The Gospel Coalition

Watch above as John Piper lectures at Reformed Theological Seminary (April 10, 2013) on the life and ministry of Charles Spurgeon. (You can find audio and the manuscript of an earlier edition of this talk here.)

Spurgeon’s life and thought seems strangely neglected by historians and theologians today. So I am very thankful that this September Christian Focus will be publishing Tom Nettles’ new biography, The Life and Ministry of Charles Spurgeon. Here are some early reviews:

“Charles Spurgeon is a mountain—a massive figure on the evangelical landscape. Tom Nettles now helps us to understand Charles Haddon Spurgeon as a man, a theologian, and one of the most influential pastors in church history. Nettles takes us into the heart of Charles Spurgeon’s conviction and his pastoral theology. This is a book that will encourage, educate, and bless its readers.”

—R. Albert Mohler, President, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky

“While numerous biographies of Spurgeon have been published over the decades, Spurgeon’s thought normally receives short shrift from his biographers. This is why this new biography is so important. By focusing on Spurgeon’s memoirs and published articles, Tom Nettles has filled an important gap in scholarship related to Spurgeon with this exhaustive intellectual biography of the Prince of Preachers. Many pastors and other casual readers will be encouraged by Spurgeon’s commitment to a high view of Scripture and historic Baptist orthodoxy from a Reformed perspective. Scholars will be forced to reckon with Spurgeon the theologian as they pursue their own studies of the famed Victorian pastor.”

—Nathan A. Finn, Associate Professor of Historical Theology and Baptist Studies, The Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Wake Forest, North Carolina

“What Nettles makes plain is that for Spurgeon, all theology is pastoral theology. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It should be widely distributed by all who love the gospel of God’s grace that Spurgeon preached. Every pastor, ministerial student and those who work to train men for the ministry should carefully learn from the life and labors of Charles Haddon Spurgeon as Tom Nettles elucidates them. Nearly everyone who knows of Spurgeon admires him for his great accomplishments. Nettles helps us understand the theological underpinnings of those accomplishments. In doing so, the author, like his subject, has served the church well.”

—Tom Ascol, Pastor, Grace Baptist Church, Cape Coral, Florida

“Fresh and unique, this book will be enjoyable to laymen, profitable to pastors, and indispensable for scholars. Nettles’ volume now takes an honored place among the most valuable of all resources pertaining to the Prince of Preachers.”

—Don Whitney, Associate Professor of Biblical Spirituality, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky

“With the publication of Living by Revealed Truth, Tom Nettles has provided his readers with the premier interpretive account of Charles Haddon Spurgeon. Evidencing decades of serious engagement with this great Baptist leader of the nineteenth century, Nettles has given us an immense and monumental portrait of almost every aspect of the life of “the prince of preachers,” including not only his numerous writings and multi-faceted ministry, but also his leadership practices and personal challenges. Educational, edifying, and enjoyable to read, this massive work is a masterful contribution to Baptist history and Christian biography.”

—David S. Dockery, President, Union University, Jackson, Tennessee

“Charles Haddon Spurgeon was the greatest preacher of the nineteenth century in England and probably the whole world. The pungent and passionate sermons of the Baptist pastor brought home the gospel message to the hearts of his numerous hearers and more numerous readers. Tom Nettles has retold Spurgeon’s life as a warm admirer, but he is careful to rest his judgements on detailed evidence. In particular The Sword and the Trowel, the magazine Spurgeon edited as pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London, is used as a quarry for an abundance of fresh material. Consequently this biography casts new light on Spurgeon’s life, ministry and theology.”

—David Bebbington, Professor of History, University of Stirling, Stirling

“Despite his ongoing popularity, Charles Spurgeon has only recently begun to attract the serious attention he deserves. Tom Nettles’ work now makes a major contribution to this growing appreciation of the man and his ministry. Mining neglected but important sources, he has given sharper definition to our picture of Spurgeon, and produced a highly stimulating and readable account.”

—Michael Reeves, Head of Theology, UCCF

“It has long been my conviction that, despite the goodly number of Spurgeon biographies that have been written since the Baptist preacher’s death in 1892, there really is lacking a definitive study that not only takes account of his remarkable ministry and the inspiring details of his life, but also adequately deals with the theology of the man. Finally, in this work by my dear colleague Tom Nettles, a sort of magnum opus upon which he has labored for many years, is justice done to not only Spurgeon the man and preacher, but also to Spurgeon the theologian. Here is an ‘all-round’ study of Spurgeon that provides us with a fully reliable, substantial examination of an extremely important figure in the life of Victorian Evangelicalism and the world of that era.”

—Michael A. G. Haykin, Professor of Church History and Biblical Spirituality, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky

“One of those rare gems of Christian biography: it places in your hands the life a great man, written by an outstanding historical theologian. The combination brings Charles Spurgeon’s life and thought to life. Tom Nettles’s portrait of Spurgeon is eminently personal, historically vivid and theologically rich. I recommend it to anyone interested in seeing how theology and ministry, gospel and life, can unite in a single narrative of a life lived for the glory of God.”

—Robert Caldwell, Assistant Professor of Church History, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Forth Worth, Texas

“Nettles gives the reader insights into Spurgeon’s views on theology, the ministry, and church life that will pay rich dividends to any who will take the time to read this compelling story. If a minister reads only one biography of the great preacher, let it be this one!”

—Jeff Straub, Professor of Historical Theology, Central Baptist Theological Seminary, Plymouth, Minnesota

“Readers are inspired to holiness of life, faithfulness in Christ’s service, and perseverance in godliness by the moving account of this great Victorian evangelist who held and maintained through his preaching and pastoral ministry endeavors the great truths generally known as ‘the doctrines of grace.’”

—C. Berry Driver Jr., Dean of Libraries, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas

“Nettles presents the ministerial brilliance of the ‘Prince of Preachers,’ whose pastoral labors transcend generations down to this present hour. Revered by many as the greatest preacher since the apostle Paul, readers will be encouraged and edified by this engaging account of Spurgeon’s life and ministry.”

—Steven J. Lawson, Senior Pastor, Christ Fellowship Baptist Church, Mobile, Alabama

For those who are interested, here is an hour-long docu-drama on the life of C. H. Spurgeon: The People’s Preacher:

In addressing this question, I decided to give the ubiquitous “Christian plumber” a break. He always shows up in this discussion for some reason. So we’ll let the Christian bus driver sit behind the wheel today.

I wonder if the framing of this question in this way can at times reinforce ambiguity. My sense is that often a singular question is being asked but multiple questions are being answered. The result is more confusion than clarity.

Below is an attempt to unpack the issue a bit. I don’t pretend to have all the answers, so I welcome your own contribution and push-back in the comments section below.

Does the Bible teach how to be a bus driver?

No. For the most part, the Bible does not provide anything like a manual for the specific skills of a vocation. The Bible teaches on the nature of work, the purpose of work, and the manner of work, but it does not get into many specifics tasks with respect to many vocations.

Does the Bible teach how to be a Christian bus driver?

Of course. The Bible teaches that as Christians we should function within our God-ordained vocations (i.e., legitimate callings) (1) from biblical foundations, (2) with biblical motives, (3) according to biblical standards, and (4) aiming at biblical goals. These are the necessary and sufficient conditions for Christian virtue.

Faith working through love—before God and for our neighbor—is essential for virtuous action in our various vocations (1 Corinthians 13; Luke 10:27; Gal. 5:6, etc.). All things are to be done for God’s glory in accordance with his revealed will (1 Cor. 10:31). We are to work heartily unto God, not man, knowing that ultimately we are serving Christ before we serve our boss or our customer (Col. 3:23-24). We work in imitation of our creative, working God, and we work from a position of divine acceptance and not for a position of justification before him.

Is being a non-Christian bus driver inherently sinful?

It depends on what we mean here.

The vocation itself is a legitimate calling, sanctioned by God.

But one’s spiritual condition is not irrelevant in God’s evaluation of the proper way to fulfill a vocation. The Bible teaches that “without faith it is impossible to please [God]” (Heb. 11:6) and that “whatever does not proceed from faith is sin” (Rom. 14:23); therefore, any vocational pursuit devoid of genuine Christian faith is ultimately marked by sin and is finally displeasing to God. (The Westminster Confession of Faith 16.7 is helpful on this.) Their work is used by God but not fully pleasing to God.

Can a non-Christian be a good bus driver?

Yes, by common grace one can fulfill the earthly (i.e., non-eternal) standards of a vocation (e.g., safe driving, punctuality, cheerfulness, lack of external vice, etc). But the non-Christian will ultimately lack godly foundations, motives, goals, and standards—so even what looks “good” will not be Godward.

External virtue requires borrowing capital from the Christian worldview, and the two will often look similar from a superficial perspective. To make matters worse, sometimes this non-Christian borrowing can look more compelling than a Christian’s inconsistent or misguided efforts (e.g., beautiful art by a non-Christian vs. schlock art by a Christian).

Is a Christian necessarily a better bus drive than a non-Christian?

No. Christians are justified (uncondemned because of being clothed in the righteousness of Christ) but indwelling, entangling sin still remains. That means that before glorification Christians will never have pure goals, motives, or standards. A non-Christian may achieve a higher degree of competency in his or her vocation than a Christian—though this should not be the case. Sometimes this is a result of the non-Christian’s idolatry (achieving skills and competency at the expense of God and family and friendship and service); at other times a non-Christian will simply have more natural gifting from God for a particular vocation (e.g., a bus driver with better eyesight, superior reflexes, driving skills, experience, etc.)

Is there a distinctively Christian way to think about the particulars of each vocation?

Yes, I believe that there is. My sense is that the more intellectual and aesthetically oriented the vocation, the more work has already been done on a distinctively Christian approach. This is, in my part, because the contrast will be more wide-ranging and apparent and because the Bible seems to have more to say directly about these areas. I’m thinking, for example, of areas like philosophy, education, and politics. (For some examples, see Alvin Plantinga’s “Advice to Christian Philosophers,” or the books in the Reclaiming the Christian Intellectual Tradition series.) The same would be true for aesthetics, as in music, fine arts, and design. It can be more difficult to see in areas oriented toward manual labor. But there is still much work that can be done in these areas. One of the problems is that intellectuals and philosophers are more inclined to know and study areas they are more interested in, and therefore other vocations become neglected in terms of analysis.

Those interested in exploring this further may want to check out Vern Poythress’s ongoing labors at reforming academic disciplines from a relentless pursuit of Trinitarian implications. Thus far he has worked through the subject matters of science, language, sociology, and logic (with works on philosophy, mathematics, chance and probability, and hermeneutics forthcoming).

Also of interest should be James Bratt’s new biography of Abraham Kuyper, being hailed as the definitive work on his transformative thought. As Mark Noll notes, “Attentive readers of this landmark biography . . . should . . . be in a much better position to reflect on vital questions of Christianity and education, church and state, Christian universalism and Christian particularism, and many more that remain of first-order importance still today, nearly a century after Kuyper passed away.”

(For the record, I don’t think one needs to be “Neo-Kuyperian” to benefit from and appropriate many of Kuyper’s insights, or do learn from his shortcomings. As Mike Horton notes, there is nothing in a “two-kingdom” approach to Christ and culture that should prevent one from affirming a distinctively Christian way of fulfilling vocations.)

So there you have it. One big general question, and my attempt to unpack what may lie behind it. But oh how much more could be said!

Andrew Ferguson is a master of the long-form essay. He knows how to tell a story, and he is especially gifted at observational humor. But he also becomes so conversant with his subject matter that he seems to be able to communicate, even teach, the material with fluidity and ease. For a case in point, I’d highly recommend his new cover story for The Weekly Standard on atheist philosopher Thomas Nagel and the arguments of, and reaction to, his book, Mind and Cosmos: Why the Materialist Neo-Darwinian Conception of Nature Is Almost Certainly False (Oxford University Press, 2012).

Here is an excerpt:

You can sympathize with Leiter and Weisberg for fudging on materialism. As a philosophy of everything it is an undeniable drag. As a way of life it would be even worse. Fortunately, materialism is never translated into life as it’s lived. As colleagues and friends, husbands and mothers, wives and fathers, sons and daughters, materialists never put their money where their mouth is. Nobody thinks his daughter is just molecules in motion and nothing but; nobody thinks the Holocaust was evil, but only in a relative, provisional sense. A materialist who lived his life according to his professed convictions—understanding himself to have no moral agency at all, seeing his friends and enemies and family as genetically determined robots—wouldn’t just be a materialist: He’d be a psychopath. Say what you will about Leiter and Weisberg and the workshoppers in the Berkshires. From what I can tell, none of them is a psychopath. Not even close.

Applied beyond its own usefulness as a scientific methodology, materialism is, as Nagel suggests, self-evidently absurd. Mind and Cosmos can be read as an extended paraphrase of Orwell’s famous insult: “One has to belong to the intelligentsia to believe things like that: no ordinary man could be such a fool.” Materialism can only be taken seriously as a philosophy through a heroic feat of cognitive dissonance; pretending, in our abstract, intellectual life, that values like truth and goodness have no objective content even as, in our private life, we try to learn what’s really true and behave in a way we know to be good. Nagel has sealed his ostracism from the intelligentsia by idly speculating why his fellow intellectuals would undertake such a feat.

You can read the whole thing here.

See also reviews of Nagel’s book by Alvin Plantinga and by Thomas Woodward.

HT: @John_Starke

The Theologians on the Christian Life series, which I co-edit with Stephen Nichols, is well under way.

Fred Zaspel’s Warfield on the Christian Life: Living in Light of the Gospel was the first to appear last year; Fred Sanders’s Wesley on the Christian Life: The Heart Renewed in Love will be out in August 2013.

This month sees the release of William Edgar’s Schaeffer on the Christian Life: Countercultural Spirituality.

A friend mentioned to me once that we hear a lot about Schaeffer’s apologetics and cultural engagement and some of his biography—but it’s hard to understand what it was like to actually know the man and his teachings on the Christian life, especially with respect to the life-changing experience of being at L’Abri, the communal study center in Switzerland.

Edgar’s book, in my opinion, is now the best entry point I know for remedying this. I strongly encourage you to read the first chapter here, where Edgar explains how the Lord converted him within 24 hours of meeting Schaeffer at L’Abri.

Here is some feedback about the book:

“Friendly, passionate, intellectual, and constantly engaged with people as well as ideas and contemporary affairs, Francis Schaeffer comes alive in Edgar’s objective but affectionate portrait. Rescued from the distortions of both lionisers and demonizers, here is ‘FAS’ as so many of us knew him in the great years of L’Abri—and with so much to contribute to our world today.”
—Os Guinness, cofounder, The Trinity Forum; author, The Dust of Death and The Last Christian on Earth

“An engaging, fascinating account, seasoned with unusual insight into one of the truly original apologists of our time.”
—David F. Wells, Distinguished Senior Research Professor, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

“For many years I hoped that I could spend some time at L’Abri, but that was not God’s plan for me. Instead, God enabled me to become friends with many L’Abri alumni, of whom Bill Edgar was one. I have been impressed with the intellectual caliber of those men and women, but even more with their godly character. L’Abri evidently had a way of leading people from intellectual atheism, to conversion, to spiritual maturity. Bill’s book focuses, more than other L’Abri books, on theis process of what we now call spiritual formation. The whole church can learn much from it. I commend this excellent book to all hwo seek to draw nearer to God.”
—John M. Frame, J. D. Trimble Chair of Systematic Theology and Philosophy, Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando, Florida

“Francis Schaeffer was small of stature but a giant in his tenacious concern for truth, for God, for people, and for reality. He became convinced that Christian faith was the radical path for our own day, the realistic answer to the hard questions of a modern, troubled world. William Edgar’s compulsively readable study of Francis Schaeffer’s thought is set in the context of his rough-edged life and his brilliantly-inspired work in the L’Abri community he established with his remarkable wife, Edith. L’Abri, perched high on the slopes of a remote alpine valley, drew a motley procession of mainly young travellers from the ends of the earth. Schaeffer’s own, sometimes anguished, quest to communicate the ancient biblical text in a century of unprecedented historical changes attracted and opened doors for a generation of Christians. It also convinced many outside the faith with honest questions (like Bill Edgar himself) to follow the way of Christ. This engaging book captures the fire of Francis Schaeffer’s thought and concerns, and revisits and reinvigorates the still urgent challenge he presented to the church in the modern world.”
—Colin Duriez, author, Francis Schaeffer: An Authentic Life

And here is the table of contents:

1 A Personal Introduction to Francis Schaeffer

Part 1: The Man and His Times

2 The Journey to L’Abri

3 L’Abri and Beyond

Part 2: True Spirituality

4 Fundamentals

5 Freedom in the Christian Life

6 Applications

Part 3: Trusting God for All of Life

7 Prayer and Guidance

8 Affliction

9 Life in the Church

10 Engaging the World

Afterword Concluding Reflections on Francis Schaeffer

Appendix: Titles in The Complete Works of Francis Schaeffer

32 years ago today D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones—perhaps the greatest preacher of the 20th century—was laid to rest.

It’s a fitting occasion to mention he arrival of The Life of Martyn Lloyd-Jones—1899-1981, a new and revised one-volume edition of Iain Murray’s classic two-volume biography.

The publisher’s description explains:

This book is a re-cast, condensed and, in parts, re-written version of the author’s two volumes D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones: The First Forty Years (1982) and The Fight of Faith (1990). Since those dates, the life of Dr Lloyd-Jones has been the subject of comment and assessment in many publications and these have been taken into account. The main purpose of this further biography, however, is to put Dr Lloyd-Jones’ life before another generation in more accessible form.

The big story is all here. When Lloyd-Jones left medicine, he intended only to be an evangelist in a mission hall in South Wales. No one was more surprised than he in being called to a ministry which would eventually affect churches across the world. How this happened is here explained, but the theme is the person described by F. F. Bruce: “a thoroughly humble man. He was a man of prayer, a powerful evangelist, an expository preacher of rare quality, in the fullest sense a servant of the Word of God.”

Behind that theme a greater one emerges. In ML- J’s own words: “My whole life experiences are proof of the sovereignty of God and his direct interference in the lives of men. I cannot help believing what I believe. I would be a madman to believe anything else—the guiding hand of God! It is an astonishment to me. “

Carl Trueman:

I mentioned last time that Luther’s life is central to reading his theology. His thinking, while remarkably consistent, does develop over time. He nuances his positions on various issues as he faces challenges which his own Reformation theology generated. Thus, knowing what issues he is facing and when is important when reading him.

The benchmark biography of Luther in English is the three volumes by the German historian, Martin Brecht. These look rather forbidding: nearly 1400 pages of text, excluding notes. Nevertheless, the translation is very readable and the narrative moves at a good pace, such that the reader’s interest is maintained and the basic storyline remains very clear.

For those with less time to spare, there is the classic biography by Roland Bainton, Here I Stand. It was my first introduction to the Reformation and remains a favourite. Bainton was a radical thinker himself, not doctrinally sympathetic to Luther but rather emotionally so: he knew what it was like to be a beleaguered outside, a man at war with his times. Thus, he writes on Luther with considerable passion.

A more recent short biography is that by the distinguished Lutheran historian, Martin Marty, in the Penguin Brief Lives series. This is fun too: well-written and peppered with little anecdotes of Luther’s personal life.

To these I would also add Robert Kolb’s Martin Luther: Confessor of the Faith, a relatively short but learned and extremely informative introduction to Luther’s life and major theological contributions.

Readers should also consult Heiko Oberman’s Luther: Man between God and Devil for an example of a brilliant, if at times speculative, account of Luther’s life by the most significant Reformation scholar of the last fifty years.

You can read the whole thing here, which also includes recommended reading from Luther himself and by others on his theology.

Today would have been the 100th birthday of Rosa Parks, Civil Rights heroine. The definitive biography has recently been published: The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks, by Jeanne Theoharis, a Brooklyn College political science professor. Charles Blow, writing in the New York Times, provides a summary: “It argues that the romanticized, children’s-book story of a meek seamstress with aching feet who just happened into history in a moment of uncalculated resistance is pure mythology.”

Below is an earlier write-up I posted trying to summarize that fateful day in 1955 when she refused to move her seat on the bus, and what happened in the days after her actions.

On a cool Thursday morning, December 1, 1955, a 42-year-old seamstress named Rosa Parks boarded a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama, on her way to work at the Montgomery Fair Department Store, about five miles from her apartment complex—just as she did every weekday morning.

At the end of the workday—around 6 PM—she boarded the bus for her return trip home.

Contrary to some perceptions, she was not sitting in the “White’s Only Section,” but was rather in the middle neutral section with its floating cut-off line (indicated by a movable sign), depending on the number of white passengers.

Three stops later, her actions would set in motion what has been called “the greatest nonviolent revolution in American history (one of the greatest in all history).”

Pulitzer-Prize winning historian Taylor Branch picks up the story in the first volume of his magisterial series on America in the King Years. Describing Rosa Parks as “a tireless worker and churchgoer, of working class station and middle-class demeanor,” he writes:

All thirty-six seats of the bush she boarded were soon filled, with twenty-two Negroes seated from the rear and fourteen whites from the front.

Wikipedia: "The No. 2857 bus which Rosa Parks was riding on before she was arrested (a GM transit bus, serial number 1132). She was sitting in the 2nd row from the front, all the way to the right window (looking from the back)."

Driver J. P. Blake, seeing a white man standing in the front of the bus, called out for the four passengers on the row just behind the whites to stand up and move to the back.

Nothing happened.

Blake finally had to get out of the driver’s seat to speak more firmly to the four Negroes.

“You better make it light on yourselves and let me have those seats,” he said.

At this, three of the Negroes moved to stand in the back of the bus, but Parks responded that she was not in the white section and didn’t think she ought to move. She was in no-man’s-land.

Blake said that the white section was where he said it was, and he was telling Parks that she was in it. As he saw the law, the whole idea of no-man’s-land was to give the driver some discretion to keep the races out of each other’s way. He was doing just that.

When Parks refused again, he advised her that the same city law that allowed him to regulate no-man’s-land also gave him emergency police power to enforce the segregation codes. He would arrest Parks himself if he had to.

Parks replied that he should do what he had to do; she was not moving.

She spoke so softly that Blake would not have been able to hear her above the drone of normal bus noise. But the bus was silent.

Blake notified Parks that she was officially under arrest. She would not move until he returned with the regular Montgomery police.

Here is audio of Mrs. Parks a few months later (April 1956) recounting the story:

Mrs. Parks was not the first to refuse to move, nor the first to be arrested. But leaders like E. D. Nixon needed a “test case” to challenge the system, and Mrs. Parks—with an impeccable reputation and a quiet demeanor—was the ideal candidate. He bailed her out of jail that night.

That evening the idea for a one-day bus boycott was hatched, and with Rosa Parks’s permission Jo Ann Robinson—an Alabama State College professor and head of the Woman’s Political Council—secretly used her school’s mimeograph machine to produce 35,000 handbills calling for a boycott of the Montgomery bus system:

This is for Monday, December 5, 1955

Another woman has been arrested and thrown in jail because she refused to get up out of her seat on the bus for a white person to sit down.

It is the second time since the Claudette Colvin case that a Negro woman has been arrested for the same thing. This has to be stopped.

Negroes have rights too, for if Negroes did not ride the buses, they could not operate. Three-fourths of the riders are Negro, yet we are arrested, or have to stand over empty seats. If we do not do something to stop these arrests, they will continue. The next time it may be you, or your daughter, or mother.

This woman’s case will come up on Monday. We are, therefore, asking every Negro to stay off the buses Monday in protest of the arrest and trial. Don’t ride the buses to work, to town, to school, or anywhere on Monday. You can afford to stay out of school for one day if you have no other way to go except by bus. You can also afford to stay out of town for one day. If you work, take a cab, or walk. But please, children and grown-ups, don’t ride the bus at all on Monday. Please stay off all buses Monday.

The idea of contacting—much less convincing—40,000 people about anything seemed an almost impossible task, especially in pre-social media days. But word quickly spread as the handbills were distributed to students leaving school on Friday, and the local black churches were mobilized as word continued to spread on Sunday.

On Monday morning, December 5, after a brief trial, Mrs. Parks was found guilty and fined $14. Her lawyer appealed to the state court.

The entire city watched in amazement as empty buses like this one rolled along their routes:

That afternoon, at 3 PM, a group of leaders met at Mt. Zion AME Zion Church to discuss extending the boycott beyond that day and to plan a mass gathering that evening at Holt Street Baptist Church, in the working-class district of Montgomery. During that meeting they formed the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), electing as president the young pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church—Martin Luther King Jr. Just 26 years old, he was 15 months into his first pastorate.

King only had 20 minutes or so to prepare his speech. Well before the proceedings began the spacious church overflowed with several thousand people—in the sanctuary, in the balconies, in the basement, and lining the streets outside to listen via loudspeakers.

Thundering applause and sustained cheering erupted when King said the following:

And you know, my friends, there comes a time when people get tired of being trampled over by the iron feet of oppression.

There comes a time, my friends, when people get tired of being plunged across the abyss of humiliation, where they experience the bleakness of nagging despair.

There comes a time when people get tired of being pushed out of the glittering sunlight of life’s July and left standing amid the piercing chill of an alpine November.

There comes a time.

Here is the only audio excerpt I’ve been able to locate—a clip that follows shortly after the excerpt above—though the recording isn’t of great quality:

The boycott made a serious economic impact on the city of Montgomery with its near-empty buses, and required extraordinary discipline, organization, and sacrifice among the black residents of Montgomery. It was not without cost to the black citizens of Montgomery. For example, the Kings’s house was bombed and he spent two weeks in jail.

Mother Pollard, an 80-year-old matriarch, was asked at a mass meeting how she was doing, and her answer summed up the feeling of many: “My feets is tired, but my soul is rested.”

On November 13, 1956, the Supreme Court upheld a federal district court’s ruling that Alabama’s segregation laws were unconstitutional, thereby allowing black bus passengers to sit wherever they wanted. The boycott officially ended December 20, 1956, having lasted for an amazing 381 days. Through non-violent means a revolution was well underway.

If you want a great film on the Montgomery Bus Boycott which accurately and compellingly tells the story above in more details, check out the HBO Film Boycott (2001). You can watch a trailer here.

In April of 2013 Eerdmans will publish James Bratt’s Abraham Kuyper: Modern Calvinist, Christian Democrat in their Library of Religious Biography Series, with a foreword by Mark Noll.

Here is a description:

In this first full-scale English biography of Abraham Kuyper, the highly influential religious and political leader of Dutch Calvinists in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, historian James D. Bratt draws connections between the life and thought of Kuyper and current debates in America today. Bratt’s study covers Kuyper’s early years, his development as a person, his various leadership roles and spheres of influence, and the considerable ongoing impact of his ideas.

A convinced Calvinist and a distinctly modern public figure, Kuyper held a wide variety of roles over the course of his life — minister, newspaper editor, educational innovator, politician, religious reformer, and prime minister of the Netherlands (1901-1905). Kuyper’s life demonstrates how devotees of any faith can carry on a responsible public life in contention — and concert — with people of other convictions.

What a fascinating and instructive and encouraging interview, as Marvin Olasky talks with Rosaria Butterfield about her memoir, The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert: An English Professor’s Journey into Christian Faith.

You can read a sample here.

Carl Trueman writes:

This autobiography is the launchpad for numerous sophisticated reflections on the nature of life, faith, sexuality, worship, education and other matters. As one would expect from a lover of nineteenth century literature, the book is also beautifully written with many a well-turned sentence; and as one would expect from someone schooled at the highest levels in critical theory, it eschews simplistic pieties for stimulating analyses of both Christian and non-Christian culture.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. I do not agree with everything she says; but I did learn from everything she wrote. It deserves the widest possible readership.

In particular Carl highlights her discussion of sexuality:

Her treatment of sexual sin and gender politics is fascinating and so much more sophisticated than the kind of simplistic drivel which passes for discussion in evangelical circles. Chapter Two, ‘Repentance and the Sin of Sodom’ along with her accounts in Chapter Three of talking to students at Geneva College about sexuality, are worth the price of the book. Every pastor should read these chapters and take her analysis to heart.

You can read his whole review here.

Thomas Kidd—author of The Great Awakening: The Roots of Evangelical Christianity in Colonial America, Patrick Henry: First Among Patriots, and God of Liberty: A Religious History of the American Revolution—writes:

People love biographies, and I am regularly asked to recommend good ones during the lead-up to Christmas. One of the most frustrating things about the bookselling business is that there is no necessary correlation between the prominent placement of books at the bookstore, or the review of them in newspapers and magazines, and the enduring quality of those books. True, bestselling books are often very well written (lively prose is the specialty of the trade press), but from a historical perspective, they often lack substance or new research.

Nowhere is the problem more acute than in biographies of America’s Founders.  Don’t get me wrong: there are popular biographies of the Founders, including ones written by non-academic historians, that are terrific. . . .

But some popular writers simply become biography factories, churning out a new one on some well-known figure every year (or more), just in time for Christmas, often repackaging old myths and inaccuracies. Those sorts of books are readily available at Barnes and Noble and your airport’s bookstore, too.

So, as a public service announcement, here are five biographies I heartily recommend for your Christmas list. I have limited myself to religious biographies . . .  written by scholars, but ones which speak to a more general audience. I am focusing here on books that will not be at the “front of the store” (or perhaps not in the store at all) this Christmas, either because they are not new, or because they were not published by a major trade press.

You can read his Top 5 List here.

In particular, notice his commendation of Catherine Brekus’s Sarah Osborn’s World: The Rise of Evangelical Christianity in Early America (Yale University Press).

A brand-new biography of Osborn, perhaps the most influential woman in America’s First Great Awakening. In my jacket endorsement of the book, I said ”This will become the best biography we have on a female evangelical in colonial America, following naturally from Brekus’s earlier book on women preachers in early America. But I would also recommend this as simply one of the best books I have read on the life of an American evangelical, female or male.”

Here are a couple of other glowing endorsements for this new book:

Sarah Osborn’s World reflects unusually industrious research, profound historical insight, and extraordinary human empathy. It offers a superb depiction of the long and complex life of a woman who was at the heart of eighteenth-century American evangelical history. The remarkable character of that life is matched by the remarkable success of this book.

—Mark A. Noll

Sarah Osborn’s World is written beautifully and reads like a novel. The beginning undergraduate or non-historian will turn the pages with delight, but the academic specialist will long ponder the significance of this book for his or her own work. The life of Sarah Osborn is not only narrated splendidly on its own terms but also carefully placed to illuminate a wide range of scholarly discussions of religion and culture in which Brekus is well-informed. There is no better biographical study of an eighteenth-century religious woman.

—Bruce Hindmarsh

Faith Cook is an author, biographer, and hymn writer. She grew up as a missionary child in war-torn China and has chronicled her story in an autobiography. Her biographical work has been on both men (from the well-known Fearless Pilgrim: The Life and Times of John Bunyan to the little-known William Grimshaw of Haworth) and women (like The Nine Day Queen of England: Lady Jane Grey, Selina: Countess of Huntingdon: Her Pivotal Role in the 18th Century Evangelical Awakening, and Anne Bradstreet: Pilgrim and Poet).

I recently corresponded with her to see if she could provide us with some recommendations of biographies about Christian women in church history. You can read her top five, with recommendations, below. After her list is a bonus list, courtesy of Michael Haykin, who sent along six recommendations, including two from Faith Cook.

(Men, these are for us, too! But it’s also not too early to think about some Christmas shopping here!)

Edith L. Blumhofer, Her Heart can See: The Life and Hymns of Fanny J. Crosby (Eerdmans, 2005).

In Her Heart Can See Edith L Blumhofer, professor of history at Wheaton College, Illinois, has given us an authoritative and well-researched assessment of the life and hymns of Fanny J Crosby (1820-1915), sometimes known under her married name of Fanny van Alstyne. This remarkable little woman became blind soon after birth, but despite her handicap is described in the Guinness Book of World Records as history’s most prolific hymn-writer. She dictated more than 9,000 hymns and religious verse between the years 1864 and her death in 1915, often under different pseudonyms. Her hymns included well-loved classics as “Blessed Assurance,” “Jesus Is Mine,” “To God Be the Glory,” “Great Things He Hath Done,” “Teach Me Thy Way, O Lord,” and lesser-known hymns such as “Safe in the Arms of Jesus” and “Some Day the Silver Cord Will Break.”

In this fascinating biography Blumhofer blends the life of the blind poet with a remarkable and comprehensive study of the development of nineteenth-century religious life in New York.

Diana L. Severance, Feminine Threads: Women in the Tapestry of Christian History (Christian Focus, 2011).

Here is a unique book packed with accounts of women throughout the long history of the Christian church. Dr Diana Severance starts with 1st century women such as Mary, mother of Jesus, followed by the early martyrs, Blandina and Perpetua, and takes us through the centuries until she reaches such familiar names as Corrie ten Boon, Elisabeth Elliot, Ruth Graham, and Joni Eareckson Tada.

Diana Severance, of Rice University, Texas, divides her material into twelve historical chunks, placing her characters against their own times and social backgrounds. Throughout this volume we are introduced to extracts from the writings of many of the characters described. Dr Severance is not afraid to include some surprising heroines of the faith, forcing us to reconsider our previous conclusions.

Of necessity, no more than a few pages can be devoted to each character, but this book serves as an excellent introduction to many of history’s half-forgotten Christian women.

Arnold A. Dallimore, Susanna: The Mother of John and Charles Wesley (Evangelical Press, 1992).

When Dr Samuel Annesley’s twenty-fifth child was born, the event may have raised a few eyebrows, but none could have suspected that this child would still be the subject of interest and biography more than 300 years later. The primary reason for this springs from her outstanding two sons, John and Charles Wesley, whose impact on the spiritual life not only of Britain, but on the church worldwide, has been immense.

But Susanna, exceptionally beautiful and married to Samuel Wesley at the age of eighteen, was a remarkable woman in her own right. With rare intelligence and strength of character she nurtured, trained, and influenced her sons in such a way that a study of her life throws a revealing light on the characters, contribution, and conflicts of both John and Charles Wesley.

In 168 highly readable pages Arnold Dallimore presents fascinating details of the Wesley family life, and yet leaves us with enough unanswered questions to prompt us to explore further. When was Susanna converted? John and Charles certainly considered it was in the last two years of her life. Certainly her reliance to some extent on ‘good works’ was a major hindrance. Did the same doctrinal error affect John Wesley at times? Did her stormy marriage to Samuel Wesley influence the saga of the unhappy marriages of most of her children? These and other questions are evoked by these pages, written by this gifted historian.

Sharon James, My Heart in His Hands: Ann Judson of Burma (Evangelical Press, 1998).

The first American woman missionary to venture to a little-known distant land, Ann Judson sailed to Burma with her husband Adoniram in 1812. With Burma (also known as Mayanmar) now increasingly open to a relaxation of its hard-line, secretive government, this account of Ann Judson’s short heroic life, recounted by Dr Sharon James, gives us a vivid picture of old Burma. Drawing freely on Ann’s memoirs and letters, Dr Sharon James brings her endurance, faith, and sufferings vividly before our eyes. With its skilful blend of narrative and evocative quotes, this is part biography and part autobiography. In days when the willingness to sacrifice for the gospel’s sake is far less common than once it was, this book is a stark reminder of the Saviour’s challenge to his followers to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow him. Ann Judson’s tireless support, a support which eventually cost her health, and led to her early death at the age of thirty-seven, enabled her husband to set up the first Christian church in Burma.

Sharon James, In Trouble and in Joy: Four Women Who Lived for God (Evangelical Press, 2003).

In days of economic recession we are always delighted to discover a bargain, and this publication is a bargain indeed—in fact four for the price of one! In an attractive hardback and well-illustrated publication, Dr Sharon James presents the lives of four Christian women who lived during the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries. After a short biographical chapter, we are treated to selections from the writings of each woman.

Margaret Baxter, wife of Puritan Richard Baxter whose romance with the austere preacher is one of the most charming and tenderest in the Puritan era, is Sharon James’s first choice. This is followed by a moving account of Sarah Edwards, wife of Jonathan Edwards, a woman whose deep spiritual experiences challenge and rebuke us still.

Two single women follow: Anne Steele and Frances Ridley Havergal. In both cases, these two have enriched the Christian church by their hymns, many of them still loved and sung today in spite of the explosion of modern hymns and songs. Sharon James’s own research has exposed some of the myths that have clung around Anne Steele, and reveal a modest woman of fragile health who devoted time and talents to God in a unique way. Likewise Frances Havergal used her extraordinary talents to write volumes of Christian verse and devotional literature. From a typical Victorian but privileged background, Havergal maintained a wide range of correspondence and it was she who coined the phrase “Her Heart Can See,” in a poem dedicated to Fanny Crosby.

The lives of these four godly women serve as a beacon for our own day, guiding us through the confusion and pitfalls of our own generation.

Professor Haykin offered the following recommendations of classic and contemporary biographies:

Gregory of Nyssa, The Life of Saint Macrina. An excellent patristic biography by a devoted brother (not without two or three theological problems).

Here is a suggestion for pastors (though of course it is not limited to them). Consider studying a figure from church history—you could do one a year—and then give your congregation a gift of teaching them about this person. It will allow you to go deep into the life of an influential and flawed person, both encouraging you and instructed you by means of their faith and foibles.

Two men come to mind who model well this work of instructive, edifying biography for the church: John Piper and Michael Haykin. Piper, of course, is a pastor. Haykin is a professor and a historian. Their styles are different—Piper tends to do more analysis and application, while Haykin tends to provide more historical context—but both know how to tell these stories well.

Several of Piper’s biographical addresses—delivered each year at the Desiring God pastors’ conference—have been collected into an ongoing series published by Crossway, entitled The Swans Are Not Silent. Below I’ve listed the book, followed by links to the original talks (in manuscript and audio form, and more recently some in video).

After the Piper listing, I’ve included a number of talks delivered by Haykin. You’ll see that some of them overlap with each other, but I thought it helpful to include as many as I could find.

I have found listening to these to be a very edifying and encouraging experience. Perhaps some of you will be inspired to do the same for those in your spheres of influence.

The Legacy of Sovereign Joy: God’s Triumphant Joy in the Lives of Augustine, Luther, and Calvin

“The Swan Is Not Silent: Sovereign Joy in the Life and Thought of St. Augustine” (1998)

“Martin Luther: Lessons from His Life and Labors” (1996)

“The Divine Majesty of the Word: John Calvin: The Man and His Preaching” (1997)

The Hidden Smile of God: The Fruit of Affliction in the Lives of John Bunyan, William Cowper, and David Brainerd

“To Live Upon God that Is Invisible: Suffering and Service in the Life of John Bunyan” (1999)

“Insanity and Spiritual Songs in the Soul of a Saint: Reflections on the Life of William Cowper” (1992)

“Oh, That I May Never Loiter on My Heavenly Journey! Reflections on the Life and Ministry of David Brainerd” (1990)

The Roots of Endurance: Invincible Perseverance in the Lives of John Newton, Charles Simeon, and William Wilberforce

“John Newton: The Tough Roots of His Habitual Tenderness” (2001)

“Brothers, We Must Not Mind a Little Suffering: Meditations on the Life of Charles Simeon” (1989)

“Peculiar Doctrines, Public Morals, and the Political Welfare: Reflections on the Life and Labor of William Wilberforce” (2002)

Contending for Our All: Defending Truth and and Treasuring Christ in the Lives of Athanasius, John Owen, and J. Gresham Machen

“Contending for Our All: The Life and Ministry of Athanasius” (2005)

“The Chief Design of My Life: Mortification and Universal Holiness: Reflections on the Life and Thought of John Owen” (1994)

“J. Gresham Machen’s Response to Modernism” (1993)

Filling Up the Afflictions of Christ: The Cost of Bringing the Gospel to the Nations in the Lives of  William Tyndale, Adoniram Judson,  John Paton

“Always Singing One Note—A Vernacular Bible: Why William Tyndale Lived and Died” (2006)

“How Few There Are Who Die So Hard! Suffering and Success in the Life of Adoniram Judson: The Cost of Bringing Christ to Burma” (2003)

“You Will Be Eaten by Cannibals! Lessons from the Life of John G. Paton” (2000)

Other Piper biographical addresses not yet included in the published series are:

• Jonathan Edwards (1988)
• D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1991)
• Charles Spurgeon (1995)
• George Mueller (2004)
• Andrew Fuller (2007)
• William S. H. Piper (2008)
• George Whitefield (2009)
• C. S. Lewis (2010)
• Robert Murray McCheyne (2011)
• J. C. Ryle (2012)

Here are the talks by Haykin:

• Roman Empire and Irenaeus of Lyons
• Tertullian and Constantine
• Athanasius and Basil
• Leo and Patrick
• Life of Tyndale
• Cost of Living Dangerously, Tyndale and the Bible
• Tyndale and the Gift of Your Bible
• Life of Luther
• Life of Calvin
• Lady Jane Grey
• Life of John Newton
• John Newton, Life and Hymns
• John Newton, Amazing Grace
• William Wilberforce
• Life of William Wilberforce
• William Wilberforce, Truly Religious Man
• William Cowper
• Salina Hastings, Lady Huntington
• Charles Wesley
• Charles Wesley’s Hymnody
• Charles Wesley, Life and Hymns
• Charles and Sarah Wesley, Godly Marriage
• Jonathan Edwards
• Lessons from the Family Life of Jonathan Edwards
• George Whitefield
• Andrew Fuller
• Life of Samuel Pearce
• William Carey
• Andrew Bonar

Audio and video from the 2012 Gospel Coalition National Women’s Conference is now available.

A couple of friends mentioned that they are unaware of the sort of books that the women teaching at this conference would recommend for further reading. So I decided to ask the female plenary speakers what they’d recommend what women who went to the conference and wanted to go deeper and further.

Kathleen Nielsen provided a reading guide on the TGC website, which would be a wonderful place to start.

Here are some other recommendations I received.

NANCY GUTHRIE

Far as the Curse Is Found: The Covenant Story of Redemption by Michael Williams.

This book has really helped me to understand the big picture story of the Bible as well as the big themes of the Bible. I refer back to it again and again.

Bible Doctrine by Wayne Grudem

This reference book with its short explanations of major doctrines has been a great help to me when I want a sound summary of orthodox belief on a doctrine or need to figure out how to explain something concisely.

The Goldsworthy Trilogy (which includes Gospel and Kingdom, The Gospel in Revelation, and Gospel and Wisdom) by Graeme Goldsworthy.

The development of understanding the story of the Bible as “God’s people in God’s place under God’s authority” helps me understand passages again and again throughout the Bible.

The Israel of God by O. Palmer Robertson

This book has helped me a great deal in understanding God’s past, present, and future plans for Israel. (The audio sessions of O. Palmer Robertson teaching this available at The Gospel Coalition audio resources is also a help.) Similarly, I found another book that has really helped me with this: Whose Promised Land? Israel or Palestine by Colin Chapman.

Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament by Christopher Wright and The Unfolding Mystery by Edmund Clowney.

These are the two books I started with to seek to understand how to see Christ in the Old Testament.

Guidance and the Voice of God by Phillip Jensen and Tony Payne.

So much wisdom here for a culture that longs to hear a supernatural word from God in the ordinary decisions of life.

The Most Misused Verses in the Bible by Eric Bargerhuff.

When I received a copy of this book recently, I wrote the author and told him this was a book I have always wanted to write. He works his way concisely and wisely through often misused scriptures—the ones people claim as a promise that aren’t a promise and such—and brings clarity to them.

The Hole in Our Holiness by Kevin DeYoung.

I was able to read an advance copy of this upcoming book, and it is definitely one to pre-order so you get it when it is released!

JENNY SALT

Theology

Knowing God, by J. I. Packer.

A book that helps the reader to focus on the attributes of God, and deserves to be read again and again.

Biblical Theology

Gospel and Kingdom, According to Plan, by Graeme Goldsworthy.

Prayer

A Call to Spiritual Reformation, by D. A. Carson.

A thorough work on Paul’s prayers that challenges the reader about priorities in prayer.

Biographies

George Whitfield, by Arnold Dallimore. [See the big two-volume version here.]

Hudson Taylor: A Man in Christ, by Roger Steer.

The Swans Are Not Silent Series, by John Piper.

Evangelism

Questioning Evangelism, by Randy Newman. A great book for everyone on day-to-day evangelism.

Singleness

Redeeming Singleness, by Barry Danylak.

Old Testament

Commentaries by Dale Ralph Davis. Non-technical commentaries that help the reader to have a better understanding of OT books like Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings.

CARRIE SANDOM

Basic Christianity

• A Fresh Start, by John Chapman
• Turning Points, by Vaughan Roberts

Christian Living

• Distinctives, by Vaughan Roberts
• A Call to Spiritual Reformation, by D. A. Carson.
• Living the Cross Centered Life, by C. J. Mahaney
• This Momentary Marriage, by John Piper
• Did I Kiss Marriage Goodbye? by Carolyn McCulley
• The Enemy Within, by Kris Lundgaard
• Out of the Storm, by Christopher Ash
• When People Are Big and God Is Small, by Ed Welch

Christian Biography

• Five English Reformers, by J. C. Ryle
• Killing Fields, Living Fields, by Don Cormack
• Evidence Not Seen, by Darlene Diebler Rose
• A Quest for Godliness, by J. I. Packer

Christian Truth

• Pierced for Our Transgressions, by Steve Jeffery, Mike Ovey, Andrew Sach.
• Knowing God, by J. I. Packer.
• The Prodigal God, by Tim Keller.
• The Cross of Christ, by John Stott.

Evangelism

• Know and Tell the Gospel, by John Chapman.
• If I Were God, I’d End All the Pain, by John Dickson.
• Questioning Evangelism, by Randy Newman.

The Bible

• Understanding the Bible, by John Stott.
• Gospel and Kingdom, by Graeme Goldsworthy.
• Digging Deeper, by Nigel Beynon and Andrew Sach.
• God’s Big Picture, by Vaughan Roberts.

NANCY LEIGH DEMOSS

With a different audience, I might offer suggestions that would stimulate women to love the Lord with more of their mind. However, my observation of the TGCW audience is that many of these women are already engaged in that pursuit. Hence, my encouragement would be to read books that help them love the Lord with more of their heart. Of course, there is value in reading books to stimulate both the heart and the mind. However, as this young-ish crowd ages (particularly those who will have multiple children), their available time for reading will likely be curtailed for a season and they will have to be highly selective. That being the case, I would encourage them to be sure to include:

Reading, meditation, and memorization of Scripture.

I do not assume this is a given. I asked 500-600 women in a breakout session at TGCW how many would say they do not currently have a consistent devotional habit. As is the case anywhere/everywhere I have ever asked this question (including groups of Bible study leaders, pastors’ wives, etc.), some 90% of the women in the room raised a hand in response. I don’t think we can stress this enough. It is His Word that gives life, and far too many believers, even those in vocational ministry, are malnourished from want of sufficient intake of Scripture. If you don’t have time to read anything else, read this Book!

Quality devotional literature.

Some of my favorites:

• Spurgeon’s Chequebook of the Bank of Faith
• The Valley of Vision
• Elisabeth Elliot has several devotional books
• Fenelon, The Seeking Heart, Letters to Women
• Cowman, Streams in the Desert
• Thomas Watson
• William Gurnall
• Oswald Chambers
• John Piper’s The Godward Life, Vol I & II.

These provide fuel to keep my heart warm; they make me more receptive and responsive to the Word and the Spirit.

Biographies of (mostly dead) people who loved and served Jesus with all their heart.

• Hudson Taylor
• George Mueller
• Gladys Aylward
• Isobel Kuhn
• Lilias Trotter
• Mary Slessor
• Helen Roseveare
• Amy Carmichael

. . . to name a few. These have had (and continue to have) a huge impact on my life.

[Note: Noel Piper's Faithful Women and Their Extraordinary God is a great introduction to a number of these women.]

Sermons of anointed preachers/pastors who proclaim(ed) the Word with hearts aflame.

These help me meditate on and better understand Scripture, while “taking it home” to the heart and life. Recently, I have been blessed by reading many of Spurgeon’s collected sermons on the Song of Solomon (The Most Holy Place).

As I said in my message at TGCW, “Sound theology should always lead to doxology and transformation.” I try to have a steady diet of books that help cultivate sound, biblical thinking and press me to worship and life transformation.

I believe in blurbs. The vast majority of books these days contain a number of endorsements, commendations, (or more colloquially) blurbs. They range from a sentence to a full paragraph, written by an expert or authority of some kind, explaining what the book is, why it’s important, and why you should consider reading it.

But virtually all of the blurbs you see today—on blogs, in publisher’s catalogs, on the back of books—are about new books just coming out.

I was recently thinking that there my be some value to the church if I were to be a sort of midwife in helping to collect some commendations on selected theological classics that you should seriously consider.

We’ll see if this proves to be helpful or not, but I decided to start with a no-brainer: Augustine’s Confessions.

“If you took a list of the greatest books of western civilization and whittled it down to the top five, Augustine’s Confessions would still have a secure spot on that list. It might even make the cut and stay on the top three list; it’s that much of a classic. In this carefully-crafted book, Augustine does theology by listening to his life, and then listening even more carefully and passionately to the words of God. We hear him ask all the right questions and most of the wrong ones. We hear him finding the truth and saying it in his own words. Or rather, we overhear him, because from beginning to end the Confessions is one sustained prayer to the God who alone can give the soul what it needs.”

—Fred Sanders

“The Confessions is a masterpiece not only of Christian literature but of literature in general. It possesses that most important characteristic of a great literary work of art: every time one reads it, one sees something new and one comes away with a deeper understanding of oneself. From the psychology of sin to the nature of youthful peer pressure, to the connection of violence and the visual, it penetrates the human mind and its arcane inner workings like no other work before it. And it is also a remarkable testimony to a journey away from and back to God, both on the individual and cosmic levels.”

—Carl R. Trueman

“Don’t imagine that the Confessions are a tawdry tell-all! Actually, Augustine is not really the subject of this book; God is. Augustine was (only) forty-three when he began writing. He was now looking back over eleven years since he had become a Christian. Weak, erring, and foolish as he had once been, he had found—or should we say, been found by?—the grace of God. It is to this grace that Augustine traces all the good in his life. And in so doing, he holds up a mirror in which we also can see ourselves, different though our circumstances are, and see the greatness, the grandness, of God’s redemptive purposes. It is a profound book and though its language can be a little complex at times it is one of those books that repays, many times over, the effort we put into reading it.”

—David F. Wells

“Augustine’s Confessions need no commendation. No western person deserves to be called ‘educated’ unless he or she has digested these personal reflections of one of the most significant and influential thinkers of the past two millennia. The fact that both John Owen and B.B. Warfield (arguably our two greatest theologians in the English speaking reformed tradition) wrote extended essays on him should serve as an echo of the words Augustine himself first heard—”Tolle lege”—Pick it up, and read it!

—Sinclair B. Ferguson

“Few Christian classics are still on the required reading lists of every serious Western literature course. Augustine’s Confessions tops most lists. Among the accolades is that it pioneered the psychological biography, contributing significantly to the self-reflective soul that became commonplace in modern writing. One of the marks of a classic is that anyone can read it, young and old, casual reader and specialist, finding a new passageway in each new reading. Here the great theologian so formative in our understanding of the Trinity, original sin, and grace becomes a fellow pilgrim, tracing God’s path of judgment and grace in his own life through prayer and meditation. Reading the Confessions, we are exposed not only to Augustine’s soul but discover the headwaters of Latin spirituality that flow through the Middle Ages and carve the massive tributaries of Reformation and Counter-Reformation, Puritan and High Church pieties, alike. So there are many motives for reading Augustine’s Confessions, but the one that the Bishop of Hippo would have singled out is expressed in his own best-known prayer in the book: ‘You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.’”

—Michael S. Horton

“I first read Augustine’s Confessions not long after my conversion in February of 1974, and found them so edifying to my soul that I have gone back to them time and again for spiritual insight and Christian nurture. But the work is assuredly a strange work, for the book is one long sustained conversation with God. No human audience is directly addressed. It is for God’s eyes only. This is why the book cannot be considered an autobiography, but must be seen as an act of praise and worship—one of the key meanings of the Latin verb confessio. And, as Augustine scholar James O’Donnell rightly notes, one comes away from such a reading of the Confessions convinced that whatever else we have learned about the man, “we have seen Augustine at prayer” and in worship. And his fiery hunger for God is the very thing we need in our gray and tepid day.”

—Michael A. G. Haykin

“The Confessions of Augustine is a book that has been a friend for many years. Parts of it I have given a good bit of attention to. But I have come to expect that every time I read it there’ll be something new. Something I had not noticed before, or some new slant on what I thought I knew. Augustine has the facility to change gear in an instant, from matters which are intensely personal—his fears, his friends, his conversion—to discussions of general significance—time , memory, the creation. His style is wonderfully transparent. His feelings and thoughts, his agonies of conscience and of the intellect, tumble out on to the page. Perhaps it is this which gives the Confessions such a modern feel.

—Paul Helm

“In his Confessions, Augustine invented the genre of theological autobiography. For the first time, a believer laid his soul before the church, his feelings as well as his ideas, his sins as well as his growth in grace. Not every spiritual autobiography is worth our time. But Augustine was an extraordinary thinker and, for all his sins, an exemplary man. His life with God has blessed the church for centuries and blesses us yet today.”

—John Frame

At the risk of oversimplification, here is a snapshot of some basics about the book:

Who? Augustine of Hippo. Here is a helpful timeline of his life.

What? A God-centered theological memoir and theological exploration in the form of an extended prayer.

When? Written between AD 397 and 398. He was born in 354 and was converted to Christianity in 386. So he was about 43 years old when this was written and had been a believer for around 11 years.

Where? Locations include Northern Africa (he was born in Thagaste and ended up in Hippo—both in modern-day Algeria). He studied and taught in Italy (Rome and Milan).

Why? As Craig Troxel says in thoughtful discussion of the purpose and genre, “Augustine used his life history as a means to give glory to God for his providential work of mercy and grace.”

How? There are thirteen “books.” Augustine recounts his early years, his relationship with his parents, his conversion, and theological reflections on topics like sin, Genesis, time, and the Trinity.

There are several English translations of the Latin text. Online for free are the translations by Pusey (1838) and Outler (1955).

Some standard print translations, with notes, would include those by Henry Chadwick (2008) and Maria Boulding (1998).

Tolle lege!