Canter Bridge

The story is told of the Christian Reformer Martin Luther that he habitually gathered his large family and a collection of personal disciples together around his table for nourishing food and pious conversation. So was born the tradition of ‘table talk’, a form of Christian teaching that is anchored to the daily rhythms of family and community life.

Ligonier Ministries, an outgrowth of the ministry of theologian and teacher R.C. Sproul, takes the concept to a new dimension with its monthly publication Tabletalk. It’s a pity that the Amazon page contains no visual image of Tabletalk, for the people at Ligonier have managed to produce – month after month – an image-rich publication that is pleasing to the eye as well as potentially nourshing for the soul.

I have used Tabletalk for years, principally as a guide that facilitates the personal discipline of daily Bible reading. I’ve observed and appreciated the steady rise in quality, both of the publication itself and of the delivery system that used to bring the product to my door after its sell-by date but now routinely arrives a month in advance.

Compared with other ‘devotional guides’, Tabletalk prioritizes Bible reading itself. Each weekday presents a biblical text according to a thematic scheme, followed by four or five paragraphs of comment. In addition, Tabletalk‘s ‘read-through-the-Bible-in-a-year’ methodology invites the reader to two readings, one from the Old Testament and another from the New.

A small section called ‘Coram Deo’ (‘before the face of God’) facilitates reflection and prayer on matters that arise in the biblical text(s).

A separate section presents theological reflection by academics, teachers, and pastors identified with the Reformed movement, which self-consciously reverences its roots in Geneva and the teachings of the Reformer John Calvin. Within their genre and theological context, these reflections are of a generally high calibre, though some readers will find their sustained fascination with the doctrines of election and particular or limited atonement obsessive.

In spite of some personal reservations about the narrow version of the Reformed tradition that is practiced and presented by Ligonier and Tabletalk, I have stuck with this fine devotional guide year after year, principally for the way it guides and facilitates systematic Bible reading.

You’re unlikely to go wrong if you do the same.