What do you all think of Oswald Chambers? He certainly isn't Reformed. I used to read his devotional, but then learned he was in some ultra holiness type of stuff.

Anyone know more?

Opinions?

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Derek
Reformed Southern Baptist
Virginia

personally, I like him. I log on to my daily bible reading through his website and sometimes read his devotionals. Usually they are very thought provoking.

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Rangerus
Southern Baptist
Austin, TX
Teacher and Volunteer
1689 LBCF & BF&M 2000

I like him as well. But there are times when he'll use a verse and I think, "does that verse really say that??" My hope is that if he is heretical in anyway, someone on here has figured it out, and it will save me time in reading him

I certainly have nothing wrong with him pushing people to be holy.

If you're looking for something in a similar devotional format, go for Spurgeon's Morning and Evening instead. Or just pick up a Puritan paperback. I don't know if there is any major heresy advocated in Chambers' stuff, but there's much better out there.

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Bryan Peters
Providence Reformed Church (URCNA)
Des Moines, Iowa

Doctrinal truth should be preached always, openly, without compromise, and never dissembled or concealed. There is no offence in it; it is the staff of uprightness.
~Martin Luther~

As I made the transition over the the Reformed side of things, I felt there was better out there.

I just started to journal with Edwards' Religious Affections. I love his insight, along with scripture of course.

I have peeked at Spurgeon's Morning and Evening, but haven't gotten into it too much yet.

Chamber's misses the mark now and then but for the most part I think it's a great devotional to come back to every few years. Some of it borders on mysticism but then again, it IS a devotional and not a commentary.

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Bob Vigneault C.O.L, L.E., G.E, Dr.O.P., O.U.T.
The Heartbeat of Heaven (blog)
Deacon/Christ Presbyterian Church, Janesville, WI OPC www.christ-opc.org

Click to get: Board Rules -- Signature Requirements -- Suggestions?

I have often wondered the same thing on some of his writings. Can't think of an example right off, but I do remember thinking that a time or two.

I personally can't read Chambers anymore. I grew up in a Keswick-influenced church. When I became Reformed, I saw the bankruptcy of that kind of "holiness."

Chambers' theology is all over the place, sometimes sounding Wesleyan, sometimes Keswick. His idea of holiness generally seems to be a "surrender" to God, resulting in the divine life overwhelming the carnal self. This is antithetical to Reformed theology, which sees the "self" being progressively transformed toward more holiness.

Here are some oddities in his writings:

"God will not give us good habits, He will not give us character, He will not make us walk aright. We have to do all that ourselves, we have to work out the salvation God has worked in. If you hesitate when God tells you to do a thing, you endanger your standing in grace" (May 10th).

"The experience of salvation means that in your actual life things are really altered, you no longer look at things as you used to; your de*sires are new, old things have lost their power. If you still hanker after the old things, it is absurd to talk about being born from above" (Nov. 12th).

"In the Bible it is never--should a Christian sin? The Bible puts it emphatically--a Christian must not sin. The effective work of the new birth life in us is that we do not commit sin, not merely that we have the power not to sin, but that we have stopped sinning" (Aug. 15th).

God does not give us overcoming life; He gives us life as we overcome. When the inspiration of God comes, and He says, "Arise from the dead," we have to get up; God does not lift us up (Feb. 16th).

Also, I remember reading an insightful article about Chambers that mentioned that even though his writing is about Christian growth and spirituality, there is very little reference to the Church. The result is that "holiness" appears to be something individualistic and introspective, largely judged by my current emotional attitude toward God.

If you have to read devotional material by non-Reformed people, why not try Tozer? He's eccentric, but seems to me to display a lot more doctrinal integrity than Chambers.

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Charlie Johnson
Downtown Presbyterian Church (PCA)
Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, student

If I remember correctly his writings aren't God centric but more man centric. Haven't read him for years and probably....

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John
Member
Christ Presbyterian Church (OPC)
Salt Lake City, Utah
www.christpres.net