“Some of the most profound devotional exercises―perhaps second only to the reading of Scripture―come from reading and contemplating Christian poetry. But readers today are ill-equipped to do so, knowing poetry only as either greeting-card verse or undecipherable puzzles. In this collection, Leland Ryken, the dean of Christian literary scholars, gives back to contemporary Christians their rich literary heritage. First, he selects works of the highest aesthetic and spiritual quality; and, second, he offers brief commentary that unpacks each poem’s meaning, artistry, and theological depths. In showing how poetry is a ‘trap for meditation’ (as Denis de Rougemont called it), Ryken has given us a resource that will greatly enhance our Christian devotions.”
Again, he not only gives us a collection of classic works, he briefly explicates them, so that we can understand, appreciate, and contemplate what they say. He has also used this approach for classic hymns.
I especially recommend . This includes prose devotional texts drawn from the entire history of the Church. Luther and the Reformation are well-represented, as are classic devotions from Augustine, Pascal, and Jeremy Taylor. And it includes some surprises: You might not have realized that Jane Austen, Samuel Coleridge, and George Washington Carver were so devout and so spiritually insightful.
Anyway, Dr. Ryken is coming out with a collection of classic meditations, with commentary, on the Nativity. I was asked to write an endorsement for the book, which is presumably scheduled to come out next Christmas. I realize that the 12 Days of Christmas are over, but the time is always right to reflect upon the Incarnation. I had to share these quotations with you. These snippets are taken from the longer texts that are in the anthology, though none of the meditations take very much time. I’ll bold my favorite lines:
The creation of the world was a very great thing, but not so great as the incarnation of Christ. It was a great thing for God to make the creature, but not so great as for the Creator himself to become a creature.
Jonathan Edwards
He who had brought all things into existence, was brought into existence in the midst of all things. He made the day—He came into the light of day. He who was before time, set His seal upon time. Christ the Lord was forever without beginning with the Father; but look what He is today! It is His birthday.
St. Augustine
It was impossible for the Word to die, being immortal and the Son of the Father, so for this reason He took to Himself a body capable of death, in order that the Word who is above all might be a sufficient representative of all in the discharge of the penalty of death. . . . Thus the immortal Son of God, . . . the Word, took to Himself a body capable of death, that He might offer it as His own in place of all.
St. Athanasius
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