The Blessing of Humility by Jerry Bridges is really a book on the Beatitudes founded on an old publication of The Beatitudes for Today by John Blanchard (also referencing his 1971 publication Right With God) with the intent of pulling from Blanchard’s hermeneutical approach to the Beatitudes how we can learn humility. While I believe the exegetical and hermeneutical approach is fundamentally flawed, the conclusions Bridges makes on being humble could be quite helpful for one already convinced of his theological perspective (God causes all things to happen, which essentially makes us puppets). Though we certainly do not agree on how we get there from the Beatitudes, there is no arguing that the Bible teaches the necessity of humility, nor can I argue that the Beatitudes have nothing to say about it—they certainly do!

This book is a quick read: 95 pages plus a ten-page discussion guide with leading and author-affirming questions for each chapter. It’s not something I would necessarily recommend, but I understand why many would want to purchase Bridges’ final publication, released posthumously. After shipping the book, Tyndale asked me to include “how the late Jerry Bridges has impacted [my] life with his many wonderful books and messages.” Unfortunately, I’d never heard of him before reading the marketing material for this book, so I cannot contribute in this regard.

*This book was provided by Tyndale House Publishers for review. I was not required to write a positive review, nor was I offered or provided any compensation.