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Living by Revealed Truth: The Life and Pastoral Theology of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, by Tom Nettles (Ross-Shire, Scotland: Mentor, 2013), 683 pp.

Selecting what I believe to be the best book of 2013 is somewhat arbitrary. Virtually any of the volumes listed from 10 to 2 could have made it to number 1. But that doesn’t mean I have any reservations whatsoever in placing this biography of Spurgeon at the top of the list. I’ve known Tom Nettles for a couple of decades and I always enjoy what he writes, whether it be on selected themes in Baptist history or the biography of some great Christian leader. But this has to be regarded as his best yet.

Tom_NettlesLiving by Revealed Truth: The Life and Pastoral Theology of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, by Tom Nettles (Ross-Shire, Scotland: Mentor, 2013), 683 pp.

Selecting what I believe to be the best book of 2013 is somewhat arbitrary. Virtually any of the volumes listed from 10 to 2 could have made it to number 1. But that doesn’t mean I have any reservations whatsoever in placing this biography of Spurgeon at the top of the list. I’ve known Tom Nettles for a couple of decades and I always enjoy what he writes, whether it be on selected themes in Baptist history or the biography of some great Christian leader. But this has to be regarded as his best yet.

Before diving into Nettles’s massive work, I had greatly enjoyed the biographies of Spurgeon by Arnold Dallimore and Lewis Drummond. Without in any way diminishing the value of these other two, I have to say that Nettles has forever set the standard by which all subsequent studies of Spurgeon must be judged. This massive text was more than fifteen years in the making. In fact, Tom gives thanks to his publishers for their remarkable patience in waiting for it to arrive! And when I say “massive” I mean “massive”! Don’t be misled by the 683 pages. They are 683 double column pages! I haven’t finished it yet, but from what I’ve experienced thus far this is certainly deserving of the best book of 2013.

A good summation of what is contained here is provided by Michael A. G. Haykin, Nettles’s colleague at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. On the back cover he writes:

“It has long been my conviction that, despite the goodly number of Spurgeon biographies that have been written since the Baptist preacher’s death in 1892, there really is lacking a definitive study that not only takes account of his remarkable ministry and the inspiring details of his life, but also adequately deals with the theology of the man. Finally, in this work by my dear colleague Tom Nettles, a sort of magnum opus upon which he has labored for many years, is justice done to not only Spurgeon the man and preacher, but also to Spurgeon the theologian. Here is an ‘all-round’ study of Spurgeon that provides us with a fully reliable, substantial examination of an extremely important figure in the life of Victorian Evangelicalism and the world of that era.”

So make it your New Year’s Resolution to read this book. It will probably take you all of 2014, but what a way to spend the year!

1 Comment

YES! I have this book sitting in my closet waiting to be read. Thanks Dr. Storms for composing this list. Great choice for #1. This will push me over the top to make it my next to read. Blessings!

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