Avery Evans
Fascinating book. Some parts I loved, and some left me a bit confused. Which is probably inevitable in a book summarizing so much history that I was before unfamiliar with. Like many other reviewers have said, you go into this book thinking he's about to say “Things used to be better and now everyone is weird and secular and profit-hungry! Too bad!”, but, thankfully, what Andrew Wilson has written is far more true and far more hopeful than that.
Indeed our world is WEIRDER (the book's acronym) than it has been for most of history, but Wilson's conclusion reminds the Christian of our response:
“The doctrines, experiences, and practices that the church needs today are much the same as the ones she needed in the eighteenth century, and the tenth, and the second. We are responsible for obedience not outcomes, faithfulness not fruit; if we do not see the results we used to by praying, worshiping, reading Scripture, serving the poor, preaching the gospel, sharing the sacraments, and loving one another, we carry on those things regardless and walk by faith not by sight ... we wait, rejoicing always, praying without ceasing, giving thanks in all circumstances, and resolving not to be anxious about tomorrow, for we have no idea what tomorrow will bring.”
A great, high-level, personal finance 101. Lots of financial wisdom packed in a short and easy to read format.
The author doesn't appear to be a Christian, but some of the wisdom kept reminding me of Proverbs 28:20: “A faithful man will abound with blessings, but whoever hastens to be rich will not go unpunished.”
Some quotes from the book that I highlighted:
“Doing well with money has a little to do with how smart you are and a lot to do with how you behave. And behavior is hard to teach, even to really smart people.” page 7
“Do not aim to be coldly rational when making financial decisions. Aim to just be pretty reasonable. Reasonable is more realistic and you have a better chance of sticking with it for the long run, which is what matters most when managing money.” page 102
“Growth is driven by compounding, which always takes time. Destruction is driven by single points of failure, which can happen in seconds, and loss of confidence, which can happen in an instant. It's easier to create a narrative around pessimism because the story pieces tend to be fresher and more recent. Optimistic narratives require looking at a long stretch of history and developments, which people tend to forget and take more effort to piece together.” page 167
"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me" (John 10:27 ESV)
I found this a really convincing and helpful summary of why we can have confidence in our current canon, more specifically focusing on the NT.
The book starts out by critiquing a couple difference models that attempt to answer the question of what books belong in the NT. 1) Community-determined models give full weight to the books that were accepted by the early church. 2) Historically-determined models appeal only to the origins of the books themselves, such as if they are deemed authentic and apostolic. Both of these categories bring positive things to the discussion (the early church's acceptance and the authenticity/apostolicity of the canon are important), but ultimately fail in that they authenticate the NT canon on the basis of something external to it. At first I was hesitant on this point ... don't we always need external validity of the truth of something? But, Kruger points out:
“If we try to validate an ultimate authority by appealing to some other authority, then we have just shown that it is not really the ultimate authority. Thus, for ultimate authorities to be ultimate authorities, they have to be the standard for their own authentication. You cannot account for them without using them.” (Kruger 132)
“If I see a cup on the table, how do I know my sense perception is accurate? How would I test such a thing? I could examine the cup and table more closely to make sure they are what they seem to be (hold them, touch them, etc.). I could also ask a friend to tell me whether he sees a cup on the table. But in all these instances I am still assuming the reliability of my sense perception ... even as I examine the reliability of my sense perception.” (Kruger 134)
Providential Exposure
Attributes of Canonicity
Internal Testimony of the Holy Spirt
... well what about ... ?
“The Church no more gave us the New Testament canon than Sir Isaac Newton gave us the force of gravity. God have us gravity ... Newton did not create gravity but recognized it.” (J. I. Packer)
“Roger Nicole contends that we can know which books belong in the canon by appealing to the ‘witness of the Holy Spirit given corporately to God's people and made manifest by a nearly unanimous acceptance of the NT canon in the Christian churches.'” (Kruger 147)
“Jesus's statement that ‘my sheep hear my voice ... and they follow me' (John 10:27) is not evidence for the authority of the sheep's decision to follow, but evidence for the authority and efficacy of the Shepherd's voice to call.” (Kruger 148)
“The fact that the church was able to reach such unity in the midst of such diversity would indicate that more was in play than just the random flow of history. Indeed, such a scenario gives us good reason to think that the church reached unity on these books precisely because Christ himself was speaking in them” (Kruger 416)
Surprisingly good. One sentence summary: “The Bible lays out the wisdom we need to live faithfully and fruitfully before our Creator, but the internet is an epistemological and moral habitat that makes such wisdom seem like foolishness.” (James 156) Plenty of stellar sentences, ideas, and paragraphs in here.
A splendid read. Best summed up with this quote:
“The declared Word of God both creates the church and gathers the church. Therefore, church gatherings center themselves on that Word. The sermons do. The songs do. The prayers do. The relationships do. The Word, then, reverberates out the church doors as the church scatters, each man and woman equipped as an evangelist and discipler. That's been the story of this book.
God creates churches through His Word and Spirit; therefore, churches must center themselves upon God's Word.” (page 178)
An encouraging read on the life and ministry of George Whitefield. Volume 1 has covered up until the age of 26 and it has captivated me more than I expected. I assumed 1200 pages about one man would be dull, but having finished volume 1 I can say it is certainly not dull. Whitefield's life is an encouragement to read about and a challenge to pursue the glory of Christ as fervently as he did.
Dallimore does well to note faults of Whitefield and not paint him as some angelic saint. He was a sinner who did great things for the kingdom of God by the power of the Holy Spirit. Dallimore is also careful to correct many slanderous and false accounts that have unfairly tainted the memory of Whitefield. The way in which Whitefield dealt with his disagreements with his once close friend John Wesley was particularly encouraging. His gracious writing and charity toward those he disagreed with over doctrine (particularly over Calvinism) is a challenge and example to all Christians.
And to finish, a few quotes from the book:
“Be humble, talk little, think and pray much.” (Whitefield's advice to a new believer)
“I got more true knowledge from reading the Book of God in one month than I could have ever acquired from all the writings of men”
“His stand against an unconverted ministry had its counterpart in his labours to strengthen the hands of every pastor who gave evidence of being regenerate. Among such men Whitefield was ever the Mr. Great Heart, encouraging the downcast, helping the poor and befriending the lonely, and, though he sometimes administered a well-deserved word of rebuke, his aim was to see every ministerial life consumed with a burning zeal for God.”
“To Whitefield the doctrines of grace were not separate tenets, to be accepted or rejected one by one, but a series of truths so joined together as to compose a great system of theology”
“We can preach the Gospel no further than we have experienced the power of it in our own hearts”
Now on to Volume 2!
Never have I read a book in which the characters feel so real. One of my favorite fiction books I've ever read (not that I've read a lot). There was lots in this book that I know went way over my head and I already want to read it again just to analyze more of the many themes and messages contained.
Wonderful summary and introduction. Doesn't get caught in the weeds. Convincing and clear.
Here's some quotes I loved:
“If it is the Word of God, it does not err. If it errs, it is not the Word of God.” p.56
“The fundamental loss of a desire for God is the heart of original sin” p.159
“Happily, salvation's sureness does not rest on the believer's sureness of his salvation ... it is critical to maintain that justifying faith and the experience of doubt often coexist” p.241
“His sovereign purpose to save his elect from the foundation of the world is not frustrated by our weakness.” p.245
This was honestly better than I expected. This book got a lot of hype, and I was very critical of the only other book I've read by JMC due to some pretty significant differences between historic Christianity and JMC's theology, however I loved this book a ton. JMC seemed to put flesh on ideas that have been floating for a while in my head related to hustle, Sabbath, & materialism. A lot of what he discusses (such as silence & solitude) will be viewed my many modern Christians as new ideas, yet this couldn't be further from the truth. JMC retrieves many practices of the early church such as were practiced by monks under Saint Benedict's Rule for example and even the practices of Jesus himself.
Although I've given high praise for this book, I did find objection to the lack of encouragement to seek God's Word in silence & solitude. Silence and solitude is great, but a person who never reads God's word has nothing to dwell on! JMC seems to hint at ‘hearing from God' while practicing silence & solitude but ... we have already heard from Him in the Bible, God's very own word!
My minor second critique would simply be some of JMC's off-hand comments seemed unhelpful, distasteful, and rude. He even makes a jab at ‘conservative Christianity'. If he meant ‘Republican Christianity' then it's probably a jab well-deserved ... but did he mean ‘theological conservatism'? Is he siding with theological liberalism? Hopefully not. Comments such as this from time to time in the book threw me off and left a bad taste in the mouth.
Overall, this is a great book which I thoroughly enjoyed, but not an endorsement for every single sentence. As always read with an open mind ... but an open Bible as well! There are some great ideas in this book.
Chew the meat, spit out the bones.
Wonderful little book. I hope many read it. Family worship (or more simply: reading the Bible, praying, & singing in the home) is a force that God has used for centuries in church history to mold marriages, children, homes, and the people of God more generally. A practice of piety that must be reawakened in the modern church.
