Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Have you not read?



























There are riches in these pages I tell you. Use these books as an entry point to a first reading of the man himself. Packer's The Quest for Godliness, or with the British title Among God's Giants, was my guide to the Puritans during my student days. By Packer's own admission John Owen is the hero of the book. His introduction to Owen's The Death of Death ("Saved by His Precious Blood") is surely one of the finest pieces ever to have come from Packer's pen.

Packer refers to the English Puritans as the Giant Redwoods of the Christian life, or (if you prefer it) think of them as the Ents of Middle Earth.

My advice would be to read the books in this order Packer, Ferguson, Trueman.

Like many others I was awestruck, instructed, rebuked and strengthened beyond what words can express when, as an undergrad, I read Owen on the Mortification of Sin, Temptation, and Indwelling Sin. Sometimes the right book comes along at the right time in your Christian experience. My own testimony to these works is echoed by many others.

For theological depth and experiential enrichment I often turn to Communion With God.

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