Customer Reviews

Balancing the Christian Life

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4 star:		(1)
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Dr. Ryrie, a careful, seasoned theologian, was written this book in a warm, personable, devotional style that lends itself well to readers who are being introduced to theological study. I have found his chapters "Money and the Love of God"(8), and "Temptation"(13) to be particularly helpful to the 15-25 crowd. His chapter on dedication (7) has been useful to a wide range of readers. When looking for follow-up/supplimentary discipleship material, this book has frequently scratched where this pastor has itched. I would happily recommend this resource.

The beloved Dr. Ryrie is a wonderful Bible teacher, and this book on Christian living is a masterpiece. I couldn't put it down!

His writing is completely based on Scripture and all of Scripture, and therefore, it gives you a balanced, accurate, Biblical direction for many of the different facets of Christian living.

I know of many authors who write Christian books to make a point, and in doing so, emphasize certain truths over others. For example, one author may emphasize confession of sins as a way to clear our conscience before the Lord. This is very important, for sure, but does it include ALL of Scriptural teachings on confession? Can confessing sin too often lead to a downtrodden experience? How often should we confess? What is the old nature vs the new? Well, Dr. Ryrie searches all of Scriptures on the matter and comes up with a balanced suggestion, that is not too much, and not too little (you would have to read the chapter to find out more!)

The reason I love this book and feel so safe reading it is that Ryrie, on any topic, scans the Scriptures to give a balanced picture of what is proper and meet for the Christian. There are no extremes, and the language is rooted in love and a tender heart. It is a life long journey, a wonderful one, with challenges, rewards, laughter, and tears, but always with joy because the work of salvation is 100% done and our eternal destiny is secured.

A biblically based look at spirituality, which the author defines as the goal of all Christian living. The book looks at some basic biblical concepts, personal responsiblities, and practical issues affecting Christians today. The study guide in the 25th Anniversary edition really complements the text by providing an opportunity to evaluate your own spiritual life topic by topic. It even allows room for those who might disagree with some of Dr. Ryrie's conclusions to develop a scriptural rationale for their positions.

Also recommended: Knowing God, J.I. Packer So Great Salvation, C. Ryrie True Spirituality, Francis Schaeffer

This book is not only easy to read, but offers challenging action to be taken to enhance ones spiritual life. The author is very skilled at how he presents things. It has already deepened my walk with Christ. I strongly recommend getting this book and in fact, it should be a Church Sunday School Class book to go thru.

Book condition was better than described. Plan to order other books and will try StumpTownBooks first.

The following is a paper that I wrote for a class after reading "Balancing the Christian Life." I do not recommend using my reaction for your own class paper...


I find myself having a difficult time explaining my reaction to Charles Ryrie's book, Balancing the Christian Life. As I read the book, I seemed to be looking at things from more of a writer's viewpoint than from that of a reader. There were many things that I would have approached differently if I had written this book myself. For instance, although the book is only two hundred pages long, he could have made his main points much more concisely. The fact that the final chapter of the book was actually a condensed summary of the first seventeen chapters suggests that perhaps Ryrie himself saw that less could have been more. Paradoxically, although he could have written on his chosen topics more succinctly, it felt as though he were trying to cover too much ground in one book. As an introduction to various aspects of Christian living, I found myself being lost by the lack of transitional flow from one chapter to the next. This was especially true of the final two parts of the book. It felt as though he were jumping from topic to topic without regard for whether or not the reader would be able to make the transition of thought with him.

One of the major sticking points that I had with Ryrie's writing was his choice of analogies at certain points in the book. The most questionable of these was when he likened the process of sanctification to a little girl slobbering all over a lollipop so that her best friend will no longer be interested in eating it herself. I actually had to stop and read that section again to make sure that I had read it correctly. Melding the idea of sanctification with a picture of the human digestive system was not something that I ever would have thought of doing myself, and I rather wish Ryrie hadn't thought of it either. I have the feeling that it might take me a long time to come up with a better analogy for sanctification, but I must, if only to finally eject from my head the awful mental picture of God slobbering all over me and digesting me so that no one else will find me appealing.

However, another illustration that, while unorthodox, really drove home what Ryrie was trying to get across was the idea of praying without ceasing as being like a hacking cough. Many people think of praying ceaselessly as an impossible task. However, Ryrie points out that as a hacking cough when present in your throat is not actually making you cough ceaselessly, likewise prayer is a condition that should always be at the ready, though not necessarily always in motion. This will come as a new entryway to the concept of prayer for many people, myself included, and that is a welcome relief. If not for his unique way of analogizing prayer, I may never have seen ceaseless prayer as a doable concept.

Aside from the unique analogies that Ryrie used, there were a few other nuggets from the writing that I plan to tuck away for future reference, as well. For instance, Ryrie's discussion of how the issue of tithing was usually brought up with a negative connotation in the New Testament is a teaching that needs to be heard more today. There are a lot of people who are living in difficult financial circumstances, for whom being taught that your willingness and faithfulness in giving is more important than the amount you are giving would lift a tremendous burden off of their shoulders.

Also, Ryrie's delineation between the baptism of the Spirit and the filling of the Spirit is another key issue that I believe more people need to hear about. Having personally experienced the charismatic church's pressure to "be baptized in the power of the Spirit by speaking in tongues," I wish that I had known enough then to bring up the issue with the clarity that Ryrie writes about it here. It also would have saved me from burbling like an idiot just to make the gentleman happy.

In conclusion, while Balancing the Christian Life would not rank on my personal list of "must read" books, there was nothing in it that would cause me to dissuade someone from reading it. While I will keep my eyes open for a book that I might recommend more heartily, it is a decent enough guide to living the Christian life for starters.

the book is amazing, however i got an awful copy and had to send it back.

Ryrie makes some excellent points, but is a little narrow-minded in some of his views without giving much evidence to support his claims. Worth reading