Seeing Beauty and Saying Beautifully: The Power of Poetic Effort in the Work of George Herbert George Whitefield and C. S. Lewis

Seeing Beauty and Saying Beautifully: The Power of Poetic Effort in the Work of George Herbert George Whitefield and C. S. LewisIn the sixth volume of the Swans Are Not Silent series, John Piper celebrates the importance of poetic effort by looking at three influential Christians whose words magnificently display a commitment to truth and a love of beauty. Examining the lives of George Herbert, George Whitefield, and C. S. Lewis, Piper helps us appreciate the importance of carefully crafted words by exploring how Christians can use them to testify to Gods glory, wonder at his

In the sixth volume of the Swans Are Not Silent series, John Piper celebrates the importance of poetic effort by looking at three influential Christians whose words magnificently display a commitment to truth and a love of beauty.

Examining the lives of George Herbert, George Whitefield, and C. S. Lewis, Piper helps us appreciate the importance of carefully crafted words by exploring how Christians can use them to testify to God’s glory, wonder at his grace, and rejoice in his salvation.

Whether exploring Herbert’s moving poetry, Whitefield’s dramatic preaching, or Lewis’s imaginative writing, this book highlights the importance of Christ-exalting eloquence in our praise of God and proclamation of his gospel.

Publisher: Crossway
Type: Hardback
ISBN: 9781433542947

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John Piper is founder and lead teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. He served for thirty-three years as the pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and is the author of more than fifty books, including Desiring God; Don’t Waste Your Life; and Reading the Bible Supernaturally.

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"A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver." So says King Solomon in Proverbs 25:11. These wise words are the biblical basis for John Piper's new book, Seeing Beauty and Saying Beautifully. Nearly fifteen years ago, Dr. Piper embarked on a series of books called, The Swans Are Not Silent. The beauty of these books is found in a combination of brevity, historical narrative, and theological depth. The books set out to introduce key figures in the history of the church - from Augustine, Calvin, and Luther to Bunyan, Wilberforce, and Cowper. The newest volume introduces readers to George Herbert, George Whitefield, and C.S. Lewis.

The author's aim, as he says, is "to probe the interrelationship between seeing beauty and saying it beautifully." And he accomplishes his goal by pointing to Herbert, Whitefield, and Lewis by demonstrating how these men pointed others to see the beauty of Christ.

Piper spends much of his time laboring over the poetic effort of these men: "Poetic effort is the effort to see and savor and speak the wonder - the divine glory - that is present everywhere in the world God made, in the history God guides, and in the Word God inspired."

In the final analysis, Piper urges those who communicate Christian truth to do so in a beautiful and winsome way: "It means that as you try to find words that seem worthy of the worth of what you have seen, the worth of what you have seen becomes clearer and deeper." Do do any less what appear to cheapen and weaken the message. Dr. David Steele