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LUCILE: Take & Read - A Classic Defense of Holy Scripture
Adolphe Monod, with New Translation by Constance K. Walker, Editor
"Another gripping book by Adolphe Monod, a wise, godly French Reformed pastor and theologian---this time on the inspiration of Scripture (and much more) through a fascinating dialog between a seasoned believer and an inquiring seeker. You will thoroughly enjoy reading it whether you are a believer or an inquirer." --- Joel R. Beeke, President, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary
"Lucile was certainly a powerful apologetic at the time it was written. In June of 1842, just after it was published, Baroness de Clarac wrote to AdFle Babut, Monod's sister, the following comment: 'Since the fall, as I have been reading Mr. Adolphe Monod's book on reading the Bible, I have had the greatest desire to express my enthusiasm for its contents, and to express my gratitude for its effect on me. Never had I seen so clearly the necessity, the obligation on us to read the Bible assiduously . . . for in it I found that by conforming to its pressing injunctions, I discovered consolations and lights I had never had hitherto.' Why should this book not affect us the same way today?" - Dr. William Edgar, from the Foreword
"Lucile is a masterful work of popular apologetics told as charming personal fiction. The underlying story, however, is true. All of the characters are persons known to Monod and still alive at the time of writing. Monod initially wondered whether the format of dialog and correspondence would please his readers. Even when Lucile was complete he was doubtful of its quality, especially in the second part. To his great astonishment, it was not only one of two winning entries in the contest; it soon became immensely popular.
Stunned by the acclaim it received, he did additional editing, which was included in later editions. Lucile went through one printing after another and was translated into English plus at least seven other languages. It was still popular more than forty years later and remains a classic work." - Constance Walker, editor and translator
Lucile is an impassioned plea for every Christian to read the Bible while prayerfully relying on the Holy Spirit to interpret it and apply it in their life. While this hardly sounds radical today, in nineteenth-century France, with its large Roman Catholic majority, it was decidedly radical. Yet even today, how many of us, Protestant or Catholic, truly read our Bibles with the eagerness, prayer, and delight that it merits? How many of us treat it with appropriate awe and respect.?
Lucile, ou la Lecture de la Bible was written in 1841 for a contest sponsored by the Religious Book Society of Toulouse. The first part of each entry was to be a brief defense of Scripture's authority as the Word of God. The second part was to argue for the right—indeed, the responsibility—of all believers to read the Bible for themselves. Lucile is a masterful work of popular apologetics conveyed through charming personal fiction. The underlying story, however, is true. All of the characters are persons known to Monod and still alive at the time of writing. Monod initially wondered whether the format of dialog and correspondence would please his readers. Even when Lucile was complete he was doubtful of its quality, especially in the second part. To his great astonishment, it was not only one of two winning entries in the contest, it soon became immensely popular. Stunned by the acclaim it received, he did additional editing, which was included in later editions.
This is Monod's most unusual work, and it has become a classic in the apologetics of Scripture. It went through one printing after another in France and Switzerland and was translated into at least eight languages, retaining its popularity for decades. It has much to say today for anyone wanting to be more firmly convinced of the Bible's authenticity as divine revelation. Beyond that, it gives its readers a fresh glimpse of the riches contained in God's Word when it is read in prayerful, humble reliance on the Holy Spirit to illumine its pages so that its message penetrates hearts and changes lives.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction: A PLEA FOR HELP
Letter 1 Is It True
Letter 2 Yes! We Can Discuss It
* Part One: THE BIBLE'S INSPIRATION
Objections to Divine Revelation
In Defense of Prophecy
* Part Two: THE BIBLE'S INTERPRETATION
Letter 1 Send me a Bible
Letter 2 Not Yet
Letter 3 My Heart Longs for It
Letter 4 Trust the Church
Letter 5 Mr. Mercier
Letter 6 Write if You Must
Letter 7 Please Tell Me Why
Letter 8 One Man's Journey
Letter 9 My Scruples
Letter 10 Answers on Reasoning
Letter 11 Answers on Tradition
Letter 12 Answers from Scripture
Letter 13 The Bible for All
Letter 14 Interpreted by the Holy Spirit
Letter 15 New Concerns
Letter 16 Individual Salvation
Letter 17 How Lovely!
Letter 18 No Danger
Letter 19 New Life!
ALL THE OTHER FIVE MONOD TITLES THAT MAKE UP THE SIX-PACK
(1) LIVING IN THE HOPE OF GLORY: Monod's Farewell, Adolphe Monod (Solid Ground Christian Books, 2019) "Monod's dying testimony is instructing, enriching, inspiring." - RICK PHILLIPS
(2) AN UNDIVIDED LOVE, Adolphe Monod (Solid Ground Christian Books, 2009) "With unequaled passion and clarity he brings the unassuming listener not merely to the foot of the cross, but to Jesus himself." - WILLIAM EDGAR
(3) JESUS TEMPTED IN THE WILDERNESS, Adolphe Monod (Solid Ground Christian Books, 2010) "A masterpiece, bringing together profound comfort, realistic understanding, practical wisdom, and heavenly glory." - JOEL BEEKE
(4) WOMAN, HER MISSION & HER LIFE, Adolphe Monod (Solid Ground Christian Books, 2011) "You will wonder how any man could be so astute, so tender, so frank, and so inspiring in speaking to his Christian sisters." - REBECCA CLOWNEY JONES
(5) SAINT PAUL, Adolphe Monod (Solid Ground Christian Books, 2012) "It is tremendous to have this classic study of Paul lay out for us the importance of Paul's teaching and life." - MICHAEL A. G. HAYKIN
Adolphe Monod (1802-1856) was from a Swiss family prominent in the French Reformed Church. Though descended from protestant ministers, he struggled for many years before coming to a personal faith in Jesus Christ. After entering the ministry, he joined the pastoral staff of the Reformed Church in Lyon, where his strong gospel-centered preaching soon drew opposition and led to his dismissal. Staying on in Lyon, he founded an independent evangelical congregation that grew rapidly. He then spent a decade teaching at the national church's seminary in Montauban and another decade as a pastor in the Reformed Church in Paris. The vibrant clarity and warmth of his preaching made him a leader in the evangelical church of his day, with his sermons and books widely published during his lifetime.
Those facts, however, fail to capture the spirit of the man. His was a strong and passionate faith, in part because of his early spiritual struggles. He was also a man of deep integrity, a keen mind, and a caring, pastoral heart. All of these qualities were augmented and set off by his natural gift for speaking. Yet even as his renown grew, Adolphe Monod remained a truly humble man. A week before his death he said, "I have a Savior! He has freely saved me through his shed blood, and I want it to be known that I lean uniquely on that poured out blood. All my righteous acts, all my works which have been praised, all my preaching that has been appreciated and sought after—all that is in my eyes only filthy rags."
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