Topic Archives: General Biography

ROBERT MURRAY M’CHEYNE: MINISTER OF ST. PETER’S, DUNDEE, 1836 – 1843. THE ONLY POWER THAT CAN BRING A CHILD OF SATAN AND MAKE HIM A CHILD OF GOD, IS GOD HIMSELF. Two men were working beside a fire in a quarry, one day in winter, when a stranger approached them on horseback. Alighting from his […]

IF THEY DO NOT DO WHAT IS RIGHT, THERE MAY BE A MIGHTY BATTLE Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield was born at ‘Grasmere’ near Lexington, Kentucky, one hundred and fifty years ago this year on 5th November 1851. He died in February 1921 12 weeks after the death of Abraham Kuyper and 22 weeks before the death […]

Thomas Bilney, ‘whose conversion had begun the Reformation in England’ was, in God’s hands, the instrument of Hugh Latimer’s conversion. The story of his life ‘in strength and weakness’, leading to his martyrdom in 1531, is eloquently recorded in The Reformation of England, volumes 1 and 2 by J. H. Merle d’Aubigné (Banner of Truth). […]

‘Depth of mercy! can there be Mercy still reserved for me?’ John Newton was born in 1725 in London. His mother who was a godly woman and who taught him to pray as a child, died when he was only seven years old. He had only two years at school and at the age of […]

Gentlemen. I have long looked for a suitable opportunity of acknowledging an old debt to a favourite author of mine. But when I proceed to pay a little of that old debt today, I am not to be supposed to put any of you into that same author’s debt. All I wish to do is […]

The old streets of the ancient town still resonate with the sounds of traffic and commerce. But now, in the twenty-first century, the traffic consists of motorcycles and Citroens; and the commerce includes not only food markets, but computer stores and internet services. And amidst the hustle and bustle and the mix of old and […]

This year is the centenary of the martyrdom of James Chalmers. Little has been written about him since Lovett wrote his biography the year after his murder in Papua, New Guinea, though there is a useful summary of his life written by J. W. Meiklejohn in the Dictionary of the Christian Church. James Chalmers was […]

A Sermon preached at the Burial service of the Reverend John Herbert Algar, vicar of St Martin and St. Paul, Tipton, at St Paul’s church, on 19th February 2001 * * * My text is the concluding verse of the lesson just read in the Prayer Book Burial Service, 1 Corinthians 15:58: ‘Therefore, my beloved […]

This is the first of a five part series originally published in the Banner of Truth magazine under the title ‘Thomas Hooker and the Doctrine of God.’ This portion was in Issue 195, December 1979, pp. 19-29 * * * Among the multitude of Puritan books which have survived the 17th Century The Pilgrim’s Progress […]

For four decades now the Banner of Truth Trust has been committed to republishing and keeping in print the works of John Owen. All over the English-speaking world there exists testimony to the incalculable value of his biblical teaching in many vital areas of Christian doctrine and experience. For some time now, our associate editor […]

May 3, 1895 – April 17, 1987 The Early Years In the northern part of Holland in the province of Groningen is a small town called Grootegast. In the town lived the Reinder Van Til family. The grandfather was an owner and manager of an inn. Reinder also considered himself a theologian. He and his […]

J. C. Ryle was fighting on two fronts. He saw not only the dangers that arose from the prospect of the Romanising of the Church of England, but also those which threatened from the growing liberalism and skepticism of the age. He warned not only of the doctrine of the Pharisees, i.e., formalism, tradition worship, […]

Dr Ralph Davis is the Professor of Old Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi, USA. He is to give three addresses at the annual Banner of Truth ministers’ conference in Leicester at the beginning of April. His coming is eagerly awaited. His commentaries on the OT historical books Joshua, Judges and I & […]

When I reflect on my spiritual pilgrimage, Reformed thinkers come to mind who became my mentors. The Dutch theologian Dr Herman Bavinck heads the list. I was introduced to his theology through his magisterial work, the four-volume Gereformeerde Dogmatiek (1906-1911) [Reformed Dogmatics], a gift from a generous host at whose place I stayed for a weekend […]

A Faith Worth Sharing: A Lifetime of Conversations about Christ, by C. John Miller (Phillipsburg, New Jersey: Presbyterian & Reformed. 1999) This book, written by one of the more noteworthy Presbyterian evangelists of the twentieth century, was edited posthumously by Dr. Miller’s daughters, Barbara and Roseann. In an introductory note, they write: ‘These are the […]