The
idea of a desert island as a stimulus to thought and conversation is
no new one. The game is played in various guises. In this instance we
propose removing a believer to a desert island for an unspecified
length of time in order to learn something about the books they would
most recommend others to read. The ground rules are simple. Certain
books are already on the island - The Holy Scriptures (in the version
or versions of your choice); John Bunyan's inimitable Pilgrim's
Progress; Matthew Henry's superlative Commentary on the Whole Bible;
and, finally, the works of John Calvin.
"What
need of more books?" you may ask. But these works are so widely
esteemed, or at least have been in the past, that we thought it only
fair to place them on our island for all. What remains is for the
castaway to take a tour of the Evangelical Library before departure,
selecting just five further books for their sojourn. Our castaway
this time is an extremely close friend of the editor, Darby Gray,
from Kidsdon.
Narrowing
down to just five books is no easy task. One is thankful to have the
Bunyan, Henry and Calvin available. In thinking about this, a number
of great favourites have had to be by-passed, such as Spiritual
Disciplines
by Don Whitney, a book I have very much enjoyed more than once.
Like
many other castaways I am keen to take a biography with me. Reading
the lives of others is both pleasant and instructive. The two volumes
by lain Murray on Dr. Lloyd-Jones instantly spring to mind as does
Roland Bainton's volume on Martin Luther. Dallimore's two volumes on
Whitefield or even his single one on Spurgeon are attractive
possibilities too. Dallimore and Murray are superb biographers. The
latter's large work on Edwards and his smaller one on John Murray are
also contenders.
However,
I think I will plump for Ned B Stonehouse's wonderful Biographical
Memoir of J. Gresham Machen.
There is a slight degree of hagiography involved here no doubt and
much of the attraction is the atmosphere the book breathes -
leisurely, verbose, refined, from a bygone age. Machen's life was no
easy one, however, as he struggled with the attractions of German
liberalism, served in France in the Great War and defended the faith
in the face of a vicious onslaught from modernism, being instrumental
in founding Westminster Theological Seminary. His attitude to
fundamentalism, temperance, Billy Sunday, Church relations, the
Sabbath, etc, are interestingly revealed. It is hard to think of a
more moving or a more challenging 20th century biography.
The
"Princeton" atmosphere is so fine that I really would like
more than just one smattering for my desert island reading. I did
think of trying the trick that others have used and ask for a set of
works, namely ten volumes of B B Warfield. However, some of that
would involve hard work on my part and so I will instead take the
easy option and go for the next best thing to biography, Church
history, and order the two volumes by David B Calhoun on old
Princeton Seminary, Faith
and Learning 1812-1868 and
The Majestic Testimony 1869-1929.
Partly, it is the writing but chiefly it is the subject matter of
these lovely descriptions of experiential Calvinism that hooks me.
From log college to premier university, the story is a fascinating
one on many fronts. The glimpses of the Alexanders, the Hodges,
Machen, Warfield, as well as a host of lesser known men, is
fascinating. The persistent re-emergence of vital godliness amid
thoroughgoing and painstaking theology is no small part of the
attraction that the books hold. The one snag with such a book would
be the references to other books just out of reach. There is an
interesting description, for instance, of J A Alexander beavering
away in a New York hotel during the summer months on his commentaries
on Psalms, Acts and Mark, lost deep in thought or getting frustrated
and breaking for a half an hour of Dickens or a walk in the streets.
"Well, this is the most delightful and exciting occupation I can
conceive of," he said, "it is better than any novel that I
ever read."
At
the risk of wallowing, basking even, more in the glory of old
Princeton and Westminster let me add a third less obvious choice. If
I wanted another obvious one I would have gone for J W Alexander's
Thoughts
on Preaching.
However, I want something doctrinal. I know little of the late Edwin
H Palmer except that he was a Christian Reformed pastor, a lecturer
at Westminster Theological Seminary and executive secretary of the
committee that produced the NIV Bible. The same clarity he brought to
that project is found in the two books he authored, one a study guide
on The Five points of Calvinism and the other (my choice) on The
Holy Spirit, His Person and Ministry.
Here are 16 clear, well set-out, warm-hearted, simple studies that it
would be a joy to re-read and to study again.
My
final two choices would both be by Puritans. I notice too that like
two out my last three choices these have both been published or
republished (these two as Puritan paperbacks) by the Banner
of Truth Trust.
How thankful we ought to be to God for the Trust's continued
commitment to the Reformed faith. First, I mention John Flavel's
Mystery
of Providence
(as it is known). I will never forget reading it for the first time
and being introduced to the whole idea of providence. It led to my
seeing things and discovering things about God's goodness that I
never would have seen otherwise. First published in 1678 there is not
a book like it for opening up the subject of God's providence. What a
joy it would be to contemplate, even if banished to a desert island,
the goodness of God revealed in providence. The book is in three
parts. Firstly, it deals with the evidence for Providence; then the
duty, method and advantages of meditating on it; and finally the
practical implications and problems and the advantages of keeping
records.
My
final choice was written just over 25 years earlier. Another Puritan
work, Thomas Brooks' Precious
Remedies Against Satan's Devices
was first published in 1652. The very title teaches a lesson and the
contents pages themselves contain more lessons than many books
produced since, for all their boasts. I believe he lists some 41
devices and over 200 remedies. Obviously time has moved on and
written today such a book would no doubt have different things to
say, but as a manual for the daily fight with Satan (from which a
desert island would offer no rest) nothing can beat it. Perhaps the
section warning against false inferences from the cross actings of
providence would come alive on a lone desert island. Books would help
me to see that many things contrary to our desires are not contrary
to our good and that God's hand against me does not mean his love and
heart are not set on me. He would help me to see that such a cross
providence would do me good (no doubt through reading these books)
and help me on my way to heaven.
This article original appeared in The Evangelical Library Bulletin under the name of my alter ego Darby Gray.
