Richard Baxter's 'A Christian Directory' (Vol. 1-4) is a comprehensive guide for Christian living that covers a wide range of topics including prayer, worship, virtues, and vices. Written in the 17th century, Baxter's work reflects the Puritan tradition of practical theology and combines spiritual insight with practical advice on how to live a godly life. The book's dense prose and detailed explanations make it a valuable resource for those seeking to deepen their spiritual practice and moral understanding. Baxter's emphasis on personal piety and ethical conduct resonates throughout the pages, reminding readers of the importance of faith in everyday life. Richard Baxter was a prominent English Puritan preacher and writer known for his works on theology and devotional literature. His pastoral experience and commitment to the Protestant Reformation influenced his writing, as seen in 'A Christian Directory.' Baxter's dedication to the spiritual well-being of his congregation led him to compile this extensive guide, drawing from his own experiences as a minister. I highly recommend 'A Christian Directory' to readers interested in exploring the intersection of faith and practical living. Baxter's timeless wisdom and profound insights continue to inspire and challenge Christians to grow in their relationship with God and cultivate a life of holiness.

Ideas of kinship play a significant role in structuring everyday life, and yet kinship has been neglected in Christian ethics, moral philosophy and bioethics. Attention has been paid in these disciplines to the ethics of 'family,' but with little regard to the evidence that kinship varies widely from culture-to-culture, suggesting that it is, in fact, culturally constructed. Surveying notions of shared substance (e.g. blood ties), house, gender and personhood, as theorised and practiced in the Christian tradition, Torrance critiques the special privileging of the 'blood tie'. In the place of European and American cultural assumptions to the contrary, it is kinship in Christ that is presented as the basis of a truly Christian account for social ties. Torrance also aims to stimulate the moral imagination to consider Christian kinship might be lived out in miniature, in everyday life.

"The editor's preface (1707), p. xiii stated that the works of Richard Baxter are 'perhaps the best body of practical divinity that is extent in our own or any other tongue.' Richard Baxter lived from 1615-1691. The DIRECTORY was completed in 1665. Its scope was intended to cover all of practical theology, a summa of casuistry . . ." Timothy Keller calls it "the greatest manual on Biblical counseling ever produced."