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Reading the Classics Together

If you’re like me there are probably quite a few books that you wish you had read and yet, for some reason, you still haven’t. There are classics kicking around your desk that you’ve been meaning to pick up, but to this point you’ve never actually taken the time to read them. Or perhaps you’ve read bits and pieces but have never read the whole thing. Maybe it’s Holiness by J.C. Ryle or The Freedom of the Will by Jonathan Edwards or a portion of John Owens’ voluminous writings. Maybe it’s Calvin’s Institutes or Augustine’s Confessions. I’ve read some, but certainly not all, of the classics I’d like to read. Some of these are on my list!

So I’m wondering if there are some readers out there who would be interested in attacking a classic or two with me. I figure we can read a chapter per week (or a few pages per week depending on the book’s format) and have some discussion right here on this blog. I’ll post a topic and we can engage in some back and forth about what the chapter has covered. Don’t think you’ll be required to say anything or to say anything profound. If you want you can just remain a silent participant, reading the books but not talking about them. In either case you will at least benefit from the reading.

To be honest, I think this is the only way I’ll ever really discipline myself to read some of these books. Maybe this kind of structure can help you too. I’ll see if I can’t work out a discount with some online retailer so we can get the books at a good price if we don’t already own them.

So who’s with me? And if you are, what would you like to read?


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