Heaven Opened: The Correspondence of Mary Winslow

by Octavius Winslow (Editor)

Heaven Opened is a testimony of a vital Christianity set in the reality of the life of Mary Winslow. This volume, compiled by her son after her death, demonstrates her love, commitment, and effectual legacy to those around her. Christ's light shone through her life.

Genres: Devotional

344 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1864

About the author

Octavius Winslow (1 August 1808 – 5 March 1878), also known as "The Pilgrim's Companion", was a prominent 19th-century evangelical preacher in England and America. A Baptist minister for most of his life and contemporary of Charles Spurgeon and J. C. Ryle, he seceded to the Anglican church in his last decade.

Reviews

[Bambi Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

These are the published letters of Mary Winslow, mother of Octavius Winslow, to her family and friends. Just beautiful. Lengthy but very beneficial. I was sad to turn the last page.

[Trisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this over many months, savoring one of two entries at a time. There is much encouragement here, and it is even sweeter because Winslow wasn't writing to impress an audience; she was declaring precious truths from His Word to her friends and family, truths she knew well as she witnessed God's faithfulness to her over and over throughout her life. She was ever building others up and reminding them of their hope in Christ Jesus. The final entry is perhaps the best of all, beautifully summing up the many prayers and longings we offer up for ourselves and those dearest to us.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

These are the letters of Octavius Winslow's mother. If you haven't heard of Octavius Winslow, he was a pastor over 100 years ago who wrote several immensely edifying books. In reading his mother's letters you see that the apple didn't fall far from the tree, at least in depth of spirituality. However, these are letters written to individuals and not meant for publication and they are chosen and edited by a loving son who could not be expected to be unbiased about their worth to the public at large. And so I found the letters repetitive and redundant. All good stuff, but often seeming to say the same things over and over again. I think they would have benefited from a more ruthless editor. I used it as a devotional and read a little everyday and maybe some with a more mystical or emotional bent would appreciate it, but I'm afraid that for the most part I did not. That's not to say there aren't a number of very helpful or moving quotes interspersed, just that more often than not I came away unimproved by my reading. On the other hand, her testimony, as it is given in the preface and in a very sweet letter to her children towards the end of the book, is priceless and worth the price of the book just for it. I wish the biography part had been longer and the letter part shorter. A very godly and dear woman who trusted God in some of the most difficult situations and found Him faithful. I can never read enough such stories.