Juan de Valdés (–1541)

Brilliant. A spirited, eminently practical and beautifully composed dialogue between Juan de Valdés and Giulia Gonzago covering the basics of the Christian faith. Challenging, yet inspiring, it perfectly balances the demands of law and grace of gospel; it speaks to our weaknesses and doubts and allays them in the sweet mercies of Christ. "You have given fresh life by this" is Giulias's confession and mine.

She in turn is an interesting and non-trivial conversation partner, never reduced to mere "Yes, Socrates". The way in which Valdes' and Guilia's relationship shines through the dialogue is also quite endearing. Guilia is very frank and Valdes willing to scandaliz and challenge here even under the facade of great obsequiousness.

I had some minor qualms in terms of the content. Valdes' comment about the character of God in the OT had me shocked, and the great weight placed on introspection and mental exercise is perhaps a bit lopsided. There wasn't much about relating to one's neighbors in a concrete sense - it's a rather mystical, individualistic and introspective spiritual method. Even so, the good massively outweighs the bad, and Valdes' introspection is always pushed outwards towards God, even if the neighbor aspect is much less concretely emphasized.

Lovely, lovely stuff right here. I'll definitely be purchasing this one as a physical book, and I plan to return to it often. Thanks to Fred Sanders from The Scriptorium Daily for this recommendation .… (more)