) of Olney—appeared to have deeply appreciated it. Be this as it may, this fresh edition is extremely welcome. It clearly demonstrates that 17th century Calvinistic Baptists like Coxe—and his modern descendants in this century—are fully part of that stream of Reformed theology that has come down from the Reformation work of men like Huldreich Zwingli, John Calvin, Heinrich Bullinger, and Théodore de Bèze. More times than I can count—and personally I find it so frustrating—I have heard Reformed theology defined in such a way that it excludes those who hold to believer’s baptism. This valuable work will help set the record straight.

Reading John Gill

I have long been interested in John Gill (1697-1771). In standard histories of the English Calvinistic Baptists he usually gets blamed for the decline that came upon this community in the 18th century. It’s a judgment that has poisoned many against his very name and they want nothing to do with the man. I think the actual impact of Gill upon the Baptists of his day, though, is far more positive than the usual reading of his life allows and a much more complex story than these histories present. In this vein it was good to find this blog from Kevin T. Bauder, the President of Central Baptist Theological Seminary in Plymouth, Minnesota, about his reading of Gill: Biblical Languages Then and Now (@ Nos Sobrii ). Bauder begins thus:

“I’ve been spending a good bit of time lately in some of John Gill’s commentaries. His treatments are in certain ways typical of the Puritan writers (not that Gill was a Puritan—just that these similarities do exist). He was quite verbose, which does more than his profundity to account for the remarkable length of his volumes. He was skilled with logic and argued well. He was enormously learned by the standards of his day, and mastered the biblical languages to the level at which they were then known.”

He goes on to speak of the deficiencies of Gill’s knowledge by today’s standards. But I am thrilled that Gill is being read.

Reading the Spiritual Classics of Evangelicalism

Charles Dickens’ famous line in A Tale of Two Cities—“it was the best of times, it was the worst of times”—seems well suited to contemporary western Evangelicalism. On the one hand, the last few decades have seen much to praise God for and much to rejoice about. In his goodness and grace, for instance, he has restored Reformed truth once more to a position of influence. And yet, as an increasing number of Evangelical authors have noted, there are still many sectors of Evangelicalism that are characterized by great shallowness and a trivialization of the weighty things of God. So much of Evangelical worship seems barren. And when it comes to spirituality there is little evidence of the riches that should be there, only poverty. As it was at the time of the Reformation, when the watchword was ad fontes—“back to the sources”—so it is now: the way forward is backward. We need to go back to the spiritual classics of Evangelicalism to find the pathway forward. We cannot live in the past. To attempt to do so would be antiquarianism. But through their writings our Evangelical forebears in the faith can teach us much about Christianity, its doctrines, its passions, and its fruit.

And they can serve as role models for us. As R. C. Sproul has noted of such giants as Augustine and Martin Luther, John Calvin and Jonathan Edwards: “These men all were conquered, overwhelmed, and spiritually intoxicated by their vision of the holiness of God. Their minds and imaginations were captured by the majesty of God the Father. Each of them possessed a profound affection for the sweetness and excellence of Christ. There was in each of them a singular and unswerving loyalty to Christ that spoke of a citizenship in heaven that was always more precious to them than the applause of men” [“An Invaluable Heritage”, Tabletalk, 23, No.10 (October 1999), 5-6.].

To be sure, we would not dream of placing these men and their writings on a level with the Word of God. As John Jewel (1522-1571), the Anglican apologist, once stated: “What say we of the fathers, Augustine, Ambrose, Jerome, Cyprian ? …They were learned men, and learned fathers; the instruments of the mercy of God, and vessels full of grace. We despise them not, we read them, we reverence them, and give thanks unto God for them. Yet …we may not make them the foundation and warrant of our conscience: we may not put our trust in them. Our trust is in the name of the Lord” [Cited Barrington R. White, “Why Bother with History?”, Baptist History and Heritage, 4, No.2 (July 1969), 85.].

When it comes to spiritual reading, the Bible occupies a unique and indispensable place. It is the fountainhead and source of the Christian faith. Anyone wishing to make progress as a disciple of Christ must be committed to regular reflection and meditation on the Scriptures. Blessed is the believer whose delight is in the Word of God, on which he or she “meditates day and night” (Psalm 1:1-2).

And as we seek to read the Scriptures meditatively, so the reading of these spiritual classics of Evangelicalism should differ from other types of reading. Whereas one reads a newspaper, dictionary or textbook for factual information or immediate answers to queries, in spiritual reading one seeks to inflame the heart as well as inform the mind. Spiritual reading, as Eugene Peterson has noted, should therefore be “leisurely, repetitive, reflective reading.” It should not be hurried, for attention needs to be paid to what the Spirit of God is saying through the text. And texts rich in spiritual nourishment beg to be re-read again and again.

We are not the first to read the Scriptures nor the first to meditate extensively on them. Christians of previous days also found strength and nourishment by meditating on the Word. And they recorded their wisdom for those who came after them in what we are in the habit of calling spiritual classics. Such classics thus have a way of sending their readers back to the Bible with deeper insight into the nature of the Christian faith and a greater desire to seek after Christ’s glory and blessed presence.