Making Christian Heroes should digest slowly. Since I intended it as a training manual. I encourage folks to take it more as a course of study than a read, though I tried to make it readable. I think its non-linear approach is key to success. When I was learning, I sought the end of the string to follow. I realized instead I must jump into the pond and explore everywhere. Little by little it coalesced into a coherent working picture.
I am persuaded two other components made Heroes a successful training instrument—constant discussion as to how the principles apply to particulars in many subjects, and undertaking the course assignment using the historic American method of Biblical scholarship discovered by Verna Hall—establish a philosophical definition of a subject using Webster’s 1828 Dictionary, find its vocabulary in Scripture, including end and purpose, and method. Finally, analyze the fruit of various forms the subject has taken in history to identify God’s Providential lessons—the good to embrace and the bad to avoid. The process is recursive—repetitive with the goal of correction, refinement, and usefulness.