Topic Archives: History & Biography

Since December 2005 we have been undergoing major changes and facing new challenges. On December 31st 2005 I completed 32 years of service with Christian Witness to Israel. Since then I have been serving the church and those of the publications programs assumed by the church when I left CWI. A good deal of time […]

Having provided this brief and necessarily shallow study of the life of John Owen,1 I want to pick out several aspects of his life and character which deserve particular attention. A general description of his character is given in the biographical note that opens his collected works: He is said to have stooped considerably during […]

John Owen is worthy of our attention because of his example as a Christian man. In many respects he was a man of his times; in others he was far ahead of them. Nevertheless, he possessed qualities and lived by principles and embraced values which – because they were the fruits of grace – are […]

On Sabbath the 4th of February 2007 the community of Kinloch on the Isle of Lewis was deeply saddened to learn of the death of Mr Hector Macaulay, 33 Balallan. Although in indifferent health for the past few months the end came with startling suddenness. “Heg”, as he was affectionately known, was a remarkable person […]

A review by Austin Walker of John Diodati’s Doctrine of Holy Scripture by Andrea Ferrari (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books Inc., 2006), ISBN #1-892777-98-3). Among Christians John Diodati (1576-1649) is hardly a household name compared with men like Martin Luther or John Calvin. He belonged to the third generation of reformation theologians in Geneva, […]

Leon Morris is remembered most for his timely work on the atonement. But the story of his early ministry is also immensely helpful in getting to know this excellent scholar. A Shy Leon While teaching at a public school, a shy Leon began earnest study of Nunn’s Elements of New Testament Greek. That same year, […]

This is the final article in the series on Jonathan Edwards.1 Last time we looked at the communion controversy, which resulted in Edwards’ ministry in Northampton being brought to an abrupt end. From June 1750 Edwards was without a charge, though for some time he occupied the Northampton pulpit when no one else was available. […]

No one can answer such a question with confidence. All we can do is consider where we are at the moment and where current trends point to. This article is being written on the day after more than 200 people were slaughtered in Baghdad, most in a series of co-ordinated bomb attacks, and just a […]

We take up the story1 during Spurgeon’s Metropolitan Tabernacle ministry … During this period of sustained growth and massive expenditure of effort, the health of Mrs Spurgeon failed quite drastically, leaving her substantially invalided. At the same time, Spurgeon’s health began to suffer. He was prone to depression, combined with and brought on to some […]

Arianne Arianne* had heard something of the Gospel in a congregation some distance away from us, but in terms that were even further away. All she needed to do was to recognize that God existed, that he loved her and that Jesus is the Messiah, sent to Israel in fulfilment of divine promises. There was […]

[I wrote this letter recently to a friend who is now living in Canada, who asked the reasons for the spiritual decline in Europe.] You ask, “why the decline?”, and have waited patiently for my response. I don’t know the book you mentioned and would not feel it had much to say to me … […]

In September of 1840, Scotland’s famous praying pastor, Robert Murray M’Cheyne, wrote a letter to William Chalmers Burns.1 He wrote, I am deepened in my conviction, that if we are to be instruments in a true revival we must be purified from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. Oh, cry for personal holiness, constant […]

The life of Charles Haddon Spurgeon was so full of grace, gifts and labour, and so much has been written by and about him, that we must leave out much that is of interest and usefulness in reviewing his life and ministry.1 He was born in Kelvedon, a village in the county of Essex in […]

In a corner of the Churchyard at Montgomery, Wales, is a space known as The Robber’s Grave. There lie the remains of a young man named JOHN NEWTON, (not the hymnwriter) who was hanged in 1821 at Montgomery for highway robbery. In token of his innocence he asserted, “The grass for one generation at least […]

Franco was born on the 7th of July, 1937, in Turin, Italy. From an early age, Franco had a deep hunger for God. For a time he followed a hard life in a monastery near Rome. After that he trained as a priest. His motive was always the same. He wanted to find God for […]