The Life of Adoniram Judson by Courtney Anderson
Anderson, Courtney. To the Golden Shore: The Life of Adoniram Judson. Valley Forge: Judson Press, 1987. 530 pp. $17.00. Purchase at Amazon for $13.60 or less.
Introduction
This book was originally published in 1956 by Little, Brown and Company and was recently republished by Judson Press in 1987. The language from the first edition has not been updated and is therefore a little anachronistic but still very readable.
Courtney Anderson (d. 2001) was a teacher, author, film writer, and in the U.S. governemnt for over five decades. This particular book, To the Golden Shore is “considered to be one of the greatest Christian biographies ever written.”
Summary
The detail of Judson’s life as found in To the Golden Shore is breathtaking. His testimony of salvation is given in full detail–it alone is worth purchasing the book. His call to the mission field is abundantly evident and one that he would look back on with great rejoicing as he encountered trial after trial and death after death during his travels.
Ultimately, the life of Adoniram Judson points to one thing and one thing only–the glory and magnificence of Christ our King. By looking at the overview of Judson’s life, the reader can peer behind the curtain as it were to see God’s sovereignty in most every trial that Adoniram and his family faced. It is easy to get caught up the “awesomeness” (my word) of God’s working in one man’s life, but we must realize that the discipline of one-minded devotion to Christ was the catalyst for the life that is being celebrated in these pages.
For a much shorter (by about 525 pages!) biography of Adoniram Judson, check out WholesomeWords.org.
Review
What more can be said about To the Golden Shore that has not already been said? This was an excellently written and researched biography. It is evident that this biography was not written in a hurry and was written at a time when great care was taken in research. I can only imagine the hours that went into the writing of this magnificent book.
Anderson does an excellent job of giving God the glory through the lens of Judson’s life. Every page shouts praise to God and that is the way Adoniram would want it.
Recommendation
If you are a Christian, I commend this book to you. If you are thinking about going on the mission field, then this book becomes a must read. I can think of only one other missionary biography that has moved me the way To the Golden Shore did. That was The Diary of David Brainerd. The only reason I believe that the book on Brainerd “has called more people to the mission field” is because it was written before To the Golden Shore. Pick up a copy today and be blessed in reading it.
I’ll have to read this book. My great, great, great grandfather was named after Adoniram Judson, and became an evangelist.
Wow, that is really neat! I am curious as to what that heritage (your great x3 grandfather being an evangelist) has meant to your family–if it has meant anything at all to the family in general.
Our first son is named after Adoniram. I finished this book a few days before he was born. As I worked through the last pages I pleaded with God for a son(we didn’t know boy/girl). Bible translation drove Adoniram Judson. He longed that the Burmese people would be able to know about the creator God in their own language, to learn about the Jesus who died for them. The way Burma is described it sounds similar to current day Afghanistan, only worse. Reading Hebrews 12:1, its great to read the story of one from the historical great cloud of witnesses.
@Eric White
Eric, Thank you so much for sharing this testimony. I praise God for your son.
I could not agree with you more that Adoniram is one of those witnesses that we have throughout history.
I have just completed reading this magnificent book. The Lord has led me into my 81st year and next month begins my 57th year of ministry. I am honorably retired from Mission To The World (the foreign Missions arm of the Presbyterian Church in America) where I served as Missionary Evangelist at large. After 21 years in that post I retired by gracious act of my Presbytery but have continued preaching where invited ever since. This volume has blessed me beyond what I have words to express. I do hope I can see it widely distributed throughout the PCA.
Rev. Lyons,
Thank you for your remarks. I, too, enjoyed reading the Life of Adoniram Judson though I confess I did not relate to it at the level you obviously did. I pray that some day I will be able to do so. God bless.
Pastor Terry Delaney