introducing : florilegium
my friend hank voss, professor of christian ministries & biblical studies at taylor university, writes and speaks about biographies as a central way of teaching doctrinal truth. he also emphasizes the importance of reading the spiritual classics as a helpful, even necessary, spiritual discipline. in benedict’s rule, the monks were required to spend time every day reading spiritual classics (1-4 hours); certain classics were even to be read each year! john wesley published a collection of forty spiritual classics and asked his leaders to spend 6-7 hours a day reading these classics or related books. the primary rule for the methodist preachers in wesley’s day was to read the scriptures together from 4-5am, and the hours of noon-6pm were to be spent reading through the “christian library” or similar literature. obviously as mothers we can’t afford to spend this amount of time in reading or study, but i think it sets a precedent for the importance of such content to build our faith, shape our theology & doctrine, and validate the extravagant truth of scripture through the visceral testimony of human experience!
i put a book list together for a class/event i hosted here at the farm last summer (Cake + Flowers : Cultivating Life in the Spirit), & thought some of you might enjoy it as well! along with the word of God & the presence of the Spirit, these books have been vital not only in shaping my own doctrine & theology, but providing true mentorship, making me long for more of God, moving me towards maturity, and even leading me into transformative experiences in Christ. you can download the list here.
as an avid reader of devotional classics & christian biographies/autobiographies for the past fifteen years or so, i wanted a place to share excerpts from some of my favorites. so…i’ve also just added a new tab to the blog : florilegium. a florilegium is a collection of literary extracts—an anthology, a bit of a commonplace book; it literally means a gathering of flowers. in medieval times, florilegia were collections of extracts taken mainly from the writings of the church fathers or the early church. the purpose was to take passages that illustrated certain topics, doctrines or themes, & place them together into one book. i discovered this genre (with a lovely name!) while reading the little flowers of st. francis, & thought it would be fun to create a running digital scrapbook on life in the Spirit.
i hope this new addition to the site can be a source of continual encouragement to you, as this great cloud of writers bears witness to the ongoing presence & power of the risen Lord!
(wallpaper is “herbarium” by tess newall)
