Category: Index

‘Greatest thing’ republished – INDEX

The analysis excited me, Henry Drummond confirmed what I already knew to be true – this new life in Christ is all about love.

(See indexes on other topics)

Here’s a modern English version of Henry Drummond’s ‘The Greatest Thing in the World’. His wonderful essay on love was originally created in 1884, and it analyses Paul’s famous chapter 13 of 1 Corinthians. Well worth a read!

Read it online or download it
  • The modern English version is available to read or download online (a couple of the links in the PDF no longer work, I’ll correct them when I can).
  • The Victorian original is also available.
  • Many printed versions are available too, take your pick.
Article series

You might enjoy this series of short articles in which I examined Henry Drummond’s essay in more detail.

Why create a new version?

Why have I gone to the trouble of translating this essay into modern English? Basically, because it deserves a wider audience. Years ago The Greatest Thing was often reprinted as a booklet and was very popular. I remember buying a copy in Wesley Owen’s on Park Street in Bristol back in the 1970s when the language was still less than 100 years out of date. It was a great read and it helped to change my life. The analysis excited me, Henry Drummond confirmed what I already knew to be true – this new life in Christ is all about love. At the same time the little book challenged me and drew me on.

This great essay is no longer widely known or read. It deserves better. It will speak to readers today just as it always did. Read it!

Acknowledgements

And finally, I just want to thank the family members and friends who read my early drafts and made helpful suggestions, pointed out errors, or were just encouraging. You know who you are.

Licencing

Copyright in the original has expired while the new version comes with a Creative Commons licence. So please feel free to print or republish either version and distribute it as widely as you like.

See also:

Blast from the past – INDEX

(See indexes on other topics)

This is an index page, from here you can browse around all the articles in this series, or find a particular one you’d like to read.

Blast from the past… 13 – December 2023
Blast from the past… 12 – November 2023
Blast from the past… 11 – October 2023
Blast from the past… 10 – September 2023
Blast from the past… 9 – August 2023
Blast from the past… 8 – July 2023
Blast from the past… 7 – June 2023
Blast from the past… 6 – May 2023
Blast from the past… 5 – April 2023
Blast from the past… 4 – March 2023
Blast from the past… 3 – February 2023
Blast from the past… 2 – January 2023

Blast from the past… 1 – December 2022

What are we doing? – Index

Taking a careful look at church life, are we following Jesus?

(See indexes on other topics)

This index lists a collection of articles where the focus is on how we ‘do’ church. We challenge the basis of our thinking about what church is, how it works and is organised. And we examine the ultimate questions – who are we really following, and why?

  1. Church as we know it – The whole point of church is that we are a community of people who follow Jesus
  2. Upside-down? – Leadership and authority that is different from the usual kind
  3. Like a waterfall – A waterfall breaks the pattern of a river’s flow
  4. Message to a friend – It’s hard for passions to stay alive when you’re in a dry and dusty land with the dry bones of church lying all around
  5. The good and bad of services – A meeting that is not managed by us has the opportunity of being managed by the Holy Spirit
  6. Is church unbalanced? – If we learn to cooperate with one another … we will catch a view of [Jesus’] nature and so will the world around us
  7. New situation, new (old) ways – With Covid-19 preventing what we see as normal, is there a better way?