Category: Reading Journal

A Review of The Democratization of American Christianity by Nathan O. Hatch

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https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0300050607/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=bcnewton-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0300050607&linkId=f96ebbb86eb4eed82d2146e275ca6610 The Democratization of American Christianity was published in 1989 by Nathan O. Hatch, who was at that time a professor of history and vice president for Graduate Studies and Research at the University of Notre Dame. Through this study of history, Hatch aims to describe how “the wave of popular religious movements that broke …

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The Study of God | Charles Spurgeon

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Knowing God by J. I. Packer is one of my readings for teaching over the Attributes of God, and it is the kind of book that upon beginning makes you immediately wish that you had read it earlier. This quotation, however, is not from Packer; instead, it is a portion of a sermon from Charles …

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Scandalously Simple

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Reading through Joe Barnard's The Way Forward has been painful in a good sort of way. Written for the spiritual growth of men in the 21st Century, the first third is a diagnosis of the problem, of what keeps us from maturing in Christ as we should. The following quotation is from that section of …

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Only One Thing Is Necessary

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The following quotation comes from Martin Luther's treatise On Christian Liberty (pp. 5-7): One thing, and only one thing, is necessary for Christian life, righteousness, and freedom. That one thing is the most holy Word of God, the gospel of Christ, as Christ says, John 11[:25], "I am the resurrection and the life; he who …

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My 10 Favorite Books of 2019

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With 2019 drawing to a close, I’ll throw my best of list into the mix as well, so below are my favorite books that I read this year. 1. The Lord’s Prayer by Thomas Watson Technically, Watson’s treatment of the Lord’s Prayer is the third volume of A Body of Divinity, but it requires no …

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Why I’m Not a Stoic

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Of all the various philosophies to choose from, Stoicism is particularly fascinating to me (as I've noted previously). Far from the stereotype of seeking to remain emotionless through life, Stoics seeks to live each day as if they might not have another, to master their primal appetites and desires, and to face with resolve and …

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Bonhoeffer on Stupidity

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The following quotation (from Bonhoeffer's Letters and Papers from Prison) is a section of a Christmas letter that he sent to his fellow co-conspirators, called After Ten Years, in which "he reflected on the years since Hitler came to power and the resistance into which he had been so ineluctably drawn" (xii). As with every quotations, I …

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Thomas Watson on the Danger of Pleasure

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The following is the seventh of Watson's nine points on how not to miss God's kingdom. It comes from his treatment of the second petition of the Lord's Prayer, thy kingdom come. At nearly 100 pages, the entire chapter reads like a lengthy booklet, but I easily count it as one of the most impactful texts …

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Calvin on Avoiding Ungodliness and Worldly Desires

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While reading through Banner of Truth's beautiful gift edition of Calvin's A Guide to Christian Living, which is itself a short section from his Institutes, I read this powerful section and thought it quite worth sharing. But really, buy and read the whole thing. Ligonier also published a translation called A Little Book on the Christian Life. Elsewhere …

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Thomas Watson on Loving God

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Reading Watson's The Godly Man's Picture has been a powerful and painful read. The bulk of the book is spent describing the various characteristics of being godly. One such characteristic is that the godly man is "fired with love to God." In the quotation below, Watson presses this trait home, forcing us to consider whether we truly …

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