Don't Talk to Strangers /// Bug Olsen

 

       Of the three selections we read this week, my favorite was “How to Lead a Heavenly Life upon Earth” by Richard Baxter. He gave many great pieces of advice on how to live a Godly life, as the name implies, and many of his points I agree with and believe are still relevant today. However, I was most interested in his repeated mentioning of avoiding everything worldly, including the people in it. Obviously there are elements of truth to this, since we are called to be set apart from the world and to not live in sin, but I believe he took it to new levels in some areas. He claims we should not have frequent conversations about anything unrelated to Christianity (such as politics or the weather), and to avoid ungodly people whenever possible. Besides ministering to them, there is no purpose in us coming in contact with anyone who will not bolster our faith or provide some type of spiritual progress for us. I found this to be slightly extreme, since it is almost impossible for us to only be around people of our same faith and thought processes. Times have clearly changed, but even in his day I think this would be quite tricky to accomplish.

            Along these lines, I thought it was interesting that the only reason we should take care of worldly things is to benefit the spiritual. Once again there is some sense of truth to this, but I thought it was an interesting view to take in regards to our own health (Baxter certainly seems like the type of person who would be violently against tattoos). Personally I think we need to have an understanding of how the world works (such as politics) and take care of ourselves so that we can function properly, so it is much harder to completely block out anything unreligious in practice as opposed to theory.

            As far as the structure of his writing, it clearly followed a basic sermon structure and used imagery and examples as one would expect from a preacher. I was very reminded of a Baptist preacher using such metaphors to get his point across, much like Baxter did throughout his writing. The writing itself was very clear and conveyed his message with concise, vivid language and I appreciated the way he broke up his points and presented his topics.

            I commented on Elijah’s and Emmett’s posts.

Comments

  1. Emma LandryOctober 4, 2021 at 10:29 PM

    I agree that, while the essence of what Baxter was trying to convey was good and that all Christians could improve in how often they dwell on heavenly things, it is unrealistic to function as a member of society and to live a normal life if one subscribes to the extremes that he does. Talking about subjects like the weather is important just to get through the day, and doing such does not indicate that one is living a life far from God.

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  2. Emma Kate PattersonOctober 5, 2021 at 2:28 AM

    Avoiding the things of the world is a common topic in the philosophy I have studied so far. I find it interesting that when this topic comes up it is mainly always in discussion about how we are supposed to get satisfaction from the things of God and not from the things of this world. Worldly things are temporary while Godly things are eternal.

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