Speaking of good ol J. I. . . .

After talking briefly about Packer's decision the other day, I've been thinking of the monumental way his work shaped my thinking years ago. There was a time that my reading list consisted of "things Packer wrote or endorsed." Sadly, haven't really read him in years (still give his books out as recommendations and/or gifts, tho). His Knowing God and A Quest for Godliness were life-altering. Keep in Step with the Spirit, Growing in Christ, Hot Tub Religion, Rediscovering Holiness were all very helpful (I know I'm leaving titles out...this is all off the top of my head here)--I found Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God disappointing, but I've always chalked that up to having heard several people tell me about the book before I got to it--basically reading it myself was a review.

And you can't talk about Packer's writing without mentioning his monumental introductory essay to John Owen's The Death of Death in the Death of Christ. It really impressed me when I read its reprint in A Quest for Godliness, but I distinctly remember being floored by it a few months later when I read it as I started Owen's work.

Too often overlooked, I think, is the essay penned by Packer and O. R. Johnston introducing their translation of Luther's The Bondage of the Will. I've been trying to find an electronic copy of that over the last few days (my copy of Luther is in a box somewhere), but have thus far been unable to. That's a shame--it's not on the level of his Owen essay, but it's within spitting distance. Now, I know all too well that even the mighty Google (all hail our coming electronic masters) lets something fall through the cracks--and sites like monergism.com miss things too. If any of you readers know where there is a copy of the Luther essay online, please leave the address in the comments below.

If you haven't yet taken the time to read Packer...time to fix that, folks. He's one of the best things that the 20th century produced.