Yearly Archives: 2014

The Banner sat down with Dr. Steven Lawson to ask him if he had to recommend one Banner book for Christians to read, which would it be?

An address given at the Banner of Truth Borders Conference in Carlisle, Cumbria on November 8, 2014. The conference theme was ‘Teach us to pray’. The Lord Teaches His Disciples to Pray Luke 11:1-4 ‘One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach […]

An address given at the Banner of Truth Borders Conference in Carlisle on November 7, 2014. The conference theme was ‘Teach us to pray’. Darius the Mede, like hundreds of other people mentioned in the Bible, is an unknown figure from secular historical records, at least so far. Attempts have been made to identify him […]

This year’s Westminster Conference, on 2nd and 3rd December in central London is on the theme, ‘Authentic Calvinism?’. Speakers include Mark Jones (co-author with Joel Beeke of the substantial recent book, A Puritan Theology) on the relationship betwen law and grace in Puritan thinking, and Stephen Clark on the relationship between grace and nature in […]

A review article on An Able and Faithful Ministry: Samuel Miller and the Pastoral Office, by James M. Garretson, published by Reformation Heritage Books (2014), clothbound, 440 pp, $35.00/£18.99, ISBN 9781601782984. The page references in the text are to this volume. Miller was the second professor appointed to Princeton Theological Seminary, in 1813. He and […]

I would like to ask you a question. But before I ask my question, I want first to prepare the way. The Bible has many ways to describe what a Christian is. A Christian is a forgiven sinner, a new creation in Christ, an adopted child of God, a heaven-bound pilgrim. One of the most […]

BOOK REVIEW: Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Christian Belief, by John M. Frame [Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R, 2013], 1280 pages, hardback, $49.99 list, ISBN: 978 1 59638 217 6. John Frame, a former OPC (and now PCA) minister, who is currently a professor at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, has written a long-anticipated systematic […]

A review by Roy Middleton of Pleading for a Reformation Vision: The Life and Selected Writings of William Childs Robinson (1897-1982).1 William Childs Robinson was a minister of the Southern Presbyterian Church in the United States. This was the Church formed in 1861 by men like J H Thornwell and R L Dabney. He was […]

J. I. Packer says that the Puritans are the theological and devotional Redwoods of the western world.1 My own experience is that no one comes close to the skill they have in taking the razor-like scalpel of Scripture, and lancing the boils of my corruption, cutting out the cancers of my God-belittling habits of mind, […]

John Bunyan was born near Bedford, England in 1628, just a few years before the Puritan revolution began. He grew up very poor and had no formal education. He taught himself to read and write, however, and enjoyed immensely medieval novels of the day. He was so foul-mouthed that even wicked men were embarrassed by […]

REFORMATION DAY 2014 The date that marks the beginning of the Protestant Reformation is October 31, 1517. No one could have known it then, but what happened that day set in motion an earthquake whose aftershocks are still being felt in the western churches today. That earthquake had three epicentres, one in Wittenberg with Martin […]

On October 31st we remember what many view as the spark of The Reformation: Luther’s nailing of the 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenburg. This year marks another historic milestone worth remembering – the 500th anniversary of the birth of John Knox. In honor of these two events in church […]

It is strange to write about a life-changing experience that I cannot remember. However, I am told that around 5.45 p.m. on Thursday, August 29, 2013, I was riding my Harley home from the church to lead a Bible study at our house when a car turned and hit me broadside on my left. Then […]

‘The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance’ (2 Peter 3:9). We are considering the perfections of God. When the Puritan Stephen Charnock considers the attributes of God he lines up this beautiful string […]

I like to read a book about the Bible every year. Although I’m often reading what I already know, I still find it deeply beneficial to regularly remind myself what the Bible really is, how it came to be, and how I should read and interpret it. That’s especially true in a day when the […]