Most people know Horatius Bonar for his soul-searching hymns but he was also a respected author and had a strong concern for evangelisation and the onward life and witness of Christians. Bonar's pastoral books always address people realistically, there is no 'super spiritualism' here or an unattainable standard for the Christian life. Everyone can benefit from this book. Bonar explains that the way of peace, and the way of holiness, lay side by side. Peace may come first but the Spirit of peace Is the Spirit of holiness. You cannot say that you have peace whilst living with sin, you cannot say you have holiness if you are not consciously reconciled with God and fellow believers.Each chapter starts with a list of helpful scripture passages to set the scene for the ensuing discussion. Bonar deals with rebirth, the indwelling, of the Spirit, what gives us strength against sin, the power of the cross, the role of the law, the influence of the world, and a special section on Romans chapter seven.Bonar also helps us understand how concepts of holiness and spirituality are changed outside the Christian viewpoint. He shows the dangers of harsh orthodoxy, un-anchored idealism, mechanical devotion, superstition, self-righteous mortification, the sentimentalism of liberal theology and the woolly, warm dreams of Eastern pantheism.
About the Author: Horatius Bonar - (1808-1889), Scottish churchman and poet Horatius Bonar had a passionate heart for revival. He was brother to the more well-known Andrew Bonar, and with him defended D. L. Moody's evangelistic ministry in Scotland. He authored a couple of excellent revival works, one including over a hundred biographical sketches and the other an addendum to Rev. John Gillies' Historical Collections bringing it up to date. Horatius was in fact one of eleven children, and of these an older brother, John James, and a younger, Andrew, also became ministers and were all closely involved, together with Thomas Chalmers, William C. Burns and Robert Murray M'Cheyne, in the important spiritual movements which affected many places in Scotland in the 1830s and 1840s. In the controversy known as the "Great Disruption," Horatius stood firmly with the evangelical ministers and elders who left the Church of Scotland's General Assembly in May 1843 and formed the new Free Church of Scotland. By this time he had started to write hymns, some of which appeared in a collection he published in 1845, but typically, his compositions were not named. His gifts for expressing theological truths in fluent verse form are evident in all his best-known hymns, but in addition he was also blessed with a deep understanding of doctrinal principles. Examples of the hymns he composed on the fundamental doctrines include, "Glory be to God the Father".....on the Trinity. "0 Love of God, how strong and true".....on Redemption. "Light of the world," - "Rejoice and be glad" - "Done is the work" on the Person and Work of Christ. "Come Lord and tarry not," on His Second Coming, while the hymn "Blessed be God, our God!" conveys a sweeping survey of Justification and Sanctification. In all this activity, his pastoral work and preaching were never neglected and after almost twenty years laboring in the Scottish Borders at Kelso, Bonar moved back to Edinburgh in 1866 to be minister at the Chalmers Memorial Chapel (now renamed St. Catherine's Argyle Church). He continued his ministry for a further twenty years helping to arrange D.L. Moody's meetings in Edinburgh in 1873 and being appointed moderator of the Free Church ten years later. His health declined by 1887, but he was approaching the age of eighty when he preached in his church for the last time, and he died on 31 May 1889.