Customer Reviews

A Treasury of Evangelical Writings : Valiant for the Truth

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Fuller's collection of writings from some of the big names in Christian history is an excellent place to start learning about who said what, why, and when. The selections are short enough to be read in those few spare moments between tooth-brushing and falling asleep but long enough to provide an adequate picture of the thoughts and styles of the authors. Fuller did not aim at exhaustiveness; the reader who wants more information will need to look elsewhere. This book is a good spring-board. Based on the introductory notes for each author, one would easily be able to look up other works by the author and historical and biographical information about the author.

I would comment on two downsides to this book. First, the selections are not always taken from the most authoritative or readable translations (where translation is relevant). For some of the authors, certain editions have become quoted widely and in many contexts; the reader might recognize the places where one of the famous quotations originated, but it's unlikely that the famous quotations will be present verbatim in this book. If the reader doesn't recognize the place or the quote, the reader might be at a loss to be able to trace (from this source) this influence of a writer's specific words throughout other times and places.

Second, the biographical and historical notes that introduce each author are rife with cliches and attempts at eloquence that more often end up being circuitous than eloquent. I prefer that people get from point A to point B with a minimum of what Cicero calls "purple passages", but that does not seem to have been the goal of the writer.

As a beginning resource or quick reference to digestable selections, this book is great. As a guide to writing and translation, this book could have been better.