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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not just a history lesson--a book for spiritual benefit, April 19, 2006
This is the fourth book in Piper's series, "The Swans Are Not Silent," and follows his pattern of looking at three "swans" of church history through the lens of a central theme. The three presented here are Athanasius, John Owen, and J. Gresham Machen; the theme is the subtitle, Defending Truth and Treasuring Christ. I was immediately captivated by Piper's Introduction, so much so, that I read portions of it aloud to several people, prefaced by an excited "Listen to this!" His discussion of truth, controversy, and humility sets the tone for what is to come. Piper lays out the historical background for his treatment of Athanasius by discussing the nature of orthodox theology in the fourth century, particularly with regard to the doctrine of the Trinity and the heresy of Arianism. In the second half of this first chapter, he gives seven practical lessons we can learn from the life of Athanasius, and shows that old battles are still being fought, but with new terminology. John Owen is the only "swan" I had read previously. Piper begins his discussion of Owen by relating the impact Owen has had on men like J.I. Packer, Sinclair Ferguson, and on Piper himself. He gives a brief biography of Owen, including a short definition of Puritanism. He sees the heart of Owen's life and ministry as the mortification of sin and personal holiness: "Be killing sin or it will be killing you." I particularly loved Piper's comment about the relationship between private spirituality and public ministry: One great hindrance to holiness in the ministry of the Word is that we are prone to preach and write without pressing into the things we say and making them real to our own souls. Over the years words begin to come easy, and we find we can speak of mysteries without standing in awe; we can speak of purity without feeling pure; we can speak of zeal without spiritual passion; we can speak of God's holiness without trembling; we can speak of sin without sorrow; we can speak of heaven without eagerness. And the result is an increasing hardening of the spiritual life. (p. 109) Piper's final chapter is about J. Gresham Machen and his valiant battle against the Modernism of the early 20th century. After saying that it is not much different from the postmodernism of our day, Piper lists twelve lessons from Machen's life and work applicable to today, and is not shy about bringing up his flaws. In fact, the final section of the chapter is titled "Hope in God's Sovereignty Through Human Shortcomings," an encouragement to us all. The Conclusion is a gem. With a brief nod to another "sweet-singing twentieth-century swan," Francis Schaeffer, Piper reminds us that passionately standing for the truth is inextricably linked to love. He discusses several Scripture passages where this is taught. He then closes the book with "Our Prayer In a Time of Controversy." This brief prayer, combined with the Introduction and Conclusion, are, in my mind, reason enough to read Contending For Our All. This is not just a history lesson, but also a book for your spiritual benefit. - Pam Glass, Christian Book Previews.com
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Well Worth Reading, March 19, 2006
Each year at the Bethlehem Conference for Pastors, hosted by Bethlehem Baptist Church of Minneapolis, John Piper delivers a biographical address dealing with a notable Christian figure from the history of the church. Every few years, several of these addresses are compiled into a book as part of "The Swans are Not Silent" series. The most recent of these titles is Contending For Our All, subtitled "Defending Truth and Treasuring Christ in the Lives of Athanasius, John Owen and J. Gresham Machen." Transcripts of the speeches delivered by Piper are available online. It might be reasonable to ask, then, why anyone would care to pay for them. The best reason is that appended to these transcripts are a preface, and introduction and a conclusion, also written by Piper. Within the introduction he discusses why he has chosen to publish the three speeches together. In this book we learn that the common theme of Contending for Our all is that Athanasius, Owen and Machen all stood for the truth of God's Word in the face of opposition. None of them delighted in this controversy, and none was concerned with his popularity. What bound them together, even through almost two millenia of history, is their willingness to suffer for what they knew to be right in their defense of the gospel. The thrust of each of the sections is to help the reader understand the lessons each of these men offers the church today. Piper does not offer mere biography, but biography that leads to lessons in practical theology. Contending For Our All is a welcome addition to this series and is a book that is well worth reading. Any believer will benefit from reading about these great men of the faith, whether they do so through purchasing the book or from reading the biographies online.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another Excellent Entry in a Magnificent Series, February 28, 2006
In Contending for Our All, John Piper continues his series "The Swans Are Not Silent". They are not stricly biographies, so if you are looking for detailed biographies on historical figures you'll need to look elsewhere. For lack of a better term, I would call them "Applied Biographies". They look at the lives of faithful figures in church history, and show what we can learn from them, and how their lives can help us understand the Christian faith and the challenges to that faith in our present day. Contending for Our All is an especially important book for our present day. In the lives of Athanasius, John Owen, and J. Gresham Machen, Piper shows how the need to defend truth has always been paramount in genuine Biblical Christianity. None of these three men enjoyed controversy for its own sake. All three were charitable and gracious with those whom they disagreed (a lesson all sides should learn in our day!). In his section on Athanasius, Piper insightfully applies Athanasius' battles to the issues of our day: "Athanasius would have grived over sentences like 'It is Christ who unites us; it is doctrine that divides.' And sentences like: 'We should ask, Whom do you trust? rather than what do you believe?' He would have grieved because he knew this is the very tactic used by the Arian bishops to cover the councils with fog so that the word Christ could mean anything. Those who talk like this--'Christ unites, doctrine divides'-have simply replaced propositions about Christ with the word Christ. It carries no meaning until one says something about him. They think they have said something profound and fresh, when they call us away from the propositions of doctrine to the word Christ. In fact they have done something very old and worn and deadly.." (pp. 64). His section on Machen was encouraging and challenging as well, and he provides some welcome clarity on a man often unfairly lumped in with "fundamentalists" (in the worse sense of the word) by historians: "The overarching lesson to be learned from Machen's mixture of weaknesses and strengths is that God reigns over his church and over the world in such a way that he weaves the weaknesses and the strengths of his people with infinite wisdom into a fabric history that displays the full range of his glories. His all-inclusive plan is always more hopeful than we think in the darkest hours of history, and it is always more intermixed with human sin and weakness than we can see in the brightest hours. This means that we should renounce all triumphalism in the bright seasons and renounce all despair in the dark seasons." (pp. 156). All in all, this is an excellent book for helping those who love Christ and love His church to learn the lessons of history so that hopefully (and by God's grace) we may not repeat the mistakes of history. For our modern evangelical church, enamored with so many passing fads and latest methods, we need to once again see the wisdom of the great believers of the past. They obviously were sinners and imperfect just as we are, but they offer us great wisdom and knowledge that we would be incredibly arrogant to ignore as we seek to love and serve the cause of Christ in our day.
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