- Paperback: 188 pages
- Publisher: Westminster/John Knox Press,U.S. (Feb 1992)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0664252869
- ISBN-13: 978-0664252861
- Product Dimensions: 22.9 x 15.2 x 1.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,250,444 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
Real-life situations in today's world constantly challenge people. Robert Ramey and Ben Campbell Johnson respond to these challenges by drawing upon the Reformed tradition to provide guidance for spiritual development. They provide practical suggestions, lesson plans and exercises, and recommendations for encouraging spiritual growth.
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First Sentence
Peter and Mary Simpson stand with a dozen other prospective members at the baptismal font of First Presbyterian Church in Middletown, U.S.A. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Peter and Mary Simpson stand with a dozen other prospective members at the baptismal font of First Presbyterian Church in Middletown, U.S.A. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Paperback
How do Reformed Christians function as such? What are the understandings behind the routines such as Sunday worship? Why is it the way it is?
These are the sort of questions this book answers from the perspective of PCUSA and I suspect quite an evangelical within that. It will not give you a low down on the theological tradition, I think the only mentioned thinker is Calvin and while he is important he has never dominated the Reformed tradition the way Wesley does Methodism or Luther does Lutheranism.
However it does address the small everyday things about Reformed approach and in a depth that is rarely found elsewhere. Any minister from a Reformed tradition who wanted to run a membership renewal class would find this book a good place to start.
These are the sort of questions this book answers from the perspective of PCUSA and I suspect quite an evangelical within that. It will not give you a low down on the theological tradition, I think the only mentioned thinker is Calvin and while he is important he has never dominated the Reformed tradition the way Wesley does Methodism or Luther does Lutheranism.
However it does address the small everyday things about Reformed approach and in a depth that is rarely found elsewhere. Any minister from a Reformed tradition who wanted to run a membership renewal class would find this book a good place to start.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
2 reviews
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Looks Stimulating, Lacks Substance
2 Jan 2007
Format:Paperback
In connection with a series of adult catechism (Sunday school) classes I am doing on "The Reformed Life," I picked up a used copy of Ramey and Johnson's book, "Living the Christian Life: A Guide to Reformed Spirituality." What at first looked like a great title, and what continued to impress with its table of contents, quickly turned into a boring read.
As I mentioned, the ToC looked great, and right up the Reformed pastors' alley with its four main sections: The Foundation of the Christian Life, Means of Grace for the Christian Life (excellent sacramental focus), Challenges of the Christian Life (following Calvin's threefold aspect of the Christian life as self-denial, cross-bearing, and meditation on the future life), and Responsibilities of the Christian Life.
Yet, with its Barthian view of Scripture (p. 54), critical attitude towards the Scripture it seeks to uphold (p. 59), pietistic emphasis on prayer as "listening" (pp. 47ff.), and social agenda (e.g., p. 79f., 126ff.), it quickly turned boring, shallow, and trivializing of the Christian life.
I would have been better off just reading Calvin's Institutes, Book 3, chapters 6-10, referenced above. Therefore, I am left still searching for the paradigmatic book on Reformed Christian living...my quest continues as I must search elsewhere.
As I mentioned, the ToC looked great, and right up the Reformed pastors' alley with its four main sections: The Foundation of the Christian Life, Means of Grace for the Christian Life (excellent sacramental focus), Challenges of the Christian Life (following Calvin's threefold aspect of the Christian life as self-denial, cross-bearing, and meditation on the future life), and Responsibilities of the Christian Life.
Yet, with its Barthian view of Scripture (p. 54), critical attitude towards the Scripture it seeks to uphold (p. 59), pietistic emphasis on prayer as "listening" (pp. 47ff.), and social agenda (e.g., p. 79f., 126ff.), it quickly turned boring, shallow, and trivializing of the Christian life.
I would have been better off just reading Calvin's Institutes, Book 3, chapters 6-10, referenced above. Therefore, I am left still searching for the paradigmatic book on Reformed Christian living...my quest continues as I must search elsewhere.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Well worth the read
6 April 2008
Format:Paperback
I encountered this book when my mother sent it to quite a few years ago. Her note says "I commend this book for reading , discussion, and practice"
She was correct, what another reviewer calls a pietistic emphasis on listening to God, I thought of as a valuable emphasis on what we to often forget to do. There is an emphasis on thoughtfulness, combining both Theology and practice that is valuable. Barth is influential and sometimes controversial in theological circles, and in some cases the where the authors are clearly influenced by him, the book may turn off some readers who disagree with his writing, however the use of those views is nuanced, certainly not taken to the extremes that later theologians have occasionally taken Barth's views.
The book is based on part's of Calvin's Institutes, with language changed to meet current usages, i.e. what Calvin called Piety we would now consider Spirituality.
The authors use a Biblical criticism in a Biblical Studies sense of the word where it means examination and study rather than are colloquial sense of faultfinding.
I keep returning to it for spiritual practice.
T
She was correct, what another reviewer calls a pietistic emphasis on listening to God, I thought of as a valuable emphasis on what we to often forget to do. There is an emphasis on thoughtfulness, combining both Theology and practice that is valuable. Barth is influential and sometimes controversial in theological circles, and in some cases the where the authors are clearly influenced by him, the book may turn off some readers who disagree with his writing, however the use of those views is nuanced, certainly not taken to the extremes that later theologians have occasionally taken Barth's views.
The book is based on part's of Calvin's Institutes, with language changed to meet current usages, i.e. what Calvin called Piety we would now consider Spirituality.
The authors use a Biblical criticism in a Biblical Studies sense of the word where it means examination and study rather than are colloquial sense of faultfinding.
I keep returning to it for spiritual practice.
T
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