What Every Book of the New Testament Is About
Brief summaries of the New Testament books.
Articles by Leland Ryken
33 results found
What Every Book of the Old Testament Is About
Brief summaries of each book of the Old Testament.
10 Things You Should Know about the Bible as Literature
Most literature is fictional at some level, but fictionality is not a defining trait of literature.
10 Things You Should Know about The Pilgrim’s Progress
The classic tale of The Pilgrim’s Progress has been popular with readers through the ages because it is rooted in the truths of the Bible.
5 Lessons from Shakespeare's Hamlet
Leland Ryken compels us to focus on both the content and the form of Shakespeare's Hamlet.
10 Things You Should Know about J. I. Packer
Over the course of his life, J. I. Packer became one of the most famous and influential evangelical leaders of his time.
Why You Should Read Augustine's Confessions
I believe that Augustine's masterpiece is a largely unread book because people approach it with the wrong expectations, quickly become frustrated, and leave the book unfinished.
A Devotional on the Birth of Jesus by Martin Luther
I would not have you contemplate the deity of Christ, the majesty of Christ, but rather his flesh. Look upon the Baby Jesus. . . . See how God invites you.
10 Things You Should Know about J. I. Packer
Over the course of his life, J. I. Packer became one of the most famous and influential evangelical leaders of his time.
10 Things You Should Know about Poetry
We should all learn the language of poetry. Here are ten reasons why.
14 Lesser-Known Details about J. I. Packer
Everyone has a dimension of personality and life that is hidden from public view and known mainly by family members and close acquaintances. Read 14 details related to this lesser-known side of J. I. Packer.
How to Preach Biblical Narrative
Douglas Sean O'Donnell, Leland Ryken
I love stories. You love stories. Your congregation loves stories. The unbelieving world loves stories. Below are seven suggestions for preaching a sermon on a biblical narrative.
Was Shakespeare a Christian Writer?
Leland Ryken encourages us to look at the Christian elements present in Shakespeare's plays.
Douglas Sean O'Donnell, Leland Ryken
Parables feature what the whole of the New Testament covers: gospel need, gospel proclamation, gospel response, and gospel ethics. In your preaching, follow Jesus’s pattern.
10 Things You Should Know about the Genres of the Bible
Douglas Sean O'Donnell, Leland Ryken
Identifying the genre of a text gives us the right terms for interacting with it. Conversely, if we do not interact with a text in terms of its genre traits, we cannot deal adequately with it.
A Devotional on the Excellency of Christ Seen in Christmas by Jonathan Edwards
Christ came to subdue the mighty powers of darkness, and make a show of them openly, and so to restore peace on earth.
A Devotional on the Most Glorious of Birthdays by Charles Spurgeon
Leland Ryken, Charles H. Spurgeon
The birth of Christ should be the subject of supreme joy. We have the angelic warrant for rejoicing because Christ is born.
A Devotional on Prayer by Jane Austen
Teach us to feel the importance of every day, and every hour as it passes, and earnestly strive to make a better use of what thy goodness may yet bestow on us, than we have done of the time past.
What qualities does something possess in order to merit the title classic?
A Devotional on Communing with God through Nature by George Washington Carver
Nature in its varied forms are the little windows through which God permits me to commune with Him, and to see much of His glory, majesty, and power by simply lifting the curtain and looking in.
If a classic possesses the qualities that people ascribe to them, we know that we want them in our lives.
A Missing Ingredient in Today’s Preaching
The literary approach to the Bible, and the importance of genre as a chief ingredient of such an approach, are subjects of neglect. This represents a missed opportunity of massive proportions.
4 Exemplary Character Traits of J. I. Packer
Learn just four reasons why Packer has been a faithful steward in the Kingdom.
A Devotional on Christlikeness by Florence Nightingale
If we have not true religious feeling and purpose, life . . . becomes a mere routine and bustle. . . . Our work must be the first thing, but God must be in it.
God Cares about Beauty (and We Should, Too)
God has implanted in people longing and desire for the true, the good, and the beautiful. The Bible speaks to all three of these.
Why Christians Should Read Shakespeare
Leland Ryken explains why more Christians should read or view Shakespeare than currently do.
3 Losses of an Illiterate Culture
Glenda Faye Mathes, Leland Ryken
The decline of reading has impoverished our culture and individual lives. We have lost mental sharpness, verbal skills, and ability to think and imagine.
5 Fallacies about a Literary Approach to the Bible
Leland Ryken, Philip Graham Ryken
When the Bible gives us literary subject matter, that subject matter is present through the agency of divine inspiration. The same is true of the genres and forms of the Bible.
4 Things that Make the Bible Literary
The subject of literature is human experience. We should read the Bible through that lens.
Should We Look for God in Every Story?
Glenda Faye Mathes, Leland Ryken
Finding God is our primary task and our greatest treasure. Can he be found in every story? How can literature feed us spiritually?
Identifying Devotional Gems in Unexpected Places
In compiling my anthology, I worked hard to find devotional riches in unexpected places. Many of the authors would doubtless be surprised by what I chose for devotional purposes.
10 Devotional Treasures from Surprising Sources
Among the classics of devotional readings, we find that great devotionals often sprang from unexpected and even unintended origins, as the following list of ten surprising sources shows.
If a classic is a work that possesses the qualities that I ascribed to it, and if there are good reasons why some of our reading should be reading the classics, then how should we go about our reading of them?