One of the ways I relax from all the heavy reading that I do is by reading Christian biography. My library is filled with volumes about the lives of church figures from all eras of the church, both the famous and the lesser known. Collections of lives of the saints have been important devotional reading since the Middle Ages. Sometimes the writing can tend to turn into hagiography, but a good Christian biography is more than that. I have a few reasons why I enjoy reading Christian biography.
1) Church history is a cycle of downturn and revival. Christian biographies show how people in history have dealt with both sides. In 2015, we in the West are seeing a downturn in our church life. How was such a thing dealt with in other times? The formality of 18th century English church life. The doctrinal slide of 19th century Baptists. The battle over evangelism process in 19th century frontier America. All of these moments in time can speak to our day, and by looking at how individuals dealt with it, we keep from getting lost in the grand process. Because ultimately the Christian life boils down to individuals seeking to live in community in the Holy Spirit.
2) A good Christian biography will show the doubts and struggles of its subject. Even the greatest of church figures have moments of struggle. Calvin against the Town Council of Geneva. Bunyan in prison for preaching. Whitefield against the Church of England about open-air preaching. Reading such things does not lessen our moments of struggle, but shows us that the assault of the enemy has been an ongoing battle in the history of the church.
3) Christian biography is about the power of God at work in individual lives. Any Christian biography is first and foremost about the grace found in Jesus Christ, the grace that makes all things possible. And it is important to see God work in the lives of men and women who were fallible, who made mistakes, or were products of the culture in which they lived. The fact that God uses the "treasure in clay jars" for his work has always been a part of Christian theology. It is wonderful to see it at work in lives throughout the centuries.
4) I think Christian biography is just filled with good stories. The lives of such great figures become real. Reading the lives of missionaries in the 19th century. Reading the lives of martyrs who died for their faith. Reading the lives of simple ministers who lived quiet lives and preached the word. All are valuable, and for me provide a backdrop to the Christian autobiography of my own life. (Which will never be written down, happily).
Some examples of good Christian biographies include:
Bainton's biography of Martin Luther, "Here I Stand"
Dallimore's biography of Charles Spurgeon and his 2 volume work on George Whitefield
D.A. Carson's "Memoirs of an Ordinary Pastor," a biography of his father who worked as a Baptist pastor in Quebec.
No comments:
Post a Comment