Tag: Joel R. Beeke

Crossway Short Classics: Scougal

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On September 11, 2022

In Non-Fiction, Theology/Christian Living

Crossway Short Classics SeriesCrossway Short Classics Series

DETAILS:
Publisher: Crossway Books
Format: Paperback
Read Date: July 2022

Some Thoughts on the Series as a Whole

The point of this series is to take classic short works—sermons, tracts, articles—package them attractively, edit a bit (modernize language, eliminate footnotes, tweak grammar, etc.) and make them widely available. Each is given a short introduction to help the reader get the context and a bit of information about the author.

I think this is a great idea, and I don’t know how I didn’t hear about this until a few weeks ago. I do hope they put out new books in the series (at least one of the books on the original list isn’t out yet, but they did publish one not on that list, so maybe they exchanged the titles).

I wonder a bit about the cover design—I wonder if the floral theme is a bit off-putting (Evangelical publishers usually reserve that for books marketed for women, and I don’t get the impression that this series is designed for that).

I don’t want to try to cover the whole series in one post, so I’m going to do this in chunks. This is the third in the series of posts I’ll be doing (and the last until early next year, when other volumes are due).

The Life of God in the Soul of ManThe Life of God in the Soul of Man

by Henry Scougal, Joel R. Beeke (Foreward), Robin Taylor (Abridgement)

DETAILS:
Publication Date: May 30, 2022
Length: 181 pg. 
Read Date: July 31, 2022
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I’ve read this book a handful of times, and never walked away from it as impressed as I’ve heard I should be—but I keep trying. It was while reading the foreword by Beeke that I think I got an idea.

In reading Scougal’s work, one must remember that he assumes a doctrinal foundation that he does not explicitly lay out. All that Scougal writes about union with God presupposes the gospel that God the Father sent God the Son to become a man, die for our sins, rise from the dead, ascend into heaven, and reign as Lord, so that by faith in him God the Holy Spirit dwells within the heart. Scougal’s focus is quite narrow—namely, to assert that the Christian religion consists of more than just mental understanding and outward religious life by requiring an inward transformation that arises from spiritual union with Christ and communion with God.

This may say more about me than I intended, but I didn’t get that Scougal was presupposing anything, but always felt he was missing something. Working from that assumption, however, helped a lot during this read.

The last sentence in Beeke’s paragraph is a very effective summary of the book (the rest of the foreword is plenty helpful, too). Scougal focuses on the inward man, the change that has to take place—and the supernatural resources to make that change. His Christianity is an experiential, wholehearted, and supernatural one. It is near-impossible to read his work and not sense your need for deep spiritual renovation.

I don’t know the work well enough to really comment on the abridgment—but I had a couple of thoughts. The work is short enough that I wouldn’t have imagined it needed an abridgment to fit in this series. Despite having been abridged, it feels complete. So that’s got to be a good sign, right?

I’m still not convinced that I fully appreciate Scougal’s work—but I’m closer to it this time. There’s a lot to admire here, and it’s enough to make me want to keep reading until I get it.

3 Stars

This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase from them, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.

Church History 101: The Highlights of Twenty Centuries by Sinclair B. Ferguson, Joel R. Beeke, Michael A.G. Haykin: A Quick Look at 20 Centuries

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On August 1, 2021

In History, Non-Fiction, Theology/Christian Living

Church History 101

Church History 101:
The Highlights of
Twenty Centuries

by Sinclair B. Ferguson, Joel R. Beeke, Michael A.G. Haykin

Kindle Edition, 99 pg.
Reformation Heritage Books, 2016

Read: July 25, 2021
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

… the record of church history teaches us to hold fast to Christ, assured that He is with us always, even to the end of the world. He will build up His church and kingdom to all generations.

What’s Church History 101 About?

That’s the controlling idea behind this book—it’s a survey of Church History—which is the story of Christ building his church. There will be highlights and lowpoints. This, and more, is sketched out in the preface—as well as a description of the book that follows.

The chapters came from Ferguson’s time in the pulpit. Then Beeke, Haykin and their assistants revised them for use in The Reformation Heritage KJV Study Bible, and then there were published as this book.

Application

Each chapter sums up a century of Church History, talking about major movements controversies and figures incredibly briefly. It’s a ninety-nine page book, covering 20 Centuries—so to say the chapters are brief is an understatement. Most chapters include (not always as the concluding point) a “lesson” for application. Like:

Gregory’s vision produced a kind of nominal Christianity with which the church continues to struggle to this day.

The church should honor Gottschalk’s memory despite his human frailties. We should also continue to educate ourselves about missionaries such as Cyril and Methodius, and remember that the quest for power and recognition, demonstrated by Pope Nicholas, ultimately detracts from the mission and witness of the church.

Today we must see that the church exists to bring light to the world, and we must be willing to separate earthly power and gain from the mission of the church. The church accomplishes her mission by the power of the Holy Spirit, not by the might of kings or political leaders.

I get these came from a Study Bible, and those tend to be very object lesson-oriented, but I’m not sure it’s all that helpful (or necessary) in this context.

So, what did I think about Church History 101?

I think I read something wrong about the length—I knew it was a brief survey, but I didn’t expect it to be so brief that I finished it in under 90 minutes.

But, for a quick, very surface-level look at 2,000 years of History? This is good—it focuses on the essentials, it helps orients the reader to what matters—and hopefully ignites someone’s interest in diving deeper into a person, period, or movement mentioned in these pages.

I enjoyed it, I appreciate what it tried to do, I wish it had done more, but that would’ve defeated the purpose, I guess.

I do recommend this for anyone Junior High and up for a solid overview, a refresher, or a nice way to spend an hour or so. It won’t change your life, but for those who don’t need the introduction, it will serve as a reminder that Christ is building His Church and what that looks like.

3 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, opinions are my own.

John Bunyan and the Grace of Fearing God by Joel R. Beeke and Paul M. Smalley

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On October 16, 2016

In (Auto)Biography, Non-Fiction, Theology/Christian Living

John Bunyan and the Grace of Fearing GodJohn Bunyan and the Grace of Fearing God

by Joel R. Beeke, Paul M. Smalley

eARC, 160 pg.
P & R Publishing, 2016

Read: October 2 – 9, 2016


This brief book is a look at the life — spiritual and natural — of John Bunyan and his understanding of the fear of the Lord as traced through his writings.

I’ll be the first to admit that I have only the most basic understanding of Bunyan beyond The Pilgrim’s Progress and that quotation from John Owen about his preaching (only cited twice in this book), so I can’t judge the scholarship of Beeke and Smalley when it comes to that. I can say that I thought their approach to both the man and the material could’ve been deeper. The brief biographical material did everything it needed to — it wasn’t too long and it covered the bases, giving an understanding of what he went through and his historical context.

After the biographical section, the authors turn to the Fear of God, and soon lay out this distinction:

…Bunyan deduced that God forbids some fear as ungodly, but commends another kind of fear. This distinction proves to be crucial for Bunyan’s theology, allowing him to differentiate unhealthy, sinful fear from the spiritually sound and fruitful fear of the Lord.

They examine the ungodly fear some more and then look at various spiritually sound fears — and the ways that is can promote growth in holiness and perseverance.

A lot of this material was helpful — I’m not sure if it was because of the way that Beeke and Smalley compiled it or Bunyan’s insights that helped me the most, but I don’t think I understood any of the ideas the way I wanted to. Yes, the authors would point me at Bunyan and the Bible as a resource, but I think they could’ve helped me more.

I thought the evangelical appeal at the end of the book a little out of place — it didn’t seem to fit the intentions or voice of the book up to that point — and I can’t imagine that anyone who isn’t a convert reading this book. I hope I’m wrong and that this is an effective tool, I should stress — but it seemed inorganic.

This isn’t a bad book, it’s just a slight one. It’s too much of a survey, not an examination or an explanation. There’s no depth to the look at Bunyan, while there certainly appears to be breadth. I might have walked away with a better understanding of what kinds of things Bunyan wrote and when — but I don’t think it furthered my understanding of the man or his writing beyond that. If the authors had given use another 100 – 150 pages and I think I’d be writing something very positive.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from P&R Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for this post — thanks to both for this.
N.B.: As this was an ARC, any quotations above may be changed in the published work — I will endeavor to verify them as soon as possible.

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3 Stars

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