Patience

Alexander, James W. (James Waddel), 1839-1915Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.5

Word count: 30K words
Chapters: 4

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Patience by James W. AlexanderAuthor: Alexander, James W. (James Waddel), 1839-1915,Language: English, Class: BV: Philosophy, Psychology, Religion: Christianity: Practical theology, Worship, Release Date: May 2, 2014

Editor's review

Patience is a short work of Christian practical theology by James W. Alexander, a Project Gutenberg public-domain e-book classified under BV, practical theology and worship. The text centers on the virtue of patience in a preaching and exhortatory tone, focusing on attitudes and practices in the life of faith rather than systematic theory. Its strength is its brevity and single focus, making it suitable as a prompt for daily devotion or group discussion; readers can use it to reflect on how to practice patience in adversity, in waiting and in relationships. Because it was written early, the English carries the gravity of nineteenth-century religious writing, and modern readers should slow down. Overall it suits readers with a Christian background or an interest in devotional literature, to be used as short meditative material rather than an academic introduction to theology.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Christian readers looking for short devotional material
Leaders facilitating Bible study or faith discussions
Literary readers interested in nineteenth-century religious exhortation
People who wish to make brief time for meditation and self-examination amid busy lives

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking systematic or academic theological theory
Those uncomfortable with religious exhortation who prefer neutral exposition
General readers expecting plot-driven narrative or lengthy argument

Reading tips

Read a short passage each day, then spend a few minutes in meditation, connecting patience with the day's concrete situations.
Keep a pen handy, mark sentences that move you, and review them at the weekend with a few lines of response.
For group use, choose one passage each time: read individually first, then share the situations in which each person needs patience.
When you meet old-fashioned English, read the whole sentence first rather than stopping at every word; grasp the main exhortation.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Can readers without a Christian background read this book?

Yes, but expectations need adjusting. It is an exhortatory text of Christian practical theology that assumes familiarity with the language of faith and its practices. Non-believers can read it as a text for understanding nineteenth-century religious writing and discussion of the virtue of patience, focusing on its thoughts about adversity, waiting and relationships without having to accept all its premises.

Is the book suitable as material for group discussion?

Yes, especially for faith groups or Bible study classes. It is short and focused, making it easy to read a small passage together each time. Leaders can first have members read silently and mark a sentence that moves them, then share around the question "in what situations do we most need patience," and finally move to concrete action rather than staying in abstract discussion.

What if the old-fashioned style makes it hard to get through?

This is common in nineteenth-century religious writing. Do not wrestle with every word; read the whole sentence first to grasp the main exhortation, then revisit key words. Read only a short passage at a time, with meditation and notes. If it is still difficult, read a short summary note first and then return to the original; the point is to let the text enter your situation, not to finish quickly.

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About the author

Alexander, James W. (James Waddel), 1839-1915 Author · American · 1839–1915

James W. Alexander (1839–1915) was an American Presbyterian minister and writer. Public information about his life is limited: details of his education, the congregations he served, and his social activities are largely unavailable, and what can be confirmed is his identity as a Presbyterian clergyman and author. Few of his works survive, and only one is held in this collection, his representative work Patience. The existing profile indicates that he wrote chiefly on religious and biographical subjects, dealing with the life of faith, spiritual encouragement, and the lives of individuals. His style is plain and dignified, addressed to church readers and ordinary believers, and values comfort and testimony over rhetorical flourish. Because so little of his work survives, he is not widely known among Chinese readers, and translations and studies of him remain scarce; his writings are now mentioned mainly as one facet of nineteenth-century American Presbyterian religious writing.