29 August 2014

O Give Me That Book

John Wesley:
I want to know one thing--the way to heaven; how to land safe on that happy shore. God himself has condescended to teach the way. . . . He hath written it down in a book! O give me that book! At any price, give me the Book of God!

I have it: here is knowledge enough for me. Let me be homo unius libri. . . . I sit down alone: only God is here. In his presence I open, I read his book; for this end, to find the way to heaven. . . . I meditate thereon, with all the attention and earnestness of which my mind is capable.
--John Wesley, 'Preface,' in The Works of John Wesley (London: Thomas Cordeux, 1811), 7:4-5 ('homo unius libri' = 'a man of one book')

1 comment:

treasuringJesus said...

This is lovely. Makes me hungry for God's word. And it reminds me of something Spurgeon said in a sermon. Since God's word is "the sword of the Spirit," he used a biblical story of a sword to make a point (pun intended). As David said when the priest offered him Goliath's sword, so should we say about the holy Bible:

"There is none like it. Give it to me!"