BR > Banner of Truth

Interview with author Kris Lundgaard

Tony Reinke Book reviews, Books, BR > Banner of Truth, BR > P&R, BR > Soli Deo Gloria Pub., Fighting sin, Great Quotes, Interviews, J.I. Packer, John Owen, Kris Lundgaard, Mortification, Sin

tsslogo.jpgKris Lundgaard is the author of two excellent books, ‘The Enemy Within‘ and ‘Through the Looking Glass‘. Both of these books are adaptations of works by English Puritan John Owen [1616-1683]. Someone has suggested these books should be subtitled: “John Owen for Dummies” (not to be confused with John Owen’s original works that simply make most of us feel like dummies). On Saturday, October 14th Mr. Lundgaard will be speaking at Omaha Bible Church in Omaha, NE. He joins us today on The Shepherd’s Scrapbook to talk about John Owen, the battle with sin, and his new endeavors in the mission field.

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TSS: It is wonderful to dialogue with you after having used your books for a number of years. The first question I must ask: How were you introduced to John Owen?

KL: In 1985 a friend in Little Rock gave me several volumes of the Banner of Truth edition of Owen’s Works. I thanked him and displayed them proudly on my shelf, not having any idea of their value. When I was in seminary a few years later, Dr. Douglas Kelly recommended Owen highly, but warned us that he was no easy read. His theory was that Owen must have thought in Latin, because his sentence construction was more Latin-like than English-like. J. I. Packer also came to RTS to teach a week-long course on the English Puritans, and he whetted my appetite further—but still I was unwilling to make the effort.

But around 1996 I got fed up with my own lack of progress against my flesh. I picked up Volume 6 of Owen out of desperation. I found out that the warnings were no idle threats—I could cover maybe eight pages in 45 minutes. I had to read with a dictionary in one hand and Owen in the other, and until I got the hang of his style I had to read many sentences several times over. But the value of Owen had been undersold: I was underlining more than half of every page. In his works on Temptation, Indwelling Sin, and Mortification, my heart was being laid bare. How did he know me so well?

But he didn’t just cut me up and leave me to pick up the pieces. He offered help, strong medicine—lots of strong medicine. And by God’s grace things began to change for me. I’ll always be grateful to Owen for that—I hope to tell him so when I see him.

TSS: Why does John Owen especially strike you as interesting?

KL: Owen’s ability to exegete my heart overwhelms me. He exposes my flesh’s defense strategies, which leaves me vulnerable—vulnerable to the gospel. He doesn’t just tear down; he builds up. And he helps me to see Christ more clearly, so that I may adore him more fully.

TSS: I find it very interesting that you were driven to John Owen out of desperation. There are probably readers out there who are not familiar with the Puritans, so they don’t know what types of desperate situations would warrant turning to the Puritans like John Owen. I know we all desperately need biblical wisdom but if you could exegete the heart, what types of heart conditions really “desperately” need to read Puritans like Owen?

KL: The desperation I have in mind is born out of the distance I feel between my desire to love God with all my heart and to love my neighbor as myself, and the feebleness of my actual love. I know there are others like me, whether or not they share the same weaknesses. Someone may be trapped and mastered by scandalous sexual sin, or the by seemingly unbreakable habit of offending people with a sharp, sarcastic wit. I don’t think there is a particular class of sinner that can only be helped by Puritans, or that the usefulness of the Puritan writings is limited to certain sinners. We all need help. Many will find the Puritans helpful.

TSS: Many readers today, I fear, will get buried when starting Owen’s full works. I get emails often from people who decided they wanted to read the full Owen books and want suggestions how to continue on past page 3. You have mentioned going slowly and using a dictionary. What type of dictionary? Do you have any suggestions to help people who are stuck or are people pretty much in over their heads?

KL: Any time we approach a writer from another era or another culture we have work to do. Shakespeare, for example, is hard going for high school sophomores—but those who are willing to stay with him, to read repeatedly, to learn his vocabulary in its Elizabethan context, to feel the rhythm of his poetry—those are the people who will discover the richness of his imagination. They will be rewarded their whole lives by rereading Hamlet and Macbeth and Julius Caesar. But I doubt anyone can hang with Shakespeare without help: movies, plays, and CDs of the plays help, as well as good footnotes and an enthusiastic (and skilled) teacher.

Of course there are no movies or plays of Owen’s works, and there are few footnotes in the reprints available; unless you go to seminary you are unlikely to find an enthusiastic (and skilled) teacher of Owen. But there are helps. There are some fine abridgments published by Banner of Truth that are a great place to start—and for many people they will be a great place to end. Sinclair Ferguson has written some introductory material to Owen (John Owen on the Christian Life), and even if you never read a Puritan you will be helped by J. I. Packer’s A Quest for Godliness: The Puritan Vision of the Christian Life.

TSS: Those are some excellent insights. Thank you… I think what makes your books so powerful is your candidness about your own personal sin. You have already shared a little but I wanted to ask you: You have been familiar with Owen’s works on sin now for a decade. How does the fight against sin change as the years go by? Easier? More joyful? More subtle? More Christ-centered?

KL: Your comment about my candidness about my own sin surprises me: although I opened The Enemy Within with a personal illustration from my own failure, I believe it’s the only such personal reference in the book. I never intended the book to be about me, though I wanted readers to know that the ideas I stole from Owen were as much for me as for anyone.

I suspect that everyone will find that his struggle with sin changes over time as he grows in wisdom. For me growth has been painfully slow, and it’s only when I stop and look carefully back over decades that I can see changes that remind me that God is at work. I wouldn’t say that anything has become easier, but I like your phrase “more joyful”—for it is increasingly so. The joy comes in times when I am less interested in figuring out how much I love God, and more delighted in the too-good-to-be-true truth that God loves me. And what has stirred me lately is that my increasing assurance of God’s love—built on more frequent reflection on the depths of the gospel of grace—steels me against temptation more than any fasting or self-discipline ever did.

TSS: I think the reason you appear so candid in my mind is how clearly you present your own sin in the opening of The Enemy Within. It was clear from those early pages that this was not a book about Owen, or about Owen’s book, not even just a book about sin, but the testimony of a man using Owen and his book to personally fight sin. There is a very personal aspect to both of your books, which comes from a sense of their sincerity, as though they are written to mentor the reader. The personal link between author and reader you build is quite rare…I like that you say you are still growing in grace. This gives me much to look forward to.

Speaking of John Owen, the Works of John Owen are accessible to pretty much anyone who wants them today. There are full versions, abridged versions and updated versions. You decided to completely re-write Owen’s works. Please explain how you ‘translated’ and why you were compelled to do so.

KL: When I discovered the value of Owen’s expositions of the scriptures and my heart, I wanted others to read him. And I didn’t want only pastors and antiquarians to read him—nor did I want only reformed Christians to read him. So I set out to find a way to strip away everything that would distract most readers today: Because it would wear most readers out, I reduced his redundancy; because it would divert attention from the main mission of battling the flesh, I eliminated his attacks against Roman Catholicism; because his vocabulary was elevated and antiquated (quick: tell me what “commination” is), I brought it down to earth and up to date; and because theological buzz-words tend to carry a lot of baggage with people, which would again distract from the mission, I avoided (where possible) highly charged words and stuck to biblical terminology (without compromising the theology).

Once I had done that, I decided I might as well just go all the way and completely repackage his ideas. In essence, I pretended his expositions were mine, and I figured out how I would try to get my (er, his) points across to my readers today. So I added my own illustrations and worked to express the kernel of his thoughts in the fewest words. Then I tried it out on real people to see what they thought, and from their comments I revised the manuscript.

TSS: So you have written books on the subjects on both the Glory of Christ (Through the Looking Glass) and the battle with sin (Enemy Within). Which work receives more attention?

KL: The Enemy Within has been more broadly received than I ever imagined, and Through the Looking Glass less.

TSS: Why do you think this is the case?

KL: I don’t have a clue. I find Owen’s meditations on the glory of Christ to be even more helpful against the flesh than his works on sin. I hope the reason is that there are other, far better works on Christ available—such as John Piper’s.

TSS: I’m uncertain of the ratio, but I would guess in the past 10 years there have been many more books printed on fighting sin (counseling, self-help, etc.) compared to those on the beauty of Christ… But you bring up an interesting point about the fight against sin. What particularly makes Owen’s work on the Glory of Christ “more helpful” in the fight against sin?

KL: His thesis is that we become what we worship (see Psalm 115:4-8 and 1 John 3:2). We all experience this—our lives are often shaped by the people and ideas that we admire and adore, whether or not we are conscious of the effects. Owen is able to linger over the beauty of Christ for hundreds of pages—and by so doing he trains me to reflect more fully on our dear Lord.

TSS: What other books and authors have most helped you meditate upon the beauty of Christ?

KL: I’m most stirred by the poetry of George Herbert [1593-1633]. I know that people don’t read much poetry these days—to their loss. For example, Herbert portrays his soul entering heaven as a conversation between a weary traveler and a gracious innkeeper whose name is Love. The pilgrim is burdened—especially with the sense that he is unworthy to approach Love and to rest. Love meets and overcomes every objection with a tenderness that is perfectly human, yet beyond anything we experience. In the final exchange the pilgrim finally agrees to come in, but only if he can serve. Love will have none of it—he insists that the traveler sit at the table and taste Love’s meat. Isn’t this what Jesus is like? The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve….

TSS: That does sound like an incredible poem. Thank you. … Your books were especially helpful for me when I directed a college ministry in Omaha. Both of them are easy to read, fun (at times) and biblically sound. I found them to be excellent books for group studies. What advice do you have for pastors or ministry leaders who want to use your books with others? In what situations have they been most blessed?

KL: Thank you for your kind comments—it always encourages me to hear that the books have helped someone.

I think a leader who wants to use any book with a group should (as best he can) get to know his group well, and find out what’s going on in their lives. As he leads the discussion he should help people to avoid the trap of sticking to the abstract, safe zone. Groups need to get to where they can really help each other at their points of need, which demands a willingness to let others inside their hearts (at least a little) to see those unpleasant weaknesses. Of course, groups need to get to this point gradually, as they develop trust over time. Perhaps The Enemy Within isn’t a good book for a group to start with—because it naturally leads toward discussion that could be uncomfortable (or even unfair) among people who are not well acquainted.

TSS: A few questions about your ministry. Have you ever been a pastor? What has your role been in your church?

KL: I served as Associate Pastor of University Presbyterian Church in Las Cruces, New Mexico, from 1989 to 1997. Since then I’ve been a manager and program manager in the computer industry in Austin, Texas. My family and I worship and serve at Redeemer Presbyterian Church, where I teach and write.

TSS: On October 14th, you are coming to Omaha, Nebraska to lead a conference. How many conferences have you done?

KL: I have chosen not to do many—and this is the first in a long time.

TSS: We are certainly looking forward to this rare conference opportunity. Speaking of upcoming ministry… What’s next for Kris Lundgaard?

KL: My family and I were recently invited to join a mission team in Trnava, Slovakia. We have just started our training and raising support, and we are doing our best to learn a little Slovak with our two younger sons who will go to the field with us. We hope to be able to leave for Slovakia by the summer of 2007, God willing.

TSS: That seems like a big shift from a computer manager and Christian writer. What caused this change or have you always dreamed of missions work?

KL: I can’t say it’s always been a dream, even though I’ve had lots of delightful involvement in short-term missions in Eastern Europe since 1990. It’s really more a matter of God’s providence—as usual He’s weaving together loose threads that seem unconnected. In this case my loose threads are an undergraduate degree in English, seminary training and ministry experience, and management in the I/T industry.

Believe it or not, the team in Trnava is looking for just those skills. What the team probably doesn’t realize is that they’ll benefit even more from my wife’s overwhelming love and hard work. And I expect our two sons to make a powerful impact on their Slovak friends over the years.

TSS: How can our readers learn more about your missions efforts and how can we support your efforts financially?

KL: Anyone who is interested in the ministry in Slovakia could write to me—there are few things I’d rather talk about these days. You can reach me at barset@earthlink.net. If you write, please mention “Slovakia mission” in the subject line, so I’ll know to let you past the spam filter.

TSS: Excellent. We will be praying for your endeavors on the mission field. And we thank you for your diligence in writing. So many have been blessed on paper and I can imagine the same Lord will bless your ministry for the gospel in Slovakia. Thank you for your time and God bless!

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Kris Lundgaard will be in Omaha, NE at Omaha Bible Church on Saturday October 14th to lead a conference titled “The Enemy Within”. Registration is open for men, women, and families. Mr. Lundgaard is scheduled to preach at the church on Sunday morning as well. Again, Lundgaard is the author of two excellent books, The Enemy Within: Straight Talk About the Power and Defeat of Sin (P&R, 1998 ) and Through the Looking Glass: Reflections on Christ That Change Us (P&R, 2000).

Book recommendations

Today, we have also been referencing two books written by John Owen and both original works are published by The Banner of Truth Trust. The entire 16-volume set of Owen’s works are a real treasure. Volume one of Owen’s Works contains the book ‘Meditations and Discourses on the Glory of Christ’ and volume six of the Works contains a number of books on the fight against sin. Volume six has been updated and will be released by Crossway in a few weeks under the title Overcoming Sin and Temptation.

A good introduction to Owen will be found in two other books — John Owen on the Christian Life by Sinclair B. Ferguson (BTT, 1987) and a more recent collection of essays titled John Owen: The Man and His Theology (P&R, 2003).

And as one final note: Mr. Lundgaard recommended that Christians should read good poetry. Soli Deo Gloria Publications has a volume of Puritan poetry that I enjoy and I think you may, too. The book is titled, Worthy is the Lamb: Puritan Poetry in Honor of the Savior (2004). Three of George Herbert’s poems appear in this book.

We close with the text of the poem Love (III) mentioned by Lundgaard…

Love bade me welcome: yet my soul drew back,
Guiltie of dust and sinne.
But quick-ey’d Love, observing me grow slack
From my first entrance in,
Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning,
If I lack’d any thing.

A guest, I answer’d, worthy to be here:
Love said, You shall be he.
I the unkinde, ungratefull? Ah my deare,
I cannot look on thee.
Love took my hand, and smiling did reply,
Who made the eyes but I?

Truth Lord, but I have marr’d them: let my shame
Go where it doth deserve.
And know you not, sayes Love, who bore the blame?
My deare, then I will serve.
You must sit down, sayes Love, and taste my meat:
So I did sit and eat.

The Puritan Study (Part 9) The Strategy of Building a Puritan Study

Tony Reinke Book reviews, BP > Reformation Heritage Books, BR > Banner of Truth, BR > Reformation Heritage Books, BR > Soli Deo Gloria Pub., C.H. Spurgeon, Commentaries, David Clarkson, Edward Reynolds, Great Preachers, Great Quotes, Jeremiah Burroughs, John Bunyan, John Flavel, John Newton, John Owen, Jonathan Edwards, Preacher's study, Puritan CD-Rom, Puritan Library, Puritans, Reading, Richard Sibbes, Thomas Boston, Thomas Brooks, Thomas Goodwin, Thomas Manton

Part 9: The Strategy of Building a Puritan Library

I assume many of you are like me, lacking access to a solid library of Puritan literature. Here in my hometown we have no seminary and it is rare to find a fellow believer who has even heard of Spurgeon, not to mention Boston, Manton and Goodwin.

So building a Puritan library was my responsibility. I just started buying Puritans that I had indexes for and especially the Puritans published by The Banner of Truth. I learned from both my successes and mistakes.

The Strategy

First, I assume you already spend a fair amount of money on books right now. If you are like me, you probably look around your library with regret at some of the volumes that serve no purpose in your expositional research. For years, my library suffered from a clear game plan.

A poorly planned library will lack important reference books like commentaries and Puritan sermons. It will be heavy on contemporary controversies and issues books. Read blogs if you want to be up-to-date on the current trends in the church. Buy commentaries and Puritans if you want a solid expositional library.

A solid library that helps support the preacher or writer in their expositional work is no accident.

This post will help you define your own personal game plan.

Bottom line

The Puritan Study I have described in this series comes to a grand total of $1,500.00. That sounds like a lot but it figures out to $1.40 a day for 3 years (which is about what I spend at Starbucks). And to have this entire library in three years is pretty fast!

I’ve broken down my list of Puritans into $500 segments. Again, this list is ordered by availability and usefulness of each author. Your first $500 will be the best-spent money. The second and third $500 increments are important but not immediate.

(Note: What follows is a simple strategy for building a Puritan library. Specific reviews of each author and set will follow the Puritan Study series. Pictures of each set can be seen here. Updated (3/17/07): Note that most of these resources can be found at a more reasonable price through Monergism Books. Please check them before making any purchases.)

Here is my strategy, broken into three phases…

// THE FIRST $500

1. Charles Haddon Spurgeon (63 sermon vols.; CD-Rom)

I cannot begin with any more important preacher than Charles (C.H.) Spurgeon. The Puritans thoroughly impact everything Spurgeon preached or wrote. Look at his commentary on the Psalms (The Treasury of David) and you will see why Spurgeon is a priceless Puritan resource. He is the great Puritan synthesizer. Spurgeon’s complete works total about 150 volumes and you can download them all for $15.00 or buy the CD-Rom for $20.00 from Ages software. (If you have extra money, I would recommend buying some printed volumes from Pilgrim Publications but especially his autobiography and the classic book on pastoral ministry, Lectures to My Students.) [Read Piper’s biography of Spurgeon here]

2. Jonathan Edwards (2 vol. works; printed)

An extraordinarily rich resource! These two volumes of works by Jonathan Edwards are gems to the Puritan researcher. I would recommend the Banner of Truth volumes for their sturdy binding. You can buy volumes one and two here in the Banner of Truth editions or a cheaper version. The complementary text files can be found online for free. [Read Piper’s biography of Edwards here]

3. John Bunyan (3 vol. works; printed)

John Bunyan is most famous for his novel, The Pilgrim’s Progress. But he was also an incredibly gifted (and imaginative) preacher. These three clothbound volumes from the Banner of Truth are well built and come with an excellent topical index. You can find them for about $89.00. All of the associated text files can be found online for free. [Read Piper’s biography of Bunyan here]

4. Thomas Boston (12 vol. works; printed)

Jonathan Edwards considered Thomas Boston, “a truly great divine.” Boston is one of my personal favorites. These precious volumes have provided me many years of sermon quotes and exegetical thoughts on God’s Word. The entire 12-volume set has been recently published by Tentmaker in a beautiful cloth binding and is available in the United States for $325.00 here or $250.00 here. Worth every penny! You can buy the incredible Memoirs alone. [Read our full review of this set here]

5. Thomas Manton (22 vol. works; CD-Rom)

A set that is simply too large to make affordable in print format. The CD-Rom of Manton’s complete 22-volume set can be purchased for only $10.00. A great price for a must-have set of works! The first three volumes are avaliable in print.

// THE SECOND $500

6. John Owen (16 vol. but especially vols. 1,2 and 6; printed)

All of John Owen’s 16-volumes works are excellent. I especially have found volumes one, two, six and seven of great use. You can add other volumes in the future but these three are essential. The volumes are clothbound (as you would expect from the Banner of Truth) and run about $25.00 each or $75.00 total. The text files are available online for free but you will want to read these volumes cover-to-cover, making the printed works a must. [Read Piper’s biography of Owen here]

7. John Flavel (6 vol. works; printed)

Another excellent Puritan I have used on several occasions. Your meditations and sermons will be greatly blessed by Flavel. The Banner of Truth volumes are clothbound and beautiful. They sell for $150.00.

8. Richard Sibbes (7 vol. works; printed)

The “sweet dropper,” Sibbes was an incredible Puritan preacher. The Banner of Truth volumes are clothbound and run $126.00.

9. Jeremiah Burroughs (misc. books; printed)

Burroughs is the most difficult author on the list because his works are not collected and published by various companies. Several of his works comprise the Gospel Life series ($91.00). The six titles include Gospel Worship, Gospel Fear, Gospel Conversation, Gospel Revelation, Gospel Remission, and Gospel Reconciliation. Beyond this there are other Burroughs titles in print including The Sinfulness of Sin or The Evil of Evil ($17.00), The Excellency of a Gracious Spirit, Hope ($15.00), Irenicum to the Lovers of Truth and Peace ($22.00), The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment ($6.25), The Saints’ Happiness, The Saints’ Treasury and A Treatise of Earthly-Mindedness. All told, it would be easy to spend $180.00 on Burroughs alone. Still, his works are indexed and very valuable.

10. Thomas Brooks (6 vol. works; printed)

The Complete Works of Thomas Brooks in six volumes is available in cloth binding from Banner of Truth for $140.00. One Puritan scholar says of Brooks, “He had a body of divinity in his head and the power of it in his heart.” Incredible material!

// THE THIRD $500

11. Thomas Goodwin (12 vol. works; printed)

Reformation Heritage Books has recently reprinted the paperback version of Goodwin’s 12 volume works. This is a great service to the Puritan community and can be purchased for $240.00. I have yet to read a Puritan that glorifies the person and works of Christ more than Goodwin. [read our full review here]

12. John Newton (6 vol. works; printed)

“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me” are the words of John Newton. An excellent preacher, his complete works are available in cloth binding for $144.00. [Read Piper’s biography of Newton here]

13. David Clarkson (3 vol. works; printed)

Not as experiential as the authors above, but well indexed and valuable. The works of David Clarkson are available for $62.00.

14. Edward Reynolds (vols. 1,4,5,6 of 6 vol. works; printed)

Like Burroughs, the complete works of Reynolds are not available. Today there are five volumes in print: Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Meditations on the Holy Sacrament of the Lord’s Last Supper, Preaching Christ, Sinfulness Of Sin and Treatise on the Passions and Faculties of the Soul. All these valuable volumes can be purchased for about $115.00. Spurgeon wrote, “Reynolds was a man of vast learning and thoroughly evangelical spirit.” The digital files are beginning to appear on Google books for free download.

Conclusion

By this point you may feel totally overwhelmed (and broke). Remember, this is a long-term goal.

I don’t even think it would be beneficial to buy all these works at once! Slowly add works as you grow comfortable with the ones you already have.

If you follow this plan you will spend your money wisely and have a storehouse of expositional material at arm’s-reach. This is my promise to you: Even if the Lord blesses you with 30 more years of expositional ministry, you will never exhaust the Puritan Study you built in three years.

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Next time … Part 10: Concluding Thoughts, part 1
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The Puritan Study (Part 2) The Rules of a Puritan Library

Tony Reinke Book reviews, Books, BR > Banner of Truth, Christian book review, Great Quotes, Puritan CD-Rom, Puritan Library, Puritans, Reading, The Puritan Study

Part 2: The Rules of a Puritan Library

In the remaining weeks we will be spending a lot of time discussing how to efficiently use the Puritans. In this and the next post, I want to take some time to define what a solid Puritan library looks like. Today we lay the ground rules for what follows.

It is my view that the most useful Puritan Study (or Library) will be well-indexed and use both printed volumes and electronic files.

E-books vs. Print books

Open this question, and memories of Ali vs. Frazier or Tyson vs. Holyfield come to mind. Debate whether the Puritans will endure in e-books or print books, and the two sides strap on the gloves and enter the ring for a showdown.

Let’s step back from the debate and make some clarifications.

No question, the computer has changed the way we pass words around. More and more Puritan books are being scanned into .pdf format for use on a computer, and many of these are being converted into text files for easy searching.

Here’s a little more info about the two types of electronic Puritan books commonly available today.

PDF picture files. Some electronic publishers take the Puritan texts and scan them into a computer as a picture file. The pictures can be seen on your computer and are an identical copy of the book page. Usually these are not text-recognized so you cannot conduct a text search or copy and paste. These files are very common with the Puritans but they also make for large and cumbersome files. (My powerful Apple PowerBook G4 can hardly keep up with a 100 MB file off the hard drive.) So unless you have the most powerful computer on the market, it is hard to efficiently use these large .pdf files.

Text files. These are more rare because they demand careful editing of the raw text. The raw text is generated by a computer deciphering words from the printed page through a scan of the page. Because many Puritan books are old editions, the computer doesn’t perfectly transcribe the words and so time-consuming editing is critical. This text file makes for much smaller and convenient file. But even better, they are searchable. There is a growing collection of these files freely available at www.CCEL.org . The Puritans are in the public domain so anyone can scan and distribute the texts freely. More about that later.

Back to the ring. Who is going to win the fight? The old dusty volume or the energetic young e-book? If we look at e-books and print books honestly, we see that they are more compatible than at first glance. In fact, I would argue that e-books and print books make a better matrimonial match than a boxing match.

For example, print books travel easily. A volume travels in the airport and across the country, without plugs or electricity. You can underline in it and write marginal notes. On the other side, the e-book text can be searched in seconds. But who spends hours at their computer reading through a Puritan e-book? (Ouch, my eyes water at the thought.) Print books are much easier to read. Print books usually include very helpful indexes at the end and since e-books are often repaginated, those indexes become worthless in text files. With e-books, I can keep hundreds of volumes on my laptop when I’m out of town.

My point: We need both e-books and printed books. Let them live in peace.

One example

Probably the best example I can give you is my use of the 2-volume Works of Jonathan Edwards. (No preacher should be without them, Martyn Lloyd-Jones said.) And no preacher should be without the free text files either.

The two work beautifully together. The text file is easy to search and the print volume is nice to read.

Let’s say we are preaching through Ephesians chapter 2, and we want to see what Edwards had to say. We open the text file to the first volume. And since the text file uses Roman numerals we do a quick search on “Eph. ii.”. We see there are 35 references to Ephesians 2 in the first volume of Edwards’ Works in about 3 seconds.

The reference you see on the screen shot looks like an interesting one. Notice this text file (from the CCEL) includes the printed page number in the left column. I open the Banner of Truth volumes in my library to page 628. Where was this reference by Edwards? A sermon? A book? What was Edward’s main point in using Ephesians 2 here? These questions are more easily answered by reading the printed book.

Wasn’t that easy?

Now here is the shocker: I personally believe e-books actually make the printed books MORE valuable! They certainly make the printed volumes more useful. [One idea: Puritan publishers should consider bundling their printed volumes with a free CD of electronic volumes.]

Remember Thomas Edison who invented the phonograph (‘sound’ + ‘writing’) in 1876? Well Edison proudly predicted that by the year 2000 audio books would eliminate the need for printed books. He was wrong. Printed books, like diamonds, are forever.

Q: Should I pay for Puritan CD-Roms?

Generally speaking I say “No,” don’t buy Puritan CD-Roms. As you will see there are exceptions to this rule but most Puritans are going online at an amazing rate. Just look at the files available on Puritan John Owen from CCEL (here). And all these are free.

Because almost all of the Puritans (including Spurgeon) are public domain, nobody has the rights to the text itself. Anyone can take the text and publish them as they wish. And that is what people are doing online.

Wait patiently. Pretty much all the important Puritan files you see on these expensive CD-Roms sets will be available for free (and in searchable text form) in the coming years. So if you own the CD-Roms already consider unloading them on Ebay while they still have value. Invest your money in printed books.

Indexes

Indexes are the key to the Puritan Study I am laying out before you. I don’t have the time to sift through 100,000 pages of Puritan literature to create my own index (and I’m certain you don’t either). So the best Puritan Study will be built from the indexes currently available.

The following two indexes are especially valuable. (Ironically, one is electronic and one printed.)

1. A free online index. This index lists the Puritan sermons by sermon text. It’s especially valuable because it includes an index to the sermons of Charles Spurgeon. There is no topical index. Later in the series I’ll show you how to get around this hitch.

2. A Guide to the Puritans by Robert P. Martin (Banner of Truth, 0851517137). This volume comprises two indexes (by text and by topic). Like the free resource above, this book is a handy textual reference to the Puritan sermons (minus Spurgeon). But what makes this especially valuable is the topical index of the sermons. You can look up any topic – like ‘Christ > Pre-incarnation existence of’ – and see that both Flavel and Manton preached sermons on the subject. No true Puritan researcher should be without this volume.

So these are the ground rules for my Puritan Study. I value both the e-books and printed volumes. And a good index is critical.

Tomorrow we will look specifically at the most useful (and best indexed) of the Puritans.

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Next time … Part 3: The People of a Puritan Library

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Book review: The Banner of Truth Magazine: Issues 1-16 (0851519199)

Tony Reinke Book reviews, Books, BR > Banner of Truth, Christian book review, Great Quotes

Iain Murray was just 24 years old when he began publishing a little magazine titled The Banner of Truth. The purpose of the magazine was to confront contemporary weakness in the church (loose doctrine, lazy preaching and pragmatic evangelism) and allow the Puritans and Reformers to speak to the issues.

In Sept. 1955 the first issue was released because “There are many today who regard truth and error as matters of small consequence; if a man lives rightly, they say, it matters not much what his beliefs and opinions are” (3).

Admittedly, some of the language in these early magazines is too sharp and the labels are sometimes too general. Fifty years after the first magazine, Murray admits regret on both counts. “When the magazine began I was only twenty-four years old, and it is doubtful if that is the age when one should attempt to be a reformer. Youth is ever possessed with more confidence than wisdom” (xiv). I think many of us can personally relate. Murray humbly presents these issues unedited.

The first 16 issues consist of 90 brief editorials, commentary excerpts and biographies. Subject matters range from a defense of the doctrines of Calvinism to evangelism, revival and family issues. Most of the book, and especially the first six issues, are largely given to defending a biblically accurate soteriology. But the seventh issue shifts to matters of the home and family, and from then many of the issues feature topics on growth in godliness.

In all, there is a good balance of doctrine and devotion covering a wide variety of issues and drawing from several writers of past centuries. Because of its diversity, the lack of subject index will make the volume a bit difficult to reference.

This collection of magazines has historical significance, too, as it traces the early desires of Murray to reprint the Puritan/Reformed thought to a new generation. We take for granted the wealth of Puritan reprints from the Banner of Truth Trust, but their books would not be printed until the magazine’s ninth issue. It is interesting to read Murray’s anticipation for Puritan and Reformed reprints for his generation.

I found this volume especially valuable because of the short biographical sketches on Martin Luther, Howell Harris, Robert Murray M’Cheyne, John Elias, John Knox, George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, Charles Hodge, A.W. Pink, Thomas Charles, Thomas Cranmer, John Angell James and Brownlow North. Murray’s lively biographical writing raises the leaders of former generations from history books and walks them into the contemporary age.

Over the past 50 years, Iain Murray has been a reformer, re-focusing the church upon the authority of Scripture, the biblical accuracy of Calvinism and the reliance upon the sovereignty of God in evangelism. Failures on these central topics have always been (and will ever be) dangers for the church. Murray reminds us not to forget the many faithful men who have gone before us in previous generations and to follow in their footsteps. This collection clarifies the message of the church, motivates faithfulness for pastors and points back to the legacies we now continue.

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Where this volume fits in my library (in ranking order):

Soteriology > Calvinism > explained and defended
Biography > Giants of the Faith
Ecclesiology > Dangers to the Church
Church History > Reformation
Christian family > Advice & Instruction

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The Banner of Truth Magazine: Issues 1-16, Iain Murray, 0851519199, 9780851519197, 516 pages, clothbound, no index

Tony’s Book Club pick #3: The Everlasting Righteousness by Horatius Bonar (0851516556, book review)

Tony Reinke Banner of Truth, Book reviews, Books, BR > Banner of Truth, Cross of Christ, Cross-centered life, Horatius Bonar, John Bunyan

Martin Luther once said, “This article of justification by grace alone, through faith alone, is the head and cornerstone of the church, which alone begets, nourishes, builds, preserves and protects the church. Without it, the church of God cannot subsist but one hour.” He was not overstating this fact. At the heart of biblical Christianity stands the doctrine of justification by faith alone in Christ alone. And no Top Ten list of books is complete without volume on this great doctrine.

Today, God’s grace has provided Christians with growing depository of excellent books on this issue. The God Who Justifies by James R. White comes to mind, and R.C. Sproul, John Piper and C.J. Mahaney have also contributed excellent contemporary works. But I am frequently drawn back to Horatius Bonar’s brief and devotional work.

Written in 1874 and republished by The Banner of Truth in 1993, The Everlasting Righteousness stands (in my opinion) as the greatest book on the importance of the Cross and our imputed righteousness. It is clear, concise, devotional and beautifully written.

So what does Bonar mean by the phrase, The Everlasting Righteousness?

“We are hidden in Christ. God seeks for us; and when at last He discovers us in our hiding-place, it is not we that He finds, but Christ; so complete is the exchange of persons, so perfect and so glorious the disguise. Yet is is not a disguise which shall ever be taken off, nor of which shall have cause to be ashamed. It remains ours for ever. It is an everlasting righteousness” (pp. 79-80).

For Bonar, however, the importance of the Cross extends beyond the Christian’s conversion. Justification ushers in a Cross-centered life for today and an eternal Cross-centered life to come. This emphasis on the Cross-centered life is where Bonar really shines:

“… never shall the redeemed be independent of the cross, or cease to draw from its fulness” (p. 64).

“The broken body and shed blood of the Son of God form the viands on which we feast; and it is under the shadow of the cross that we sit down to partake of these, and find refreshment for our daily journey, strength for our hourly warfare. His flesh is meat indeed, His blood is drink indeed” (p. 125).

And my favorite quote: “Christ crucified is to be the burden of our preaching, and the substance of our belief, from first to last. At no time in the saint’s life does he cease to need the Cross” (p. 117). The Christian faith and life centers around the Cross. There are no comparable substitutes. We NEED the Cross at every point. (And wouldn’t our lives and sermons be improved if we frequently used the phrase, “need the Cross”?)

Dwelling upon justification as crucial for the Christian life, John Bunyan once wrote, “Think not that to live always on Christ for justification is a low and beggarly thing, – a staying at the foundation. For, let me tell you, depart from a sense of the meritorious means of your justification before God, and you will quickly grow light, and frothy, and vain.”

Because Bonar is clear on the doctrine of justification, he is also clear on related issues like the ugliness and reality of sin, the illustrations of biblical imputation, the necessity of a blood sacrifice and the dangers of wrong views of justification.

If you are looking for a readable book that exalts the Cross-centered life, relishes in the righteousness found only in the substitution of the Lamb, and magnifies the worth and beauty of Christ, turn to a talented hymn writer. Horatius Bonar has given us a clear book of great value on the central doctrine of the church. His poetic style will warm the heart after multiple readings and his clarity will equip the preacher with a lifetime of precious quotes.

The beauty of The Everlasting Righteousness is that it will hold us to our foundation and keep our hearts from growing frothy and vain.
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The Everlasting Righteousness, Horatius Bonar, Banner of Truth, 1874/1993, 0851516556, paperback, 212 pages

Tony’s Book Club pick #5: The Glory of Christ by John Owen (volume 1 of complete works, 0851511236)

Tony Reinke Banner of Truth, Book reviews, Books, BR > Banner of Truth, Great Quotes, John Owen, spurgeon


I probably don’t need to remind you that I’m not Oprah. But if I had my own book club these would be my top picks. Yesterday I gave you a quick glimpse into my top 20. In the coming days I will give more details on my top five picks. Here then is the first installment…

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#5: The Glory of Christ by John Owen

In a pop-Christian publishing world, it is difficult to find great books exalting the beauty and excellency of Jesus Christ. Yet a study of the person and work of Christ is the most beautiful, rewarding and life-changing study for our souls.

I cherish the writings of Puritan John Owen because he forces me to love what God loves, to cherish what He cherishes and delight in what He delights. It may sound simple, but really the demands here are quite high and the product is very rare.

Owen himself gives us a good summary of the book:

“That which at present I design to demonstrate is, that the beholding of the glory of Christ is one of the greatest privileges and advancements that believers are capable of in this world, or that which is to come. It is that whereby they are first gradually conformed unto it, and then fixed in the eternal enjoyment of it. For here in this life, beholding his glory, they are changed or transformed into the likeness of it, 2 Cor. 3:18; and hereafter they shall be ‘for ever like unto him,’ because they ‘shall see him as he is,’ 1 John 3:1, 2. Hereon do our present comforts and future blessedness depend. This is the life and reward of our souls. ‘He that has seen him has seen the Father also,’ John 14:9. For we discern the ‘light of the knowledge of the glory of God only in the face of Jesus Christ,’ 2 Cor. 4:6” (pp. 287-288).

And this is the theme Owen develops for the reader.

Now, as you saw from the quote above, Owen is not easy to read. But if you are patient and willing to rephrase his concepts into contemporary language, this volume is loaded with a lifetime of sermon quotes and insights on the person and work of Christ. Even worship leaders will find much usefulness in Owen.

The volume concludes with a great and passionate plea for the glory of Christ to be applied to the reader’s heart. A study of Christology is incomplete until the invitation is offered because “wherever there is a declaration of the excellencies of Christ, in his person, grace, or office, it should be accompanied with an invitation and exhortation unto sinners to come unto him” (p. 419).

This is what sets John Owen apart from other books written on the same subject: He calls for a response. John Owen is not content to paint a biblical picture of Christ’s glory and then leave the reader alone to get the point herself. Owen closes with clear, real-life application.

Owen’s understanding of Christology demands a response from the sinner. For Owen, to continue in unbelief is to despise the glory of Christ. Standing on the sidelines and thinking you see the beauty of Christ but do not hold Christ as your own, is to despise Christ’s person and office and the wisdom of God (p. 424). In other words, the more beautiful Christ is, the more important personal faith becomes and the more heinous the sin of personal unbelief.

I love Owen because he cuts it straight. He is an expert biblical exegete but he is a compassionate shepherd of souls, too. If your soul is dry and you need to feed upon the beauty of Christ, pick up a copy of The Glory of Christ and let its truth percolate down through your heart and fuel your Christian life.

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Finding The Glory of Christ by John Owen… Over at the CCEL you can download this book for free. Or you can purchase the clothbound volume published by The Banner of Truth.

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The Glory of Christ, John Owen, Banner of Truth, complete works, 0851511236