P&R interview with Matthew Barrett on writing

“Yes, I have. I know that for many writ­ing is painful and bur­den­some. How­ever, I have found it lib­er­at­ing and enrich­ing. I read a lot of books, both old and new. The more I read the more I tend to think deeply about the most impor­tant the­o­log­i­cal truths and con­cepts in Scrip­ture and church his­tory. So writ­ing is a way for me to share with oth­ers those bib­li­cal, the­o­log­i­cal, and his­tor­i­cal con­cepts that have changed my life. In this sense, pub­lish­ing is truly a min­istry for me. It allows me to bless oth­ers with those God-given truths that have blessed me so profoundly.”

Ques­tion #2 — Do you have a favorite author? Who is it and why?

“I don’t know that I can pick just one. If I can limit my choice to three they would be: Augus­tine, John Calvin, and John Owen. Augus­tine has a way of paint­ing a pic­ture of God that is breath­tak­ing. The Lord truly uti­lized this bishop’s tal­ents in rhetoric when Augus­tine began writ­ing the­o­log­i­cal trea­tises. Augus­tine will light a fire within your heart for the tri­une God like no other author.

I think it would be a sin not to include John Calvin. In my mind, Calvin is a mas­ter the­olo­gian who ties his the­ol­ogy to piety. Sadly, many have a mis­in­formed impres­sion of Calvin, as if he is this cold, cal­cu­lat­ing, heart­less the­olo­gian. Not true. Calvin beau­ti­fully con­nects deep the­o­log­i­cal truths with their cor­re­spond­ing pas­toral implications.

I must slip in John Owen as well. I am not sure I have met a the­o­log­i­cal mind as rig­or­ous as Owen’s. Just when you think you have turned over every dog­matic stone, Owen opens a door and intro­duces you to moun­tains of the­o­log­i­cal rocks that demand explo­ration. But like Augus­tine and Calvin, Owen’s the­o­log­i­cal quests are like an archer’s arrow, which pierces the human heart, bring­ing the sin­ner to his knees in repen­tance and faith in Christ.”

Ques­tion #3 — Do you have an inter­est­ing writ­ing quirk?

“Typ­i­cally when I wake up in the morn­ing, ideas and con­cepts start rac­ing through my mind. So I waste no time, but go straight from my bed to my com­puter in order to put down those thoughts before they escape me. How­ever, this also means that before I know it hours have passed and I am still in my paja­mas. Yes, yes, this has made for some awk­ward con­ver­sa­tions when some­one decides to stop by the house at 2pm and I look like I just got out of bed.”

Ques­tion #4 — How do you deal with writer’s block?

“If I am feel­ing stuck I have found that one of the best things to do in order to push me along is to read, read, and read some more. In fact, it doesn’t always have to be a book directly related to my research. Just read­ing good, solid books by other stim­u­lat­ing authors starts to get the pen (or key­board!) moving.”

Ques­tion #5 — What advice would you give to aspir­ing writers?

“Writ­ing is pro­gres­sive. The more you write, the bet­ter you become. So if you tend to be a per­fec­tion­ist, like me, then you will want to pray for patience. Most likely, your last book will be much bet­ter than your first book. Like sanc­ti­fi­ca­tion, the writer looks back over years and years and sees how he/she has grown as a writer and improved.”

You can read other interviews with other authors at the P&R blog.