Book Reviews

The young pastor smiles with joy as he looks out at the pews crowded with a rainbow of pastel-coloured button-ups and Easter dresses. He is encouraged to speak to a packed audience and hopes to preach the gospel to the several unbelievers who were invited by a few faithful church members. However, the large majority […]

This is a fascinating selection of the writings of the great Scottish reformer John Knox first published in 1845. The text is unabridged and unaltered except that the spelling has been updated. Covering the period 1554 to 1558 the book includes 15 personal letters, 2 sermons, an exposition of Psalm 6 and a number of […]

C H Spurgeon wrote that the Puritan Richard Sibbes ‘never wastes the student’s time. He scatters pearls and diamonds with both hands.’ This book is no exception – there is treasure on every page. This series of four sermons is based on the words of the prophetess Huldah addressed to King Josiah as found in […]

‘Murray’s engaging biography paints an endearing portrait of the well-known Southern California pastor . . . In these days of trendy, self-promoting, culture-infatuated, success-driven preachers, John MacArthur Jr.’s steadfast confidence in the power of God’s Word is a tremendous model to ministers and churches everywhere . . . yet another outstanding biography from one of […]

The Puritan Richard Sibbes has been called ‘the heavenly doctor’ because his messages show such a deep understanding of the human soul. Believing that there is more grace in Christ than sin in us his aim was to woo sinners to Christ. He was so gently persuasive that hardened sinners deliberately avoided his sermons for […]

Most Christians will have heard of John MacArthur. For more than 40 years he has been Pastor of the same large church in Los Angeles, USA. He is best known for his books, audio sermons and radio broadcasts. This biography by the co-founder of Banner of Truth brings to life John MacArthur. We find a […]

This is the first book of the series and starts with a brief overview of Jesus’ life and teaching, introduces the reader to his disciples and particularly to John, who as an old man came to know and befriend both Ignatius and Polycarp, young men at the time. This book tells the story of Ignatius, […]

If interest in and admiration for a subject can be gauged by the number of popular books produced then it is evident that John Knox’s reputation has been on the wane and even suffering systematic undermining for over the past sixty odd years. Up till the 1930s a reasonable flow of reasonably sympathetic popular treatments […]

‘Servant of the Word and Flock’ is an apt subtitle for Iain Murray’s new biography of John MacArthur.1 The book leaves us convinced that no ministry is as important to MacArthur as serving his church by teaching and preaching God’s Word. Murray points out that the one stipulation Dr. MacArthur made when accepting the call […]

‘While it may not end up being the most complete biography, it is hard to imagine that there will be one as well-written and interesting.’[John Bird on Iain Murray’s new biography of John MacArthur: Servant of the Word and Flock at his ‘While We Sojourn’ blog.] Below are links to selected online reviews of Banner […]

25 years ago I stumbled across the writings of the Puritan Thomas Brooks when I found five volumes of his works for sale at £2 each in a Christian bookshop. I soon discovered that I had purchased a gold mine of Biblical truth for a pittance. Thomas Brooks writes in a rich and warm way, […]

Rob Bell is one of the hottest Christian preachers in America today, but does he say anything that’s uniquely Christian? In his new book, Love Wins, Bell paints a picture of a God who loves, but doesn’t ground it in God’s defining act of love towards men: the atoning death of Jesus Christ. Instead, what […]

Rob Bell and the (Re)Emergence of Liberal Theology In his new book, Love Wins1, Rob Bell takes his stand with those who have tried to rescue Christianity from itself. This is a massive tragedy by any measure. The novelist Saul Bellow once remarked that being a prophet is nice work if you can get it. […]

Richard Bennett begins his book1 with an autobiography. Born into a devout RC family he spent eight years in theological training for the priesthood. He was assigned to the West Indies where he spent 21 years serving in Trinidad as a parish priest. After a life-threatening accident he began an earnest study of the Bible. […]

This book is an exposition of Romans 7:21, ‘I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present within me.’ In essence this is a book to help Christians know themselves and their enemy. The original was written by the great Puritan theologian John Owen and first published in 1667. John […]