Yearly Archives: 2014

The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple (Psalm 19:7). In his blockbuster book of 1976, The Battle for the Bible, Harold Lindsell exposed the massive infiltration of liberalism and neo-orthodoxy into nearly every denomination and seminary that considered itself evangelical. Many […]

I’m really enjoying the 1541 Institutes,1 and have now reached around page 160. I had been working through him at a fairly fast pace, but came down with a really bad dose of tonsillitis last week, and spent a few days in bed with a high temperature. It’s so frustrating to have time off and […]

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned (Romans 5:12). Many people are fascinated with their family trees. There are hundreds of websites, and an active department in the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth that are dedicated […]

Herman Bavinck in his Reformed Dogmatics begins his exposition of the doctrine of God with these striking words: ‘Mystery is the life blood of dogmatics.’ Bavinck is not telling us that systematic theology is an impenetrable puzzle. Rather, he is saying that incomprehensible and inexplicable wonder lies at the very heart of God’s self-revelation to […]

I think you know my deep conviction that the church of Jesus must be intentional, earnest, and aggressive in going into our communities and nations with the life saving message of reconciliation to God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus came to save sinners. Indeed, we must constantly look for ways to publish the good […]

From beginning to end the Christian life is a life of faith. ‘We live’, Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, ‘by faith and not by sight’ (2 Cor. 5:7). But what did Paul mean? What does it mean to live by faith and not by sight? To live by faith is to live your […]

A personal perspective on the 2014 Westminster Conference by Pastor Geoff Thomas. We were up at 4.30 a.m. and walked through the quiet dark streets to the railway station to catch the 5.15 train to London (changing at Birmingham). We got into Euston at 10.15; Iola was whisked away by daughter Eleri Brady and I […]

A review by Paul Helm of Robert White’s English translation of the 1541 French edition of Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion, published by the Trust in 2014.1 Not only is there the much-publicized question of Calvin and the Calvinists,2 there is also that of Calvin’s development. How did Calvin himself become a ‘Calvinist’? The […]

. . . his blood I will require at your hand (Ezekiel 3:18). I have been saying for a long time now that what young people of this generation need, what they have always needed, is a direct, passionate, declaration of the truth as it is in Jesus. David Murray, in citing an article by […]

The First Service in the Grace & Truth Church in Israel A few weeks after completing all the municipal requirements, we began our worship services in the new building! This was after consulting with both our architect and a lawyer. It has been a long-anticipated event for the congregants. So many times we thought we […]

The Inadequacy of Modern Man’s View of Sin Eddie, 39, wants compassion from the general public. He fears that the world judges him and his type, and it is high time that better understanding was directed towards him. He is concerned at the caricature that often surrounds people like him, and is pressing for greater […]

It is good to have something to look at when thinking about holiness. Or better, someone. It might be a fellow Christian whom you know. Or someone from the past who by grace lived a very holy life. Best of all is Jesus. For in him we have perfect holiness. And we have it displayed […]

Humphrey Mildred, the pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church, Edinburgh (and formerly with the Banner of Truth Trust for over forty years) provides an introduction to and comments upon A Lifting Up for the Downcast1 by William Bridge. Seven encouraging reminders by a Puritan physician of the soul. YOU KNOW YOU REALLY SHOULD READ THIS ARTICLE! […]

We seem to be in a stalemate in church and state today. Problems are multiplying. The situation becomes more confusing year by year and we are in danger of losing heart: people are at a loss what to do. There is a great deal of activity but where is the substance? Maurice Roberts has said: […]

What is our hope for loved ones who, in the language of Scripture, now ‘sleep in Jesus’ (1 Thess. 4:14 ESV)? We are sure that, like the thief on the cross, they are at this very moment with the Saviour in paradise. But what of the future? In a glorious section of his first letter […]

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 […]

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 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 […]

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 […]