GREENVILLE, Ky. (BP) — Like many Kentucky Baptist pastors and others from a variety of denominations, Ron Metheny has long admired the writings of Charles H. Spurgeon and consider them to be educational, inspiring and encouraging.

Metheny, the pastor of Roland Memorial Missionary Baptist Church in Muhlenberg County, has taken one of Spurgeon’s popular works, “Eccentric Preachers,” and revised it, updating it into modern English.

Metheny said he was “very careful” in revising the edition. “I’m attempting to maintain faithfulness to the design, meaning, doctrine and purpose of Charles Spurgeon who lived, preached and wrote in Victorian England. I wanted it to still have Spurgeon’s voice in it while updating the language.”

His editing process has included reading the book from cover to cover more than a dozen times, Metheny said. He’s read it even more than that, saying he was introduced to it during his first pastorate 26 years ago. He has pastored five churches, including the last four years at Roland Memorial.

“It just kind of spoke to me,” he said of the Spurgeon book. “It encourages preachers to be the chosen vessel that God has called them to be. It teaches that it’s alright to have your own unique personality and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Spurgeon published “Eccentric Preachers” in 1879 as part of the “Shilling Series” of books that consisted of seven distinct small volumes that cost only a shilling each (about $10 in today’s U.S. currency). “Eccentric Preachers” was the sixth volume and he wrote at length on church history, telling the stories of 11 lesser-known preachers. He looked at the men’s conversions, ministries, struggles and eccentricities, Metheny said.

“History ended up remembering them,” Metheny said of the 11 preachers that Spurgeon wrote about. “Many had written them off as being flagrantly eccentric. He defends them and says how social normalcy isn’t always in line with Scripture, and isn’t necessarily the same as Christlikeness. You can be your own person in Christ, so long as you live in accordance with God’s grace by faith.”

Spurgeon, who died in 1892, remains influential among Christians of various denominations. He is known as the “Prince of Preachers,” was a strong figure in the Reformed Baptist tradition and was pastor of the New Park Street Chapel in London for 38 years.

Metheny has been working on the revised edition for about a year, he said. “I would call it a fully revised edition. About 90% of the text has been changed to make it easier to read and more accessible to the 21^st century reader.”

The book also has a lot of extras including an explanation of how and why he took on the project, two appendices and other footnotes throughout the revision.

Metheny, who has been a regular reader of Spurgeon’s works, said he has struggled reading certain passages of “Eccentric Preachers” himself. His hope is that the revision will make it easier to understand.

“It was about a year in the making,” Metheny said. “Of course, I have other things going on. I’m not just a writer. I’m also a pastor, husband and father.”

The book was published through Aneko Press, a small Christian publisher out of Minnesota that has produced other revised editions of Christian books. Metheny sent his manuscript to the company and, to his surprise, they called him three days later to tell him they wanted to publish it.

“It is mainly geared toward preachers and others who might be interested in Christian history,” Metheny said. “I’m fascinated by Christian history and think we could learn a lot from it. I hope this book gets those already interested to look deeper into it and see the pros and cons that were done. And maybe those not interested [in history] will read it and get into it.”

The book can be preordered for $11.99 through Aug. 1 by going to the Aneko Press website. It will be $16.99 after that date. Click here to order.

(EDITOR’S NOTE — Mark Maynard is managing editor of Kentucky Today (kentuckytoday.com), the news website of the Kentucky Baptist Convention.)