Christ Our All Review: Christ Our All – Poems for the Christian Pilgrim, complied by Geoffrey Chang and Published by B & H Academic (298 pages).
I never really thought I’d be the guy who’d appreciate (well, love actually) poetry. Sure I was in the New Age for awhile, but I’d never considered myself a Sensitive New Age guy (SNAG). Maybe I’ve been in denial. That said I’d come across poems cited liked by New Agers—for example, Walt Whitman or various transcendentalists—but they did nothing for me.
There’s a reason for that. The poems lacked Christ.
Also, in my defense, I was a classics-deprived Gym Rat for many years, and never met another GR who liked poetry (or admitted to it). Of course, they may have been there, ready to come out—who knows?
So now I’m out. I said it. I first realized this strangeness while using Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening Devotional. The devotional was interspersed here and there with snippets of stirring poetry. There was no author attributed to them, and I wanted more.
Enter Christ Our All
In 2024, B & H Academic announced a book of Spurgeon’s collected poems compiled by Geoffrey Chang. I pounced on it.
The main body of the book is divided into two parts: The Private Poems of C. H. Spurgeon and The Published Poems & Hymns of C. H. Spurgeon. In the Introduction, Chang convincingly outlines his reasoning for attributing the unsigned, previously unpublished poems to Spurgeon. There’s also a little gem where he tells how Susannah Spurgeon often read out George Herbert’s poems to her tired husband in the evening, to their mutual edification.
Herbert is worth a look as well.
The title of Chang’s collection is appropriately derived from poem Number 55, Page 77, Christ Our All. It embodies what the crux of Spurgeon’s heart-love was—our Lord Jesus Christ.
Our Father, Friend, Redeemer, God,
Our hope, our life our joy,
Teach us thy way; thy blest reward
Shall give our tongues employ.
Show us thyself, show dearest Lord,
The beauties of they grace;
And let us in they blessed word,
Behold thy shining face.
If you appreciate good Christian poetry, this book is an excellent source of uplifting devotionals which look to heaven and Christ. I highly recommended it!
Lastly, as an apologetic, both Tolkien and Lewis loved poetry. So I believe I’m in good company.
Maranatha!
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