An Interview with Dr. Donald Whitney

Posted By Chris Talbot on Mar 23, 2016 | 2 comments

I first came across Donald Whitney’s writings while taking an undergrad course on spiritual disciplines at Welch College. It was there that I read his premier work Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life. I’ve since read the book numerous times—each time gaining a greater understanding of biblical spirituality. In many ways, Dr. Whitney’s book played a key role for me in better understanding how God uses His ordinary means of grace to grow me more into the likeness of His son. It was in that class, and through reading his book, that I came to a fuller realization that my Christian growth is centered and oriented by Scripture. It was through Dr. Whitney’s writings I learned about biblical meditation and praying through the Scriptures—two practices that have invigorated my hunger for God’s Word.

I now have the blessed opportunity to teach that same class at Welch College that exposed me to Whitney’s writings. In turn, I get to share these works with new students. For these reasons, I was delighted to see that Crossway recently published Family Worship, a guide for families to understand and practice this age-old exercise. I was ever more delighted that Dr. Whitney graciously took some time to talk with us about his new book.

Interview

Questions and timestamps are listed below. For the full audio, see audio file above.

0:00 – Today, we have the pleasure of hearing from Dr. Donald Whitney. Dr. Whitney is professor of biblical spirituality and associate dean at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. He has written several books related to biblical spirituality, including Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life and Praying the Bible—two books that I have personally found extremely helpful in my own Christian life and have found beneficial to recommend to others as well. It is such a joy to be able to take a few moments and talk with you about some of your recent work.

0:33 – Most recently, Dr. Whitney, Crossway has published your work Family Worship. What led you to write this book?

3:32 – When you say “family worship,” I would imagine for many families this may sound like a daunting task, especially if we encourage them to do it with some regularity. So, what would you say “family worship” should consist of?

4:30 – On a practical note, what type of advice would you give to a family with very young children, as opposed to those with children in their teen years?

6:24 – I noticed that one of the chapter titles is “Here the Reformation Must Begin: Family Worship in Church History.” For our readers and listeners, what is one fascinating thing you found as you looked at family worship throughout church history?

8:02 – We’ve talked a lot about the worship of the biological, or nuclear, family together. What connection would you say there is between how a nuclear family worships together and how the church family worships together?

10:10 – I know much of your writing has been done in the area of spiritual disciplines. In what ways do you see some overlap between, say, what you write in Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life and Family Worship?

13:01 – Is there any resources you would recommend for families as they seek to practice family worship?

15:11 – What would you say is the most important thing to remember when practicing family worship?

18:55 – Dr. Whitney, I want to thank you so much for your time. Your books have been a tremendous contribution to my own life, and I know to many of our readers and listeners. Thank you so much for sharing with us on the topic of family worship today.

Again, we would like to thank Dr. Whitney for his time to allow us to interview him on this subject.

Resources Mentioned

The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name by Sally Lloyd-Jones

The Biggest Story: How the Snake Crusher Brings Us Back to the Garden by Kevin DeYoung

The Big Picture Story Bible by David Helm

The Child’s Story Bible by Catherine Vos