The Law of Kindness

I recently finished the Law of Kindness by Mary Beeke. This book has some high recommendations. On the back cover, Sinclair Ferguson, Wayne Mack, and Derek Thomas all recommend this book. I am clearly not at their spiritual level in any way shape or form. I'm also not the kindest person as anyone who knows me will attest to.

However, with all that said, the book did not inspire me to greater levels of kindness. It was not a bad book nor did it have error. I simply don't recommend it. First, although the book was filled with Scripture references, it's style was more practical and logical. So Beeke gave reasons for being kind that made sense, and then provided Scripture to support her experiences and stories. There was nothing wrong with what she did. It just didn't seem particularly deep or theological.

Second, Beeke writes as one who has been influenced by psychology. It wasn't huge, but to me, she overemphasized the importance of personal history, the need for counseling (sometimes professional), and talks as though we all have potential for goodness and kindness (humanism). It struck me as odd because her husband is the president of a reformed seminary. Absent was the crucial reformed doctrine of the depravity of man. She talks about the Gospel, but it is not the only hope for people to be kind and the ultimate reason for kindness.

So maybe it wasn't the most theological deep treatise on kindness. It probably had a lot of practical insights into being kind, right? It talked a lot about kind acts, but they appeared pretty straightforward to me - talk in a kind way, say kind things, don't be mean or bully others, etc.

Maybe I'm just nitpicking, but The Law of Kindness was not my favorite book of the year. I'm sure Mrs. Beeke is much more kind than I will ever be. But my suspicion is that I would learn a lot more about being kind by spending an afternoon with her than reading her book.