Awakening Faith: Daily Devotions from the Early Church
by James Stuart Bell with Patrick J. Kelly
This collection of daily devotions based upon the writings
of the Early Church is a remarkable guide to the Christian church. Each entry is numbered with a thematic title
based upon the church father’s words and a Scripture to go with it. For example, one of the most moving entries
is John Chrysostom’s letter to a widow (Grief with Everlasting Hope II), in
which he writes, “The power of love is such that it embraces, unites, and
fastens together not only those who are present with us, but also those who are
far away; and the soul’s affection cannot be broken by time, nor space, nor
anything else” (116). The title gives
the reader a narrow focus on what the main point of the text is and brings us into
a greater understanding of the writer’s goal.
The brevity of these selections is to be commended as we live in a blog
post world in which conciseness counts greater than lengthy admonitions. I can imagine combing through these texts
might have been taxing to find just the right passage that goes along with a
theme. Usually it’s better in my Scripture
reading when I read through the Word of God and have it arrest me with a
particular theme or idea than have a game plan etched in stone.
The diverse selection of church fathers was also very
appealing to me. You find selections
from the writings of Ambrose, Augustine, and some lesser known figures like
Fulgentius and Maximus of Turin also.
The subject matter ranges from union with Christ, the Eucharist, to
loving our enemies. Every essential
doctrine of the Christian faith is commented upon by one of the church fathers. There is a high regard for following Christ
individually through seeking virtue and putting to death vice. Yet, there is also a high place in this book
for seeing Christ’s work on the cross for the whole world and that the church
is only strengthened when its members work together as one body. Overall, the selection of church fathers, the
careful thematic structure of the passages, and the snapshot way in which the passages
are included all lend this book to being used over and over again.
Lastly, I wanted to bring out one of the selections in the
book that had an arresting ability to speak the truth. Dionysius of Alexandria speaks on Loving our
Enemies by writing, “And yet Christ, although he knew all these things
beforehand, did not at any time stop offering his counsel and love to
Judas. Therefore we should follow this
example and seek to recover those who have strayed from the flock, even if it
appears that are counsels are doing no good” (78). The ministry of Jesus to love Judas, using
his name and not bringing down the gauntlet of verbal lashings is an example
for us to follow when we meet, pray for, and talk to those who left the
flock. Dionysius’ wisdom is clear here that
even when we fail to see the result of our counseling, we should continue as
the Lord to speak the truth in love to those who have left the fold. The only drawback in the book was that I wish
the selections indicated what specific writings these passages came from.
Thanks to Cross Focused Reviews and Zondervan for the copy
of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Comments
Post a Comment