James Austin

I finished all of Deep Anglicanism by Gerald McDermott today, at just under 400 pages. Every word. The book offers a thorough and thoughtful overview of the Anglican tradition. It highlights both the common ground …

Last week I completed reading The Seven Capital Sins, first published in 1959 by the Benedictine Convent of Perpetual Adoration. Today, it is available from TAN Books, published in 2017 (ISBN978-0-89555-679-0). This post consists of …

While reading through the book Reformation Anglican Worship, the notes I wrote out and captured were synthesized and recorded here for their primary or major points. The book presents highly informative points of interest concerning …

Today, I completed reading John Stott and J. Alec Motyer’s Doctrine of Infant Baptism, published by Latimer Trust. First, this book provides a thorough theological reflection on the sacrament of baptism within the Anglican tradition …

Christian Proficiency by Martin Thornton is a published work on disciplined spirituality and serves as a practical and theological guide for integrating faith into daily life. Thornton emphasizes the concept of “proficiency” as the mature …

Today I completed the classic book Knowing God by J.I. Packer. It is 360 pages in length and in three parts about knowing the Lord, beholding God, and the recognition that God is for us …

Saint Benedict of Nursia (c. 480–547 AD) is one of the most significant figures in the history of Western monasticism and Christian spirituality. Born in the region of Nursia (modern Norcia, Italy), he came from …

The Triads by Saint Gregory Palamas stands as a prominent figure in the history of Christian spirituality. Composed in the mid-14th century, this work responds to a profound theological dispute that encapsulated the tension between …

I just completed Dane Ortlund’s book Deeper, and with it, I now have a clearer and settled assurance of what it means to grow in Christ from a thoroughly biblical perspective. The scriptural authority about …

The will of the Father and the will of the Son. Keeping the commands of Jesus begins with recognizing what they are. The following outline is a collection of Jesus’ imperatives. As you read through …

Today, I completed the prayer book Piercing Heaven, Prayers of the Puritans, edited by Robert Elmer. It is 321 pages and was in frequent use during personal prayer from beginning to end. The book’s prayers …

The following assembled notes are from a beginning study of personal interest in the divine office using the Anglican Book of Common Prayer (1928), the Lectionary (1945), and the King James Bible with the Apocrypha …

In Dante’s Paradiso, the journey of the protagonist reaches its culmination in the celestial realms, where he experiences the ultimate redemption by divine grace. As Dante ascends through the various spheres of Heaven, each representing …

Dante Alighieri’s “Purgatorio,” the second cantica of his monumental epic poem “The Divine Comedy,” continues the journey of the poem’s protagonist—Dante himself—through the afterlife. Having traversed the depths of Hell in “Inferno,” Dante and his …

Dante Alighieri’s “Inferno,” the first part of his epic poem “The Divine Comedy,” is one of the seminal works of Western literature. Written in the early 14th century, it provides a detailed account of the …

A synaxarion of the Orthodox Church is a liturgical text that compiles the lives of saints, feast days, and significant events commemorated throughout the Orthodox Christian liturgical year. Derived from the Greek word “synaxis,” which …

After reading George Orwell’s 1984 this week, it fully reinforced my personal views about the evils of socialism and totalitarianism. The novel, set in a dystopian future where the Party, led by Big Brother, exercises …

In Augustine’s treatise De Spiritu et Littera (“On the Spirit and the Letter”), he addresses the critical theological issues of grace, human will, and the law. He confronts the ideas propagated by Pelagianism, a doctrine …