Bring the Books (pt. 2)

Read Part One

Having set the Scriptures in their proper place (preeminent) among other books, Dr Minnick progressed to his second point.

II. THE WRITINGS OF THE CHURCH'S BEST TEACHERS.

(Quot: Spurgeon wrote in his Commenting and Commentaries, It seems odd, that certain men who talk so much of what the Holy Spirit reveals to themselves, should think so little of what he has revealed to others (9).

1. These Are Christ's Gifts To His Church (Eph. 4:8-11).
2. All things belong to you, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas (1 Cor. 3:21-22a).
3. The Church's Most Gifted Teachers Are All Available Through Their Writings.

(Exp: Their writings continue to be published and read because they are truly classics. Leland Ryken, quotes various authors about what a classic is.

• A masterpiece that modifies our very being and makes us feel...that we are not the same men and women we were when we began...
• [L]ays its images permanently on the mind [and] is entirely irreplaceable in the sense that no other book whatever comes anywhere near reminding you of it or being even a momentary substitute for it...
• [I]n some sense a landmark in our intellectual, spiritual, or literary experience...
• [A] multiplicity of both content and technique that makes them inexhaustible.

(Realms of Gold: The classics in Christian Perspective, 1-2)

(Sugg: Read them first hand rather than through someone else's analysis. Use Shepherd's Notes to get you started with C. S. Lewis, Augustine (City of God, Confessions), Calvin's Institutes, Justin Martyr, etc. or Google for a Wikipedia article to find out the best authority.)

(Note: A word about help with commentaries. The best annotated commentary bibliography available is Commentaries for Biblical Exposition, by James Rosscup (published by Grace Books International). D. A. Carson's New Testament Commentary Survey and Tremper Longman's Old Testament Commentary Survey are useful, but often lack the conservative discrimination.)

III. LIVES OF THE CHURCH'S FAITHFUL CHRISTIANS.

He that walketh with wise men shall be wise (Prov. 13:20).
...whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation (Heb. 13:7).

A. Those With Whom We Agree.
(App: Pick out a saint of the past whose theology and philosophy of ministry accords closely with your own. Let him tell you what to expect when you hold those positions. What criticisms? What encouragements? What's required to persist? Where to get inspiration? What are the consequences?)

B. Those With Whom We Disagree.
(Quot: Phillips Brooks, The object of reading biography...is not imitation but inspiration/instruction.)
(Exp: This will give us a necessary sympathetic understanding, combined with an education in what not to do.)

C. Choose By Author Rather Than Subject.

Examples of well-researched and written biographies:
[Also, check the Westminster Seminary Bookstore for many of these titles.]

—2 vols. of Hudson Taylor’s life by Mrs. Howard Taylor [Amazon | CBD]

—Borden of Yale, by Mrs. Howard Taylor [Amazon]

—But Now I See, life of John Newton, by Josiah Bull [Amazon | CBD]

—Mountain Rain, life of James Fraser, by Eileen Crossman [Amazon | CBD]

—John G. Paton: Missionary to the New Hebrides (autobiography) [Amazon | CBD]

—Life of David Livingstone, by William Blaikie [Amazon | CBD]

—To the Golden Shore, life of Adoniram Judson, by Courtney Anderson [Amazon | CBD]

—Isobel Kuhn's autobiographical writings [Amazon | CBD]

—Mary Slessor of Calabar, by W. P. Livingstone [Amazon | CBD]

—C. H. Spurgeon: The Early Years [Amazon | CBD]

—C. H. Spurgeon: The Full Harvest [Amazon | CBD]

—Mrs. C. H. Spurgeon, Charles Ray [Amazon | CBD]

—Andrew Bonar: Diary and Life [Amazon | CBD]

—Man of the Word, life of G. Campbell Morgan, by Jill Morgan [Amazon | CBD]

—Five English Reformers, J. C. Ryle [Amazon | CBD]

—Anything by Iain Murray (Jonathan Edwards [Amazon | CBD | WTS]; David Martyn Lloyd-Jones (2 vols.) [Amazon | CBD | WTS]; A Scottish Christian Heritage [Amazon | CBD | WTS]; etc.)

—Anything by Faith Cook (Singing in the Fire [Amazon | CBD | WTS]; Sound of Trumpets [Amazon | CBD | WTS]; Samuel Rutherford and His Friends [Amazon | CBD | WTS]; Selina: Countess of Huntingdon [Amazon | CBD | WTS]; Hymn-Writers and Their Hymns [Amazon | CBD]; etc.)

(Note: The best survey of the history of preaching is David L. Larsen's, The Company of the Preachers [Amazon | CBD]. Thorough without being tedious, factual though not exhaustive, interesting and well indexed.)

Bring the Books (pt. 2)