A Christian Directory, Part 1: Christian Ethics

Written in 1673 by the fiery Puritan minister Richard Baxter, this is not a book to sit on a shelf. It is a manual for souls in earnest, a ruthlessly practical guide to living as a Christian when the stakes could not be higher. Baxter assumes nothing less than that your eternity hangs on the decisions you make today, and he refuses to let you look away from yourself. The first volume tackles Christian ethics: what it means to examine your own heart honestly, to mortify sin rather than accommodate it, and to cultivate a living, daily dependence on God. But Baxter is no abstract theorist. He writes for the tired parent, the struggling believer, the young minister unsure how to counsel the desperate. His tone is urgent, intimate, sometimes accusatory, always compassionate. Four centuries later, his directness still confronts comfortable faith. This is spiritual reading for those who mean business with God.