Fred Sanders, in his fascinating essay on evangelicalism in Reading the Christian Spiritual Classics: A Guide for Evangelicals, suggests that the evangelical charism is book recommending!
The one I was encouraged to read as a high school student (by a middle aged woman at the bakery I cleaned!) was Brother Lawrence's Practice of the Presence of God. She also encouraged me to read The Pursuit of God by Tozer ... I was a new believer and both had a profound impact on my spiritual life. Later I was encourage to A'Kempis. And Pilgrim's Progress. When my kids started attending a classical Christian school I was introduced to many older classics.
Yes! Wonderful book. Tozer is interesting as well for his interest in spiritual classics and the library he developed for pastors. Have you heard of the Sacred Roots Project? They are following Tozer in this regard. Some wonderful work being done there.
I haven’t heard of Sacred Roots Project. O must search about it. Also, I was about to send you a message or email to ask you about some things on biblical spirituality. I also study at Talbot (hispanic program).
I have tried to read Pilgrim's Progress multiple times and just can't get into it. Kierkegaard has some interesting stuff. Fear and Trembling. Sickness unto Death.
We read Pilgrim’s Progress in elementary school. That’s definitely one. Tozer’s Pursuit of God, Packer’s Knowing God, and Sibbes’ The Bruised Reed come to mind.
Hi Murphy! The one I could think of from my childhood, growing up at Willow Creek, was Madame Guyon’s book on prayer, interestingly enough. But you are right. It is almost always whatever is new.
Oddly it always was in evangelicalism. Guyon's book was most read by colonists and early evangelicals even more than Catholics. It was even on Edwards reading list!
Thanks, Kyle, that's very helpful! I just listened (today) to the Crossway podcast episode with Matthew Bingham (he's published a book on Spiritual Formation, and as I understand it, he's pretty critical of “non-Protestant” forms of S.F.), and in that interview Bingham quotes B.B. Warfield, and what he said led me to think that Warfield was against “non-Protestant” forms of spirituality.... ah, it's so confusing: on the one hand I read that the Puritans published Roman Catholic spiritual classics under “Puritan names”, and that Scougal was very influential for the Puritans, on the other hand I often read ‘warnings’ against ‘pre-Reformation’ forms of spirituality - in the “name” of the Puritans. Perhaps you can direct me to an article (or book) that will help me out of this confusion? (Sorry for the rather long comment!)
Hi Velimir! I have Bingham’s book but haven’t read it yet. One certainly can’t follow the Puritans and reject Catholic spirituality out of hand. That would be very historically inaccurate. But they were going to be cautious to be sure. Richard Baxter was converted by one of the Catholic texts they retitled and replaced the author’s name with a Puritan sounding name! The book I mentioned where Fred Sanders’ chapter comes from was published for this purpose (it was the first book I edited). The goal was to read broadly but still read as a Protestant, and to do that well.
The one I was encouraged to read as a high school student (by a middle aged woman at the bakery I cleaned!) was Brother Lawrence's Practice of the Presence of God. She also encouraged me to read The Pursuit of God by Tozer ... I was a new believer and both had a profound impact on my spiritual life. Later I was encourage to A'Kempis. And Pilgrim's Progress. When my kids started attending a classical Christian school I was introduced to many older classics.
I would add something from A. W. Tozer, maybe “Knowledge of the Holy”.
Yes! Wonderful book. Tozer is interesting as well for his interest in spiritual classics and the library he developed for pastors. Have you heard of the Sacred Roots Project? They are following Tozer in this regard. Some wonderful work being done there.
I haven’t heard of Sacred Roots Project. O must search about it. Also, I was about to send you a message or email to ask you about some things on biblical spirituality. I also study at Talbot (hispanic program).
Look forward to hearing from you!
Gijsbert Voet wrote a treatise on Spiritual Desertion. I believe it to be a classic.
It is a good book!
I have tried to read Pilgrim's Progress multiple times and just can't get into it. Kierkegaard has some interesting stuff. Fear and Trembling. Sickness unto Death.
We read Pilgrim’s Progress in elementary school. That’s definitely one. Tozer’s Pursuit of God, Packer’s Knowing God, and Sibbes’ The Bruised Reed come to mind.
Thanks Tom! All wonderful works!
It’s interesting, because as u remember growing up no one recommended books that weren’t written by a contemporary voice.
That said, I think “On the Incarnation” by Athanasius is a vital text. So too “The Diary of John Woolman”.
Hi Murphy! The one I could think of from my childhood, growing up at Willow Creek, was Madame Guyon’s book on prayer, interestingly enough. But you are right. It is almost always whatever is new.
That’s really interesting. To what do you credit Madame Guyon’s book on prayer being a referred text?
Oddly it always was in evangelicalism. Guyon's book was most read by colonists and early evangelicals even more than Catholics. It was even on Edwards reading list!
Spiritual classics at the church I grew up at John Eldridge’s Wild at Heart and Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Life got a lot of references.
Thanks, Kyle, that's very helpful! I just listened (today) to the Crossway podcast episode with Matthew Bingham (he's published a book on Spiritual Formation, and as I understand it, he's pretty critical of “non-Protestant” forms of S.F.), and in that interview Bingham quotes B.B. Warfield, and what he said led me to think that Warfield was against “non-Protestant” forms of spirituality.... ah, it's so confusing: on the one hand I read that the Puritans published Roman Catholic spiritual classics under “Puritan names”, and that Scougal was very influential for the Puritans, on the other hand I often read ‘warnings’ against ‘pre-Reformation’ forms of spirituality - in the “name” of the Puritans. Perhaps you can direct me to an article (or book) that will help me out of this confusion? (Sorry for the rather long comment!)
Hi Velimir! I have Bingham’s book but haven’t read it yet. One certainly can’t follow the Puritans and reject Catholic spirituality out of hand. That would be very historically inaccurate. But they were going to be cautious to be sure. Richard Baxter was converted by one of the Catholic texts they retitled and replaced the author’s name with a Puritan sounding name! The book I mentioned where Fred Sanders’ chapter comes from was published for this purpose (it was the first book I edited). The goal was to read broadly but still read as a Protestant, and to do that well.