Worthy Books - How Great is Our God: Classic Writings from Historys Greatest Christian Thinkers in Contempory Language

HOW
GREAT
IS OUR
GOD

Classic Writings from
History's Greatest Christian Thinkers

IN CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH

Copyright 2011 by Mark Gilroy Creative LLC www.markgilroy.com

Published by Worthy Publishing, a division of Worthy Media, Inc., 134 Franklin Road, Suite 200, Brentwood, Tennessee 37027.

HELPING PEOPLE EXPERIENCE THE HEART OF GOD

eBook available at www.worthypublishing.com

Audio distributed through Oasis Audio; visit www.oasisaudio.com

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011935242

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Scripture quotations in some of the older writings come from archaic versions of the Bible that are no longer available. Where possible, we have included a note in the text with a scripture for reference.

Scripture quotations marked ASV are from the American Standard Version, 1901. Public domain.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the King James Version. Public domain.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked NRSV are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

For foreign and subsidiary rights, contact Riggins International Rights Services, Inc.; www.rigginsrights.com

Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-936034-60-4 (hardcover)

Project created by Mark Gilroy
Project Editor: Christina M. Honea
Cover Design: Greg Jackson, ThinkPen Design, Inc.
Interior Design and Typesetting: Marjorie Jackson, ThinkPen Design, Inc.

Printed in the United States of America
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INTRODUCTION

IT'S A GLORIOUS FAITH

Is the Christian faith primarily believing the right things about God? Or is it a lifestyle? Or is it about trusting your life into the hands of God? The answer is incredibly simple. It is, of course, yes. The Christian faith is a set of propositions, a new way of walking through life, and a personal encounter with God.

But even if there is a certain simplicity in saying all of the above, the answer to the question of what defines the Christian faith becomes incredibly complex and messy when expressed by different people and in different ages. Which set of beliefs is true? Christians through the ages have held different tenetssometimes with such conviction that they've been willing to go to war against each other. And what are the rules for daily living? What does it mean to trust one's life to God? Though it would seem each aspect of faith should be straightforward and clear, the answers to these questions have been defined differently by separate traditions, cultures, and ages.

Perhaps in the myriad of emphases and convictions we can discover a significant part of what makes the Christian faith so glorious. For throughout the centuries there has been enough agreement and commonality to establish a mystical connection and love for one another that endures. We discover that there's so much that we agree on in heart and mind that even if differences are real and don't go away, they take a backseat in importanceand in our commitment to one anotherto what binds us together and encourages us to walk humbly with God.

After spending a year reading the daily selections from How Great Is Our God you will have been inspiredand on occasion bewildered or bemusedby writings from every century and every major tradition of the Christian faith. You will have heard what was on the hearts and minds of Early Church Fathers under great persecution, Egyptian monastics hidden in the desert, American frontier evangelists trying to reach a scattered congregation, ministers that still preach every Sunday in our day, and many others.

Will you agree with everything you read? Of course not. But you might be surprised by the poignancy and encouragement you receive from voices that are not as familiar to you and your background of instruction in the faith.

Most of all it is my intent and prayer that all of these selections taken as a wholethough a multifaceted mosaicwill sparkle with the light of God's truth in your soul and renew your sense of wonder at our glorious faith and the greatness of our God.

~ MARK GILROY, GENERAL EDITOR

EVERY CENTURY AND
EVERY TRADITION

NOTES ABOUT THE SELECTIONS

First and foremost, How Great Is Our God is compiled to take you on a journey through every century and every tradition of the Christian faith. We want you to experience the heart and thoughts of Christians from the birth of the church until today.

You will find daily readings that have been selected because they are considered great and enduring thoughts that have contributed to the spiritual growth of Christians in every age, but also because some of the readings represent seminal moments in the history of Christian thought and Western civilization. That's why you'll find an excerpt from the sermon that launched the first crusade next to a sermon from a Puritan evangelist. There are a few selections from non-Christian sources that provide insight into the Christian faith as well. Be prepared to be inspiredbut also challenged to understand how Christianity has interacted with itself and the world at large.

In putting together the daily selections we had several goals:

1. To be true to the meaning of the author;

2. To be clear and understandable to the modern reader;

3. To pull out representative themes and messages from the writers.

When possible, we have cited the translation usedmany going back more than a thousand yearsand have noted in the bibliography when we have edited and paraphrased to make the meaning clearer. In many cases, we have cut and pasted the selections from a longer treatise, letter, or sermon to focus on a single or narrower topic. We have noted which work of the author the selections came from, should something spark a particular interest and you want to find and read a selection in its entirety.

In the cases of creeds and poetic worksfor example, Milton's Paradise Lostwe have not attempted to rework the translation available, lest we damage the beauty of the original language or introduce potential confusion or inaccuracy. For that reason, you will find a few selections that are more difficult to understandbut worth digging into.

Each selection includes a sentence or two to place it in historical context. We would love to have provided more depth but didn't want to take too much space from the writers.

If you prefer to read How Great Is Our God in historical sequence, there is a reading plan in the back of the book.

JANUARY 1

THE HUMBLE HEART

SAINT BENEDICT | 6TH CENTURY

Saint Benedict of Nursia is a Christian saint, honored by the Roman Catholic Church as the patron saint of Europe and students.

If we do not dare approach men who are in power, except with humility and reverence, when we wish to ask a favor, how much more must we beseech the Lord God of all things with all humility and purity of devotion? And let us be assured that it is not in many words, but in the purity of heart that we are heard.