“The Single Best Book on Christian Suffering Available”

Carl Trueman on the memoirs of the Puritan Richard Baxter upon losing his beloved wife:

One of the literary jewels Dr. Packer has given the church is his edition the Breviate where he intersperses his own wise commentary and thoughts.  It is still available from Crossway as A Grief Sanctified and is, I believe, the single best book on Christian suffering available.  I keep a copy on my bedside table and dip into it regularly.  So much wisdom packed into so few pages.  And as we all know, even the most devoted marriage ultimately ends in tragedy.  Baxter’s bereavement awaits the marriages of us all.

Recently, I gave it to a much older Christian friend who had just lost his beloved wife of many years after a long and painful illness.  Last week, I received a brief note of thanks from him: ‘It was just what I needed,’ he wrote, ‘and I will recommend it to others.’  There can be no higher praise or greater vote of confidence for a book on bereavement than that.