The Beauty and Glory of Christian Living (Puritan Reformed Conference)

This book probably could have been renamed "The Beauty and Glory of Christian Living According to the Puritans", and little would have had to been changed in the essays themselves. Given that the chapters in the book are essentially lectures given at the 2013 Puritan Reformed Conference, and that Beeke was the editor of the work, this should come as little surprise.Any book that's a compilation of articles from different authors will have varying levels of quality. With this work, however, the quality is simply a question of how good the quality is, since all of the chapters in this book are really god, and some in particular are truly great. The book is a slim volume, but the truths contained in this book really speak volumes (forgive the pun). Several chapters in this book tremendously blessed me in their reminders of these clear Christian truths and gave me much to think of. In terms of particular chapters/articles, Joel Beeke's chapter on the family, David Murray's chapter on battling a negative culture, and both of John Tweeddale's chapters on spiritual-mindedness and hope were particularly excellent.Not all the concepts addressed in this book were particularly novel or original. But they were presented in a fresh and convicting light that tremendously blessed me. Some books are great at explaining concepts and deepening one's understanding of theology. Other books move beyond that to powerfully convict and transform the reader.This book is most assuredly the latter.Rating: 5.0 Stars (Extremely Good).

This is an excellent and inspiring book which is intended to help readers better live out their faith in every area of their lives. Edited by Dr. Joel Beeke (whom I respect highly!), and featuring contributions from several of the professors from his seminary, it features some wonderful instruction from God's Word, along with many convicting insights from the writings of the Puritans.As deep as the writing is, though, it is also written in a way that is very accessible to most Christians. It's for the "people in the pew" - not scholars - and the chapters offer us biblical truths which should be lived out by all of us. It also covers a very broad range of topics - everything from family, work, and evangelism, to dealing with suffering, sickness, and death and fighting against the sexual immorality in our ever-darkening culture. All of these incredibly important topics are covered - and covered well - in the span of just 171 pages!As you can tell, I've been very richly blessed by reading this! I hope that my review here will help motivate others to purchase and read this excellent book for themselves, too, and I hope that all who read it will be blessed and edified just as I was.