This post is by my husband, Dave, who loves reading and sharing book recommendations. He also loves the Derby Series which I wrote about earlier, but this is probably his favorite Christian novel.
The Hammer of God, by Bo Giertz
This novel, translated from the original Swedish (in which language it was published more than seventy years ago), follows the stories of three separate pastors who serve in the same Lutheran parish; first in 1810, then 1870, then in 1940. Each of these men, though a pastor, begins his story in a place of confusion about God and his Word. Through crisis events in their pastorate (an encounter with a dying parishioner, a fight between two church members, etc.), the pastors come to confront their own weakness of character and take hold of the Law of God. Having done so, each one eventually realizes the weakness of that Law to deliver anyone, since it brings only condemnation. Through the gracious providence of God, the men then separately come to embrace the true Gospel of Jesus Christ in all of its freedom and power.
This amazing little book nearly passed me by entirely. I can’t remember who recommended it to me, but the Lord brought it into my life during my preaching through the book of Galatians (just at the beginning of Chapter 3) at a time in which my own thoughts were not as clear on these matters as I had imagined before I started the series on Galatians. The completely Bible-infused conversations and musings of Giertz’s characters were a blessing and a refreshment to me like a pastoral word to my heart. Giertz places these truths in such appropriate contexts that the discussions (especially to someone like me in a pastoral role) never seem contrived or artificial, but stand out boldly as the bedrock truths they are.
Giertz was a staunch Lutheran, and he writes like one, with his high-church theology standing out especially in the last section. But those who disagree with his ecclesiology will still find much to bless and strengthen them. This book, like few others I’ve read, is recommended for any and all Christians.
“The Hammer of God: A Novel about the Cure of Souls by Bo Giertz was first published in 1941 in Swedish as Stengrunden (“The Stone Foundation”). It has been translated into English in 1960, 1973 and 2005.” (Wikipedia)
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