A Practical View of Christianity (Hendrickson Christian Classics)

Features

• Cover Type: Hard Cover with 294 pages
• Published by: Hendrickson Publishers October 30, 2006
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 1598561227
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-1598561227
• Book Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Weighs: 1 pounds

Book Description
Wilberforces classic work, A Practical View of Christianity, is concerned with convincing those who call themselves Christians to pursue "the real nature and principles of the religion which they profess." Christianity is not a mere morality, to be held in private. Christianity is revelation from God, bringing new rights and correspondent duties. It is an entire way of life that requires diligence and study and that should affect every aspect of the Christians public and private life.

This addition to the Hendrickson Christian Classics series has been completely retypeset. An index, explanatory notes, scripture references, translations of Latin phrases, bibliographic information, and other helps ensure that this work will be as valuable to todays reader as it was to those readers who made A Practical View of Christianity a bestseller for fifty years.

About The Author
William Wilberforce (1759-1833) was a member of the British Parliament. He was also affiliated with the Clapham Sect, a group of Evangelicals who were active in public life. He was very instrumental in many social justice issues, including the termination of Slavery in England.

Reader Reviews
"I must confess equally boldly that my own solid hopes for the well-being of my country depend, not so much on her navies and armies, nor on the wisdom of her rulers, nor on the spirit of her people, as on the persuasion that she still contains many who love and obey the Gospel of Christ. I believe that their prayers may yet prevail." I am grateful this this book was republished. After seeing Amazing Grace, overcome with a desire to know more about Wilberforce. Piper's "Amazing Grace in the Life of William Wilberforce" was a slim introduction, and (Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slaverybut needed to see how Wilberforce himself thought. W. strategy is revival, his tactic is to critique superficial Christianity. This is the watered-down state of mind usually associated with mere religion, mere social comportment, or mere morality. W avers that Christianity is something deeper, but usually "confound the Gospel of Christ with systems of philosophers." (6) W's voice rhymes with Peter Kreeftthat we reduce religion to ethics, ethics to social ethics, and social ethics to socialism (C.S. Lewis for the Third Millennium : Six Essays on the Abolition of Man) The correct title is "A Practical View of the Prevailing Religious Systems of Professed Christians in the Higher and Middle Classes in this Country Contrasted with Real Christianity." The non-Christian should not this well: The Trade Secret of Christianity is that the current systems, churches, and denominations do not embrace or practice what Jesus Christ taught. The Great Schism, the Reformation, the Catholic Counter-Reformation, and the Puritan Movement all tacitly rest upon the idea that what we are doing now is not what He did back then. There are only two disagreements--what is the correct version of Christianity, and then, how do we fix the problem. In this light, A Practical View of Christianity should be read in harmony with Thomas Paine's The Age of Reason - Thomas Paine. Wilberforce advocated personal revival, while Paine thought the whole superstructure should be junked. Wither way, their clashing viewpoints are what makes history (and formulating our own personal philosophies) so much fun. As Chuck Colson noted, Wilberforce's book help start the Second Great Awaking (xv) So in addition to Paine, this book should also be read in the context of The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ. Instead of revival and reformation, Joseph Smith's mission was one of restoration Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling. The motive behind the book is W's personal mission to end slavery. The theo-loigc is simple: If a person who really understand Christ and His Atoning Sacrifice, then slavery solves itself. This in interesting political and social strategy: Before we shake up the world, we shake up ourselves, and shake ourselves out of our complacent slumber. Secretary of Agriculture Ezra Taft Benson phrased it this way: "The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature." But there is something unspoken. You see a bunch of rich, white guys who have no personal interest outside of Christina benevolence, who, at great personal professional and political cost, waste and wore out their lives to end slavery. You never hear this side of abolition told: * Setting the Record Straight: American History in Black & White * Shakedown: Exposing the Real Jesse Jackson * Hating Whitey and Other Progressive Causes * Black Rednecks and White Liberals This book's only flaw is that it partakes of the 19th Century verbosity. As I read page after page of prolixity, I kept reciting Strunk and White's Incantation: "Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that every word tell."The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition This book is a forgotten classic, both in politics and Christianity. Thankfully we can both bridge the gap and stand in the gap by following W's ideals. Comment | | (Report this)