In many other Christian books--about missions, theology, or church history--I’ve heard about or read quotations by Dwight Lyman Moody, an American pastor who was a pioneer of evangelistic preaching and founded the Moody Church, Moody Bible Institute, and (perhaps the most familiar to me as a reader) Moody Publishing. Therefore I was curious to find out first-hand who he was by reading one of his books.
“The children of God are not perfect; but we are perfectly His children.”
The Way to God and How to Find It seemed to be a good place to start. Some theology books can get very deep and tangled as they delve into complex issues such as the Trinity or Election. When trying out a “new” theologian, I find it best to gauge whether I like them by reading on a more basic topic, or even one I know well enough to determine whether their opinion is in line with Biblical doctrine.
“I believe the reason why a great many people think God does not love them is because they are measuring God by their own small rule, from their own standpoint.”
While this book was indeed about basic things such as how to believe in God, how God saves us, and the concept of faith, in some ways it was a little too basic. After reading a fair bit into it, I started feeling like Moody was repeating himself, and while some repetition might be considered appropriate for purposes of drawing parallels or underscoring a point, this seemed like he’d forgotten that he said it before.
“...take your eyes off from men; take your eyes off from the church. Lift them up to Jesus; who took away the sin of the world, and there will be life for you from this hour.”
Then I realized why this was. This did not read like a book written as a book. Rather, The Way to God reads as a collection of sermons. The writing style is very conversational, which comes across sometimes as too informal for a serious theology book. When read as if it were a transcription of Moody preaching, however, it suddenly feels completely right.
No comments:
Post a Comment