Curiosmith Blog — reading

From: A Cyclopaedia of Illustrations of Moral and Religious Truths: Consisting of Definitions, Metaphors, Similes, Emblems, Contrasts, Analogies, Statistics, Synonyms, Anecdotes, etc. etc. by John Bate, 1865. The Influence of Good Books by Dr. Thomas.  It is recorded that Bunny's "Resolution" roused Richard Baxter to concern, and Sibbes' "Bruised Reed" led him to the Saviour. Baxter then wrote the "Call to the Unconverted," which was blessed to Philip Doddridge, who afterwards wrote the "Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul." This book gave the first religious impressions to William Wilberforce, then M.P. for the county of York, who produced the...

Influence of Good Books. By Rev. W. M. PUNSHON, LL.D. I thought how an old Puritan doctor wrote a book years and years ago, called "The Bruised Reed," which fell just at the right time into the hands of Richard Baxter, and brought him under the influence of the enlightening power of the Spirit of God; and then Baxter's ministry was like the sun in his strength, and he wrote a book called "The Call to the Unconverted," which continued to speak long after Baxter himself had ceased to speak with human tongue. That "Call to the Unconverted" went preaching...

In 1823 it was said: “If religious books are not widely circulated among the masses in this country, I do not know what is going to become of us as a nation. If truth be not diffused, then error will be; if God and His Word are not known and received, the devil and his works will gain the ascendency; if the evangelical volume does not reach every hamlet, the pages of a corrupt and licentious literature will; if the power of the Gospel is not felt throughout the length and breadth of this land, anarchy and misrule, degradation and...