Books Jesus Read

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203

grief after his wife, Joy Davidman, passed away in 1960. A Grief Observed identifies his doubts and frustrations with God, originally written in his journal. As anyone familiar with C. S. Lewis knows, he continued to trust God and did not abandon his Christian faith, despite the terrible loss of his wife. A Grief Observed has assisted many other Christians in their own struggles with grief and loss. Scripture values testimonies. The Old Testament historical narratives offer many testimonies of God’s faithfulness in peoples’ lives—Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, Naomi, Ruth, David, Daniel, Esther, and others. The Psalms contain “holy history” psalms that recount God’s lovingkindness toward Israel from generation to generation (Pss 78; 105; 106). Jesus even called the Old Testament a testimony about himself (John 5:39). The New Testament also demonstrates the importance of giving testimony. John the Baptist gave testimony about Jesus (John 1:7–8, 15, 19, 32). The author of Hebrews challenges us to “remember your leaders . . . consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith” (Heb 13:7). Doing so would be impossible without knowing our leaders “life stories,” or testimonies. In fact, sharing testimonies was how the early church first spread the gospel, and continues to be a critical feature of evangelism today. Jesus called his first disciples witnesses of his death and resurrection (Luke 24:48; Acts 1:8). The word “witness” means one who gives testimony, or a testifier. The early church frequently called themselves “witnesses” as they gave testimony of his death and resurrection (Acts 1:22; 2:32; 3:15; 5:30–32; 10:39–41;