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The Christian faith has repeatedly been called a “religion of the book.” Along with the incarnate Word and the oral word of preaching, God has chosen the medium of books to proclaim His goodness to us. The Bible is the book per se, and it sets the standard for the Christian faith. The Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century saw the dramatic power of the printed word to bring light out of darkness as literature changed the thought and life of nations. The Reformers used pamphlets and tracts extensively to bring about spiritual revolution—the printing press turned out to be the lever with which the enemy was lifted from his saddle. In A Religion of Books, Bockmuehl traces the role books played in the Reformation and through various movements of the Spirit in the following centuries. He also addresses how the written word shapes political movements and how Christians can continue to use literature to point people to Christ. -
Join J.C. Ryle as he explains the benefits of reading (and rereading) the Bible, and find inspiration for your daily devotions in this classic work. Do you read the Bible? “I’m not a Christian, so what’s the point?” “I read it once – why do I need to read it again?” Why should you read the Bible? For eighteen centuries it has been studied and prayed over by millions of Christians and explained and preached by thousands of ministers. It meets the hearts and minds and consciences of Christians in the twenty-first century as fully as it did when it was first completed. It is still the first book which fits children’s minds when they begin to learn religion, and the last to which the old man clings as he leaves the world. It is the book for every heart, because God who alone knows all hearts dictated it. The Bible alone explains the state of things that we see in the world around us. There are many things on earth which a natural man cannot explain. The amazing inequality of conditions, the poverty and distress, the oppression and persecution, the failures of politicians and legislators, the constant existence of uncured evils and abuses—all these things are often puzzling. We see it, but do not understand. But the Bible makes it all clear. Do you read the Bible? Come and read the book whose teaching “turned the world upside down.” Come read the Bible. -
“It is a matter for the mercy seat.” – R.C. Chapman Known affectionately as the Apostle of Love, evangelist and preacher R.C. Chapman was a good friend of missionary Hudson Taylor, the mentor of that famous man of faith George Müller, and the person Charles Spurgeon called “the saintliest man I ever knew.” Reminiscent of Samuel Rutherford’s The Loveliness of Christ, Chapman’s collection of brief meditations instructs and encourages readers through the simple truths of Scripture. More than a century has passed since Robert Cleaver Chapman went to glory, but his Christ-centered messages remain challenging, consoling, and spiritually enriching to anyone looking for a closer walk with their Lord. Excerpts from the text: “Faith never expects to learn deep lessons without deep difficulties; therefore she is not surprised by strange and dark providences.” “Let us not be discouraged by any humiliating discoveries we may make of the evils of our hearts. God knows them all, and has provided the blood of Jesus Christ His Son to cleanse us from all sin.” “Be content, for He hath said, ‘I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.’ … Let me lay up this promise in my heart, and I am a rich man. How can I please God today? He will take care of tomorrow.” “The best answers to prayer are those we have to wait and trust for.” -
Hold Thou me up, nor let me swerve from Love’s excelling way. —R.C. Chapman Affectionately known as the Apostle of Love, preacher and evangelist R.C. Chapman, who lived to the ripe old age of ninety-nine, devoted his long life to living Christ and loving others. Those familiar with Chapman’s life and his expositions of the Scriptures will find in his letters a deeper insight into the heart of the man whose chief interests were always his Lord and his neighbor. Chapman’s first-person account of his missionary travels to Ireland and continental Europe reveals a world shrouded in the darkness of Roman Catholicism, a state which Chapman and his companions prayed and worked to change. His letters of counsel to parishioners and friends display “a tender interest in the things of others, a heart in which abode the words of Christ” (Henry Hake, from the introduction). In them, readers can find advice and comfort for a wide variety of life’s troubles. “For though ye may have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet ye shall not have many fathers.” 1 Cor. 4:15 “Robert Cleaver Chapman tried his best to be forgotten, but God intervened on our behalf.” –Jon Bloom, Desiring God