A New Book

I love to read and spend more on books than I should. Perhaps that is a curse. I don't know. I do know that the reading I've done over the years has opened World's to me I did not know existed. As a Christian I have been introduced to areas of worship that opened vistas of grandeur that my "Fundamentalist" upbringing was afraid to admit existed.

Now comes a new book that I just heve to have. It is The Trials of Theology. It is reviewed by Nathan Pitchford at Reformed Books. What hooked me is this quote from the review:

For all the differences current Protestant theologians may legitimately have with some of the Church Fathers, there is much that we have forgotten, which we would do well to relearn from them. That is why the brief selection from Augustine, the only representative of the early Church, was one of my favorite parts of the whole book. How he trembled at the thought of entering the high calling of the ministry, and with what earnest words he begged of his superior leave to pursue a greater understanding of the sacred scriptures! The work that he had to do was nothing to him if not frighteningly and eternally weighty, he had so great a fear of the Shepherd that he was terrified to feed his sheep with anything but the truth of the bible. “For what shall I say to the Lord my Judge,” he wonders, if he should not be able to set aside time to pursue his theological education; “Shall I say, 'I was not able to acquire what I needed, because I was engrossed wholly with the affairs of the Church'? What if he replies, 'You wicked servant! … How do you allege that you had no time to learn how to cultivate my field?'”. If many pastors only had that same perspective today, I suspect that “felt needs,” ten-step plans, how-to-be-successful-in-this-life strategies, self-esteem pep talks, etc. ad- nauseum, would not dominate the pulpits of so many “ministries” and churches. The sober, careful exegesis of the scriptures would not be viewed as irrelevant, boring, or inadequate, if the majesty of God and the fearful danger of acting presumptuously in his Name were as pressing a concern today as they have been at times in the past. 

I've read some Augustine, but I haven't read him as carefully as I should. I need to go back and really read him again. I love this part because of its pertinence in my understanding of theology at this moment in life:

“For what shall I say to the Lord my Judge,” he wonders, if he should not be able to set aside time to pursue his theological education; “Shall I say, 'I was not able to acquire what I needed, because I was engrossed wholly with the affairs of the Church'? What if he replies, 'You wicked servant! … How do you allege that you had no time to learn how to cultivate my field?'”. 

I would not want to be required to answer the question Augustine thought might be asked of him at Judgment if he allowed himself to get so involved with the "affairs of the Church" that he did not take the time to study.

Not long ago I heard a preacher say, "studying doctrine and the Bible are not important. The only truly important thing in life is winning souls." I wonder how that preacher will react if Christ asks him Augustine's question at the judgment? I pray he corrects his thinking before that event arrives.