u/Soggy_Loops

I’ve been reading through the reformed confessions and I’ve been pleased with how faithful the reformers tried to be to 1) what scripture says and 2) what the early church believed.

However, all the confessions seem to imply the spiritual presence of the Eucharist is the orthodox view and we explicitly do not believe in the body of Christ over, under and within (WCF 29:7). (Although I’d argue some of the earlier confessions such as the French confession are closer to the Lutheran view). But I don’t see this view in history prior to the reformation. Is there a church father or any other place we see the reformed view of the Eucharist prior to the reformation?

Rising PGY-3. Really interested in the inpatient/outpatient rural life. Wife is also FM in the same boat. I get the emails every day with ridiculous job postings.

A couple of these jobs are within an hour of extended family who I love but it’s VERY rural, not where I grew up and not near parents or in-laws. A few hours from any major city and 1.5 hours from the regional airport to get home (2.5 hours from the airport that is direct).

But the job itself is what I think I would want for my career. Plus the pay is enough to pay off all our loans in two years. If we hate it we could always move after a couple years.

To those who lived in very rural America away from family, even if just to pay off loans for a few years: was it worth it? What advice do you have and would you do it again?

I have some books (some gifted, some bought from before I really knew what I was reading) that are something I would never read or recommend to anyone. Think like Jesus Calling. What should I do with them? Many of them are nice leather books that look nice on a bookshelf if you don’t note the author.

I’d hate to donate it to someone who picks it up thinking it’s true Christian doctrine but it feels wrong to throw out quality/expensive bindings and pages.

I have been pondering this for awhile, especially in recent years as I have spent more time reading and diving into the history of our faith.

When I read older Christian authors, even as recently as CS Lewis <80 years ago, I feel like each word has so much meaning. Other examples include Bonhoeffer, Chesterton, Luther, Calvin and of course ancient authors like Augustine, Athanasius and Irenaeus. I find myself pausing to ponder why they use the adjectives or allegories they do. I retain the images that they paint and feel like my faith is strengthened because their words are intentional and point to Christ and this message stays with me throughout my day or week.

Meanwhile, I love authors like Timothy Keller, John Piper, RC Sproul, etc. But I feel that a lot of their messages and books are kind of forgettable. It feels bad to say because many of them are explicitly about the gospel, but the second I put the book down I forget what I had read the previous day and it’s a lot harder to convince myself to finish these books. God bless my mother, but she often sends me books by modern evangelical authors and I rarely finish them due to boredom.

I guess I don’t have a real question, but I would like to hear from others their thoughts on the topic and I always welcome recommendations!

Edit: I would love to hear what people think the “pinnacle” Christian works of the later 20th and early 21st centuries are! Always open to more reading suggestions.