The Thinking Christian: Thought and Faith

by Jean Purcell

editor@opinebooks.com 

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Commentary

Image via WikipediaTo be called "Christian" has to do with belief, which has to do with both heart and mind. The mind is inseparable from faith. Faith includes intention. Believers at the head of Christian times knew that mind and heart are one..."thoughts and intentions of the heart." They would never have put thought aside, or reason. They relied on both as gifts of God (e.g., "think on these things"-emphasis added). 

     Emotionalism unfortunately is misunderstood or used falsely and even theatrically in what we might call faux experience. Yet, feelings like jubilation and joy can be and are extremely real for those fortunate to know them. The results immediately following Pentecost come to mind..."they are drunk!" And so they seemed, being filled to overflowing with the nectar of the freedom of God's Spirit.

    This is cause for rejoicing over many things, including the freedom to choose, to believe, to act, and to think. Martin Luther knew this when he wrote, "the body they may kill," when the church was being persecuted, and by religious leaders, no less. "God's truth abideth still, His kingdom is forever" finished Luther's argument. Those who believe that Christ came, lived, died, rose, and is coming again...rely on truth through a knowing and hidden faith. The faith is hidden to those who resist it as so many, including myself for a long time, do. However, when the mind willingly opens even to the possibility of God being, then all sorts of unseen things can be very near being seen. Each step closer in thought, reason, and intention is earth-shaking. If only we want to see...with the mind and the heart...

Recommended books about faith:
Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis
The Mourner's Comforter by C. H. Spurgeon
Faith by C. H. Spurgeon


Copyright (c)2011 Opinari Writers and Jean Purcell

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Gerald C. Primm and Charles H. Spurgeon

In Appreciation of the Life of Gerald Caudle Primm (1922-2011)

World War II Distinguished Flying Cross
Died on Memorial Day Weekend 2011
A devoted son, brother, husband, father, and grandfather
A devoted Christian and pastor

Faith takes the telescope, looks beyond the narrow range of time into the eternal heavens, and sees a crown laid up for the faithful.  

C. H. SPURGEON, THE MOURNER'S COMFORTER

"...what God has done with one life totally committed to Him whose power is unlimited!"  

GERALD C. PRIMM on C.H. SPURGEON

Gerald C Primm (1922-2011) To me, sister of Gerald Primm, the quotes above apply to my dear, oldest brother of my two treasured brothers, Gerald and Bud. Gerald Primm was a co-laborer for Christ and across time with Charles Haddon (C. H.) Spurgeon, and he was an expert on Mr. Spurgeon's life, works for the poor, preaching, and writing. Gerald went to be with the Lord early on the morning of May 28 at Moses Cone Memorial Hospital in Greensboro, NC. His sons were with him. Gerald was a beloved son (of Waldo Primm [d. 1984] and Treva Caudle Primm [d.1995]), husband (to Ethel Brown Primm [d.2006]), father (to John, Mark, and daughter-in-law Sandy), grandfather (to Carly, Caleb, Corrie, and Connor), brother (to Bud, Jean, brother-in-law Jim), uncle (to Deirdre and Carole), and friend; he was a pastor, mentor, preacher, and scholar; a WWII P-38 Lightning fighter pilot and veteran with many combat awards, he received the Distinguished Flying Cross, an award that most of the family knew nothing about until near or after his death.  

Capt. Gerald Primm

Mr. Primm greatly admired the person and works of 19th century London preacher C. H. Spurgeon (1834-1892), possibly above all other Christian men and preachers. He drew much strength from Mr. Spurgeon's perseverance of faith. Mr. Primm's new wife introduced him to Mr. Spurgeon not long after they married and through one book she suggested he read during a time of boredom when he wanted some good reading at a retreat. "Where can I find more books by this man?", Mr. Primm asked his bride after he finished the first book by Charles H. Spurgeon. Thus, the journey of a lifetime began. Mr. Primm even revived Sword and Trowel, a periodical Mr. Spurgeon published for many years. 

In his later years, Mr. Primm noted that his birth date, January 31, was the same as Mr. Spurgeon's date of death, and that Mr. Spurgeon's birth date, June 19, was the same birth date as Mr. Primm's sister, with whom he published the second US edition of The Mourner's Comforter.

Charles H. Spurgeon age 23

 (Wikipedia)

In 1975, the book's centennial year, Mr. Primm published the first U.S. edition of C.H. Spurgeon's 1875 publication The Mourner's Comforter, seven discourses on Isaiah 61:1-3; he compiled selections from Spurgeon's works in Paradoxes, Mysteries, Riddles, and Comfort for Christians (2002), which he edited; and he co-released a new edition of The Mourner's Comforter in 2007, based on the original,, with his Acknowledgments to Errol Hulse (UK) and others. 

One of the two largest collections in the world of Mr. Spurgeon's books and other works, including consecutive editions of "Sword and Trowel," were in Mr. Primm's personal library in his home. Mr. Primm collected the works gradually during decades of correspondence and book exchanges in the U.K. and elsewhere with rare book finders and dealers. Information about Mr. Primm's C.H. Spurgeon collection may be found, in future, through the library archives office (present archivist, Mr. Jim Lutzweiler) of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary-SEBTS, Wake Forest, NC. 

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