“10 Christians everyone should know: lives of the faithful and what they mean to you” (ISBN 9781400203611, 2012) by John Perry (book editor) covers the Christian life and/or values of
- Saint Patrick (ca. 380-ca. 490) by Jonathan Roger,
- Galileo (1564-1642) by Mitch Stokes,
- Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672) by D. B. Kellogg,
- John Bunyan (1628-1688) by Kevin Belmonte,
- Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) by Rick Marschall,
- Jane Austen (1775-1817) by Peter Leithart,
- D. L. Moody (1837-1899) by Kevin Belmonte,
- George Washington Carver (ca. 1864-1943) by John Perry,
- Sergeant York (1887-1964) by John Perry
- and William F. Buckley Jr. (1925-2008) by Jeremy Lott.
The book is a collection of bibliographical essays compiled, arranged and/or edited by Perry who penned two of these essays. These short bibliographies are an attempt to show what being Christian’s supposed to be — strong and faithful to overcome challenges as the following quote from the introduction.
“We see as well that Christianity is timeless. This is good news for those of us who fear for the future of the faith in this so-called ‘post-Christian’ era. Saint Patrick was born in the fifth century AD. William Buckley died in 2008. As different as their worlds were — and as different from the worlds of Galileo or Austen — they nonetheless faced some of the same obstacles. Christianity goes against the most deeply ingrained tendencies of the human heart. We are by nature hopelessly self-centered. As Jeremiah 17:9 warns us, ‘The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.’ Scanning the headlines of today’s newspaper or news website will bear this out. Chances are that every tragedy reported there is the result of someone taking what he doesn’t have simply because he wants it. Robbery, rape, war, kidnapping, embezzlement, and all the rest come from the deceit and wickedness within.
Christianity, on the other hand, teaches us to be humble, selfless, and sacrificial in our lives. Humankind alone has no power to overcome our dark natural tendencies; only the divine power of God through Christ makes it possible. From the time of Christ to our own, the world has remained a treacherous and unwelcoming place. The obvious way to deal with it is to practice treachery in return. Christ, through His followers, teaches us that the better way is through kindness and compassion. It lightens our burden in this life and readies us for the unalloyed joy of the next.
Saint Patrick and Mr. Buckley, and everyone in between, had to deal with the same treacherous world populated by the same wicked hearts. And so in this fundamental way, Roman Britain and twenty-first-century New York City put up the same barriers to Christian living. And the same faith, courage, and willingness to sacrifice achieve the same God-given success in overcoming them.”
– John Perry
After each bibliography, there’s a quick reference to the Christian Encounters Series (Thomas Nelson). The book sort of serves as a sampler of this series of books.
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