Monday, October 12, 2015

Book Review: Spurgeon's Sorrows

Spurgeon's Sorrows. Zack Eswine. 2014. Christian Focus. 144 pages. [Source: Borrowed]

I found Zack Eswine's Spurgeon's Sorrows to be worth reading. It is a little book on depression and/or anxiety. It focuses on what it is and isn't for starters. Twelve chapters, three sections. The first focuses on "trying to understand depression." The second focuses on "learning how to help those who suffer from depression." The third focuses on "learning helps to daily cope with depression." And it somehow manages to tie it all in to the life and teachings of one of my favorites, Charles Spurgeon. It is a faith-centered, gospel-focused book that acknowledges that depression is real, an actual, physical problem, and that it is not in any way a sin or a result of lack of faith.

The book balances the past and present better than I thought it could. (Spurgeon's thoughts on depression, melancholy, fear and anxiety. His own personal struggles. Plenty of quotes from his sermons. Mention of what those in the nineteenth century thought of depression, how they treated it, etc. Contemporary thoughts on depression and mental illness. Advice on modern-day treatments and such.)

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

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