Believing God - RT Kendall
Originally published 1981.
Narrated by Frank Gerard.
R. T. Kendall is a theologian I have never read before, but have heard others speak highly of. It turns out that he was pastor of the same church as D Martyn Lloyd-Jones had been! Two theologian/ pastors/ reverends from the same church, and two that, having now read some of their work, I am eager to read more of.
Believing God is subtitled 'Studies on Faith in Hebrews 11', and the book takes us through that chapter verse by verse, focussing on the different aspects of faith as well as how it was expressed in the lives of the various 'heroes of faith' mentioned.
Kendall talks a lot about the definition of faith, dividing it into subcategories in order to highlight different aspects of the faith journey. His definition starts with the idea that (as Hebrews 11:1 puts it) faith is confidence in that which we do not see. Kendall points out that therefore once the 'fulfillment of God's promises' are seen, we cease to have 'faith' in the truest sense. In order to grow our faith in Him, therefore, God must sometimes hide his face from us. The greatest type of faith one can have is 'Saving faith': the trust in God's saving work and our freedom to rest in that - if we are doing works in order to prove our salvation or to earn it, we have not yet fully understood the work of Christ. We then move on to a "subsidiary" type of faith Kendall calls 'Experimental faith', where in response to persuasion from God we are moved to action - this is the type of faith that we mostly see throughout Hebrews 11.
I listened to this as an audiobook over a period of a few months. This was a good way of taking in the general ideas Kendall talked about, but did make note taking a little harder - particularly if I was out walking (this also means I cannot put page numbers on quotes for this review!). Kendall highlights each figure mentioned in Hebrews 11, occasionally giving insights which I had never considered before (such as positing that Moses would have known he was a Hebrew from a young age, and Pharaoh's daughter also would have known, because he would have been circumcised before being put in the basket), and bringing out challenging application from each figure as well.
He is also able to challenge contemporary church culture where he considers it has become a little off-balanced. As one example of this, Kendall talks about two extreme (and misleading) ways that people are brought to Christ: "One: easy believing, when the cost of faith is completely disguised. The new believer is told that he is going to heaven, but is told nothing about discipleship, the lordship of Christ, the bearing of the cross and persecution. The other is the one sided emphasis on duty, so that the believer is sometimes diverted completely from Christ's death. Such a believer looks at conversion entirely in terms of what he must give up and therefore misses the glory of Christianity, Christ as Saviour, the nature of Justification and Christian liberty. A balanced message of the gospel will assure men of their readiness for Heaven apart from works but will equally prepare them for the suffering which all believers must anticipate."
I really enjoyed this book. I would be keen to read it again in the future, possibly in physical form.
The audiobook narration by Frank Gerard was adequate. He has a good voice for the topic, but also did not correct some of his mistakes, which was distracting. At times there would be a pause, then a repeating of a line, and at one point a longer pause included a sigh and what sounded like rearranging papers on a desk before the narration resumed. If these moments had been tightened up on the experience would have been even better.
Completed 21 January 2022.
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