What was your Hortensius? What one (or more) books had a significant influence on you early in your life?
In Confessions Augustine recounts a significant juncture in his spiritual journey. He writes,
“…I came to a book by Cicero, whose eloquence, if not his thoughts, is admired by all. But this book of his contains an exhortation to philosophy: it is called the Hortensius. It was this book that changed my outlook, that changed my prayers and turned them to you, O Lord, and made my aspirations and desires other than they had been…..” (3.4.7)
For Augustine, Hortensius kindled within him a desire for “the immortality conferred by philosophy.” It was a turning point because he desired to read that book for it’s own value rather than as a means to increase his rhetorical ability. This shift was, according to Augustine, the beginning of his return to God.
Is there a book like that in your own life? A book whose influence changed the course of your life and made you different than you otherwise might have been?
Jeff Gissing 
“The Pursuit of Holiness” by Jerry Bridges and “The Knowledge of the Holy” by A. W. Tozer.
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Would you think less of me if I admitted that I haven’t read either of these? I’ve heard wonderful things about them and they are formative for many Christians.
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