Last year some of the readers of this site began to read Christian classics together with me. The impetus for this project was the simple realization that, though many Christians want to read through the classics of the faith, few of us have the motivation to actually make it happen. This program allows us to read them together, providing both a level of accountability and the added of interest of comparing notes. We spent eight weeks reading through J.C. Ryle’s Holiness, covering one chapter per week and posting some thoughts about the book on Thursday mornings. We then turned to John Owen’s Overcoming Sin and Temptation and read it over thirteen weeks. I’m not quite sure how many people took the opportunity to read along with us, but believe there were at least a couple hundred. Both titles were worthwhile reads and we learned that they have rightly earned their reputations as Christian classics. Feedback from readers assured me that this was a project we should continue as it benefited all who chose to participate.
For our third book I’ve decided that we will read The Seven Sayings of the Saviour on the Cross by Arthur Pink. I will be reading from the edition recently published by Baker and featuring forewords by John MacArthur and Warren Wiersbe (and recommend you do the same if you do not already own a copy of the book). Here is the publisher’s description of the book: “The words Christ spoke from the cross can inform Christians of the purpose, the meaning, the sufferings, and the sufficiency of his death. After an introduction that discusses the nature of Christ’s death as natural, unnatural, preternatural, and supernatural, Dr. Arthur W. Pink clearly illustrates the lessons that can be drawn from Christ’s words-lessons on forgiveness, salvation, affection, anguish, suffering, victory, and contentment. This comprehensive and accessible volume is useful for both sermon preparation and personal study.”
If you would like to participate, please commit to reading the introductory chapters and Forewords by Thursday April 24. We will then read the seven chapters over the following seven weeks. All I ask of participants is that they read along and that they at least consider posting a comment each week.
You can buy it at Amazon, Westminster Books, Monergism Books and just about anywhere else. It shouldn’t cost you much more than ten dollars.
It would be a helpful gauge of participation if you’d post a comment on this post indicating that you’d like to read this book with us. So if you are going to read along, let me know, either with a comment or a quick email. I’m looking forward to reading this next classic with you!
