Jonathan Edwards

DIY: Blank Bible (part 1)

Tony Reinke Blank Bible, BR > Crossway, ESV, Greek interlinear, Jonathan Edwards

DIY: Blank Bible (part 1)

Intro

In August we ran a short series on how to make a Jonathan Edwards blank bible – how to cut and rebind a bible with blank pages interwoven for note taking (see part 1, 2 and 3). I was hoping at least 10 of my friends would find it useful. At least a few readers would be entertained at some hombre loco who took a table saw to new bibles.

The actual response was overwhelming.

Over 4,000 hits in three-day period overshadowed all expectations. Jonathan Edwards fans from around the Web stopped by to have a look. Edwards scholars stopped to explain what the original Jonathan Edwards bible looks like and to give insight how his bible was made. Dozens of blogs linked to the series, pastors and Christians from around the world poured encouraging emails into my inbox as they took up the project themselves.

But that original series had its deficiencies.

Judging from the amount of questions that we raised at the end of the series, I had not explained certain steps well enough. There was a lack of photographs. We needed better explanations on how to clamp the bible before cutting and more info on the paper we used. After the first series was done, binding experts sent their insights into alternate options for those who cannot (for example) use a saw to cut the original binding off.

It was obvious I needed a do-over. So this series is my attempt to go back and recreate that original series, to highlight all the steps involved and give better directions.

Overview

I am firmly committed to keeping my notes on Scripture as close to Scripture as possible. Ideally I have always wanted a bible that will provide me enough room to keep a lot of notes bound with the text in which they originate (this is the genius of the Jonathan Edwards blank bible). I have looked at some journaling bibles, but I needed more space. I have looked at bibles in three-ring binders but they are very bulky and awkward and need my entire desk cleared out to open it up (and those three rings are always in the way).

But there was a bigger hurdle in my search for the perfect blank bible.

Those in the bible publishing industry tell me the cost of bible paper continues to increase. And because a blank bible doubles the amount of paper, it is unlikely that a blank bible will be published due to affordability. In other words, if you want one, you need to be willing to make it yourself.

So that’s what I did.

It wasn’t hard, just a simple process of taking my ESV bible through eight steps: cut, rip, clamp, saw, slice, stuff, punch and bind [insert grimacing sound from Justin Taylor here].

This time I hope to explain (more fully and clearly) each step as we progress.

[BTW: This exact process is also useful to make ‘blank books’ (like the Valley of Vision) or, minus blank pages, to spiral bind a book fitted for a cardio machine at the gym.]

The bible

In our first blank bible series used the English Standard Version, classic reference edition. We ended up with three volumes. If I were to do it again I would use the same bible. The paper is very easy to work with in the binding process (and the center-column references are excellent, too). I continue to use that first blank bible (although it’s funny that nobody asked me if my wife ever got her ‘Karalee’s blank bible’).

Last time we heard from a number of readers who wanted to create a blank bible with interlinear bibles of the Old and New Testament. And so with the recent release of the long-awaited ESV English-Greek Reverse Interlinear New Testament, we believe it will best suit our needs (though just the New Testament, it will be larger than the previous bible project).

Because this interlinear will provide more space in the New Testament than the previous blank bible project, it will be most useful for taking sermon notes where much space is needed. The blank bible, having less space is most useful for personal study reflections where I have more time to think and express my thoughts concisely.

Overview

The series will be broken into three sections

1. Cutting, ripping, clamping, sawing
2. Slicing and stuffing
3. Punching and binding

Provided these turn out, we will conclude the series with a little contest.

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Next time … DIY: Blank Bible (part 2) Cut, Rip, Clamp, Saw

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Special thanks… This project is possible by the graciousness of Justin, Stephen and Kay (go Huskers!) of Good News and Crossway publisher. Not only is Crossway committed to publish books that are doctrinally accurate but they are also very generous with their materials. They reflect in character what they communicate in print. Thank you.

Q&A: Which Puritan to start with?

Tony Reinke BR > Banner of Truth, John Bunyan, Jonathan Edwards

Mr. Reinke,

Grace to you! I have really enjoyed your website and I still have much of it to study. I was hoping to ask your advice. I am not a pastor, however I really enjoy reading or trying to read the Puritans. I am particularly interested in them as they seem to know “heart religion” and treasuring Christ above all else.

If you were to start off with one of Banner of Truth’s multi-volume works which one would you start off with? I am considering Thomas Brooks (I really have like Precious Remedies and Heaven on Earth). Also, there is John Bunyan who seems to have lived on the edge of eternity as John Piper pointed out in his great biographical address. John Flavel is one I am really interested in as well. I know he was a favorite of Robert M’Cheyne and, I believe Whitefield, and that about cinches him as my choice.

Your review of Flavel was also noteworthy, but I wanted to put these other two to you as well. Others seem to be a bit more involved or just too long for me at this time. Any advice you have would be greatly appreciated. Lord bless you!

Very Respectfully,
James L.
Alabama

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Hello James,

Excellent question. I would not start with Edwards, Owen or Goodwin. Flavel and Brooks are excellent but they can wait. If I were starting over I would begin with John Bunyan. His three volume works are a real treasure, easy to read, very well edited, and with an excellent topical index! Probably what makes them most useful is Bunyan’s wide range of topics (making them useful on any number of issues) and the wide variety of literary formats (allegory, autobiography, sermon, poem, etc.). When you start thinking about the towering figures of the Puritans — Jonathan Edwards, John Owen, Thomas Goodwin — surprisingly it’s a tinker I would select as the most important to start with.

I love John Owen’s testimony about Bunyan. Piper writes, “The greatest Puritan theologian and contemporary of Bunyan, John Owen, when asked by King Charles why he, a great scholar, went to hear an uneducated tinker preach said, ‘I would willingly exchange my learning for the tinker’s power of touching men’s hearts.'” Wow — to think those words were delivered to a king!

Bottom line: Start with Bunyan then Jonathan Edwards and build your library from there working down the list of 14. You may consider bypassing Goodwin and sticking to abridged Owen volumes.

Blessings,

Tony

Coming soon … another blank bible project

Tony Reinke Blank Bible, Jonathan Edwards

I have long awaited the arrival of the new ESV English-Greek Reverse Interlinear New Testament. But especially because I will attempt to duplicate the infamous ‘blank bible’ we completed earlier this year. It will give me the opportunity to answer (in pictures) the questions you posed in the last series like how I clamped and cut the binding. I will also take my camera to the office supply store to document the steps that take place there.

I will announce when I begin the project, which should be soon …

And maybe, just maybe, I will make two – one to use and one to give to one blessed reader (but please don’t email just yet).

The Puritan Study (picture)

Tony Reinke C.H. Spurgeon, Edward Reynolds, Great Quotes, Jeremiah Burroughs, John Flavel, John Newton, John Owen, Jonathan Edwards, Puritan CD-Rom, Puritan Library, Puritans, Richard Sibbes, The Puritan Study, Thomas Boston, Thomas Brooks, Thomas Goodwin

 

Click on pictures for larger image.

Not pictured – Manton on CD, Bunyan 3 vol. works, Goodwin works, Reynolds works and volumes 3-12 of the Boston works. Each day the full sets are coming together.

UPDATED 10/3 … new pictures

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Works of Edward Reynolds

(Soli Deo Gloria)

Works of Thomas Goodwin

(Reformation Heritage Books)

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Book review: Unless You Repent, collected sermons of Jonathan Edwards (1567690602)

Tony Reinke Book reviews, BR > Soli Deo Gloria Pub., Great Quotes, Hell, Jonathan Edwards, Judgement of God

Book review

Unless You Repent by Jonathan Edwards

The faithful preaching of God’s judgment upon sinners sparks revival. America’s most spiritually traumatic era — the Great Awakening between the 1730s and 1740s — reminds us that when hell is prominent in the pulpit, souls are sobered, awakened and converted.

Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758 ) was both one of the most prominent preachers of the Great Awakening and the author of one of the most powerful sermons on God’s judgment. Sinners in the Hands of and Angry God was his.

For Edwards, a firm understanding of hell was central to the message of the Cross, and central to preserving the justice and glory and perfections of God. In one way or another, every eternal truth is tied to God’s judgment in some way. And so God’s judgment retained a central place in the pulpit for Edwards.

Many of you may have already read Edwards’ most famous sermon on hell. But there are several other sermons that develop this same theme from different texts. Most of these have never been published! Recently, Soli Deo Gloria published a volume titled, Unless You Repent: Fifteen previously unpublished sermons on the fate awaiting the impenitent. The sermons were compiled and edited by Dr. Don Kistler.

I have seen a number of collections of previously unpublished Edwards sermons, and this volume stands as one of the best compiled and most helpful for the preacher.

Examples

Here are a few excerpts that stand out.

Speaking to a superficial, appearance-saturated climate similar to ours, Edwards pierced hearts by presenting the horrors of hell clearly.

“Just as bodies of the saints shall be made beautiful and glorious, like Christ’s most glorious body, so we may conclude that, on the contrary, the bodies of the wicked will be of a most hideous, ghastly appearance. In the world, sometimes a filthy, loathsome soul dwells in a beautiful body; but then they will appear externally as they are internally: as their souls are most deformed, so their bodies will be of a most odious form. They will appear frightful, like devils; there will be that in their aspect that will show the sinfulness and hatefulness of their disposition” (p. 108).

As you can see from this one example, these sermons are extraordinary in their description of hell. Specifically, this volume showcases Edwards’ unparalleled ability to illustrate the biblical terms of God’s eternal judgment (like winepress, furnace, etc). Here, Edward’s explains the worm that does not die:

“The expression of the worm’s not dying in the carcasses of these men [Mark 9:44; Isa. 66:24] alludes to this: when a dead carcass lies upon the face of the earth till it begins to putrefy, it will presently be overrun with worms; the carcass will be filled within and without with worms gnawing upon it. And the expression of their fires not being quenched alludes to the custom of the heathens when any of them died to burn them in a fire and so entomb their ashes. Now the prophet says that their worm shall not die. When a dead carcass lies putrefying upon the earth, after a while the carcass will be consumed and the worms will die; but the worms that shall gnaw upon the carcasses of these men shall not die, that is, their souls shall always be tormented. The similitude holds forth exceeding misery. How miserable must a man be to be alive and yet have his flesh, his bowels, and his vital parts all filled with worms, continually gnawing upon the body as they to upon a dead carcass” (pp. 128-129).

Such powerful imagery is fitting for the horrors of God’s eternal judgment and Edwards is competent to paint these images for his hearers.

Edwards sermons are clearly driven by the biblical language of hell. For Edwards, God’s judgment is fair and justified by the offenses of the sinner towards God. His judgments are self-glorifying and eternal in duration (Rev. 19:1). It is a judgment reserved for the next world and so it’s ignored by the foolish in this world. It is a judgment that rests upon each man, woman and child for each sin, even something so minor as calling your brother a ‘fool.’ It is a judgment necessary from a sovereign authority towards rebellion. It’s consistent with basic reasoning. His judgment is sworn, authenticated and confirmed by an oath. It is the due judgment upon sinners that rob God of His glory. Hell is misery to the soul, without pity or mercy from God. It is the unmixed winepress of wrath, where the vessels of wrath are filled to the brim with wrath. It is no mere candle flame but a stoked furnace of raging destruction. Hell is to be banished from everything that is good and perfect and pleasurable. It is a wrath of pure darkness, pure fire, intolerable and immediate. It is a judgment growing hotter each day upon sinner, a pain for both soul and body from head to toe. It is a judgment un-exaggerated by strong biblical language.

To continue unmoved by the doctrine of hell, is to continue upon a path towards it. It is a wakeup call to all sinners and it reminds us of the wrath poured out on God’s own Son for us. Hell exults the grace and mercy of God. Hell is central to God, central to Christ and central to the gospel.

As Edwards warns, “Unless you frequently think of it [hell], you will never take any considerable care or pains to escape it” (p. 115).

Format

Unless You Repent, contains fifteen total sermons. All are re-typeset. One sermon is a fragment (sermon #6) and one has already been printed (sermon #10 appears in volume 14 of the Yale edition of The Works of Jonathan Edwards).

An incredibly powerful book, filled with well-developed thoughts and expositions that you would expect from Edwards. And the cover? Let’s just say this is one of the few Edwards titles you can judge by its cover.

Edwards is not content with damnation, but turns the focus to Christ who takes all the ugliness of our sin upon Himself and opens the door of eternal joy. Unless You Repent is an excellent source of meditation upon the doctrine of God’s judgment. But it will also prove useful to reach the lost, especially church-goers who are awakened to their sin but have not ‘closed with Christ’ (to use a Puritan phrase).

If history is repeated, the fires of awakening in America will not flame again until the church allows God’s justice and the horrors of hell to once again become central in the pulpit. As one contemporary preacher says, our pulpits must be dipped in the blood of the Lamb and singed by the fire of hell. Throughout church history, Edwards here remains our most excellent pattern.

Title: Unless You Repent
Author: Jonathan Edwards
ISBN: 1567690602
Published: 2005
Binding: hardcover/cloth (light olive, gold gilding)
Pages: 232
Dust jacket: yes (best Edwards cover ever?)
Text: re-typeset
Topical Index: no (unnecessary; one-topic book)
Textual index: no (helpful, but unnecessary)
Publisher: Soli Deo Gloria, Ligonier Ministries

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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