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The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul
Illustrated in a course of serious and practical addresses suited to persons of every character and with a devout meditation, or prayer, subjoined to each chapter.
280 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1822
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About the author
Philip Doddridge
340 books2 followersPhilip Doddridge, D.D. (Marischal College and King’s College, Aberdeen), was an English Congregationalist minister, educator, and author of over 400 hymns. First published in 1745, the accessibility and clarity of his The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul, with its emphasis on practical piety and advice on prayer, meditation, and self-examination, led to its translation into seven languages and its popularity across Europe and America, where it greatly influenced the Great Awakening and the eventual foundation of Methodism by John Wesley.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
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July 13, 2012This book is said to have been instrumental in the salvation of William Wilberforce.
March 25, 2020
Don't waste your time reading these quotes from the book, just go read the book. It's masterful. It cuts you with the sword of God's word, and it leads you to Christ. Doddridge writes letters of the most moving and loving sentiment to the Christian at every stage of his spiritual life, from his awakening to his death. It's one of the most practical and vital books I've ever read. Seriously, here is where you can buy a copy - https://www.heritagebooks.org/product...
Or just read this free copy - https://www.ccel.org/ccel/doddridge/r...
Or, if you think it sounds too stodgy and old-fashioned, read this version which as been abridged and made easy to read - http://www.roadmaptoheaven.net/wp-con...
"WHEN we look around us with an attentive eye, and consider the characters and pursuits of men, we plainly see, that though, in the original constitution of their natures, they only, of all the creatures that dwell on the face of the earth, are capable of religion, yet many of them shamefully neglect it. And whatever different notions people may entertain of what they call religion, all must agree in owning that it is very far from being a universal thing.
Religion, in its most general view, is such a Sense of God in the soul, and such a conviction of our obligations to him, and of our dependence upon him, as shall engage us to make it our great care to conduct ourselves in a manner which we have reason to believe will be pleasing to him. Now, when we have given this plain account of religion, it is by no means necessary that we should search among the savages of distant Pagan nations to find instances of those who are strangers to it. When we view the conduct of the generality of people at home, in a Christian and Protestant nation, in a nation whose obligations to God have been singular, almost beyond those of any other people under heaven, will any one presume to say that religion has a universal reign among us? Will any one suppose that it prevails in every life; that it reigns in every heart? Alas! the avowed infidelity, the profanation of the name and day of God, the drunkenness, the lewdness, the injustice, the falsehood, the pride, the prodigality, the base selfishness, and stupid insensibility about the spiritual and eternal interests of themselves and others, which so generally appear among us, loudly proclaim the contrary."
"I beseech you, reader, whoever you are, that you would now look seriously into your own heart, and ask it this one plain question; Am I truly religious? Is the love of God the governing principle of my life? Do I walk under the sense of his presence? Do I converse with him from day to day, in the exercise of prayer and praise? And am I, on the whole, making his service my business and my delight, regarding him as my master and my father?"
"You view the living, and you talk thus. But I beseech you, think of the dead. Return, in your thoughts, to those graves in which you have left some of your young companions and your friends. You saw them awhile ago gay and active, warm with life, and hopes, and schemes. And some of them would have thought a friend strangely importunate that should have interrupted them in their business and their pleasures, with a solemn lecture on death and eternity. Yet they were then on the very borders of both. You have since seen their corpses, or at least their coffins, and probably carried about with you the badges of mourning which you received at their funerals. Those once vigorous, and perhaps beautiful bodies of theirs, now lie moldering in the dust, as senseless and helpless as the most decrepit pieces of human nature which fourscore years ever brought down to it. And, what is infinitely more to be regarded, their souls, whether prepared for this great change, or thoughtless of it, have made their appearance before God, and are at this moment fixed, either in heaven or in hell. Now let me seriously ask you, would it be miraculous. Or would it be strange, if
such an event should befall you? How are you sure that some fatal disease will not this day begin to work in your veins?"
Read this book.
Or just read this free copy - https://www.ccel.org/ccel/doddridge/r...
Or, if you think it sounds too stodgy and old-fashioned, read this version which as been abridged and made easy to read - http://www.roadmaptoheaven.net/wp-con...
"WHEN we look around us with an attentive eye, and consider the characters and pursuits of men, we plainly see, that though, in the original constitution of their natures, they only, of all the creatures that dwell on the face of the earth, are capable of religion, yet many of them shamefully neglect it. And whatever different notions people may entertain of what they call religion, all must agree in owning that it is very far from being a universal thing.
Religion, in its most general view, is such a Sense of God in the soul, and such a conviction of our obligations to him, and of our dependence upon him, as shall engage us to make it our great care to conduct ourselves in a manner which we have reason to believe will be pleasing to him. Now, when we have given this plain account of religion, it is by no means necessary that we should search among the savages of distant Pagan nations to find instances of those who are strangers to it. When we view the conduct of the generality of people at home, in a Christian and Protestant nation, in a nation whose obligations to God have been singular, almost beyond those of any other people under heaven, will any one presume to say that religion has a universal reign among us? Will any one suppose that it prevails in every life; that it reigns in every heart? Alas! the avowed infidelity, the profanation of the name and day of God, the drunkenness, the lewdness, the injustice, the falsehood, the pride, the prodigality, the base selfishness, and stupid insensibility about the spiritual and eternal interests of themselves and others, which so generally appear among us, loudly proclaim the contrary."
"I beseech you, reader, whoever you are, that you would now look seriously into your own heart, and ask it this one plain question; Am I truly religious? Is the love of God the governing principle of my life? Do I walk under the sense of his presence? Do I converse with him from day to day, in the exercise of prayer and praise? And am I, on the whole, making his service my business and my delight, regarding him as my master and my father?"
"You view the living, and you talk thus. But I beseech you, think of the dead. Return, in your thoughts, to those graves in which you have left some of your young companions and your friends. You saw them awhile ago gay and active, warm with life, and hopes, and schemes. And some of them would have thought a friend strangely importunate that should have interrupted them in their business and their pleasures, with a solemn lecture on death and eternity. Yet they were then on the very borders of both. You have since seen their corpses, or at least their coffins, and probably carried about with you the badges of mourning which you received at their funerals. Those once vigorous, and perhaps beautiful bodies of theirs, now lie moldering in the dust, as senseless and helpless as the most decrepit pieces of human nature which fourscore years ever brought down to it. And, what is infinitely more to be regarded, their souls, whether prepared for this great change, or thoughtless of it, have made their appearance before God, and are at this moment fixed, either in heaven or in hell. Now let me seriously ask you, would it be miraculous. Or would it be strange, if
such an event should befall you? How are you sure that some fatal disease will not this day begin to work in your veins?"
Read this book.
February 15, 2018
An eighteenth century classic, and deservedly so. Doddridge devotes the first third of the book to persuade the reader of his sinful state and the judgement to come. He is urged to come to Christ in repentance and faith. The impenitent sinner is warned and the weak believer is encouraged. Then, Doddridge guides his reader through the Christian life, right up to his closing years and to death itself. A truly spiritual book written with devotion toward God and love to his fellow human beings who are all on the precipice of death and facing eternity. Highly recommended.
July 12, 2022
This book was beyond exceptional. The thoroughness of what Doddridge encompasses within the “rise and progression” is fulsome without being tedious. A very honest, very earnest, and very helpful account of the various stages within the faith journey. Will definitely be looking for more from this author.
June 19, 2024
Written two hundred years ago. Each chapter starts with an outline in sentence form. Well worth reading.
October 29, 2013
I love books written hundreds of years ago because there is such a different perspective on life in general. Doddridge is serious and methodical in his encouragement to come to Christ and to go in grace as well.
July 10, 2010
Excellent litlte instruction manual I would recommend to any Bible believing Christian.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews