Book Reviews

Paul Washer talks about the impact Iain Murray’s books have had on his life and ministry, especially the biography of D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. Two Questions Summer is fast approaching and many of us are still stuck at home. Although this can be challenging, don’t you agree that this is a great opportunity to work through a solid […]

John MacArthur recommends The Pastor of Kilsyth; a little biography by Islay Burns on the life and times of his father, Pastor W. H. Burns. In our celebrity-driven age (from which the evangelical church is far from exempt), this is exactly the kind of life we need to study. We need to be reminded of […]

Do you know who Ernest C. Reisinger was? In the video above, Katie Irwin, a long-time friend of Ernie’s, recounts her meeting Ernie and talks about the impact the life of this man of God had on her. She refers throughout to Geoff Thomas’ biography of Ernie Reisinger. Readers with an interest in the development […]

Hugh Martin (1822-85) combined a brilliant analytical and mathematical mind with a child-like heart which rested in Christ and his atoning work, as revealed in the Scriptures. Born and brought up in Aberdeen, he gained the top prizes in mathematics at the University there, before going on to study for the ministry. He cast in his […]

Join us as we guide you through one of Banner’s new reprints: The Great Awakening by Joseph Tracy. In this video overview we’ll summarize some of Tracy’s key points in the book while reading some longer sections to give you a flavour for what the book is like. This volume remains second to none in […]

Traditionally, Baptist have been very wary of written prayers. Our Baptist forefathers strenuously objected to the liturgical format of the Church of England, in which the corporate recitation of set prayers was a major element.  For instance, a prominent item at the trial of John Bunyan (1628-1688) in 1661 was Bunyan’s adamant opposition to the […]

Here is another worthy addition to a fine series, Banner of Truth’s ‘Puritan Paperbacks’. The quarry of Puritan spiritual writings seems inexhaustible: surely a testimony to the Christian godliness of our nation in a past age. In his ten-page ‘Introduction’ to this book Lewis Allen provides a valuable overview for all those who are new […]

These 54 sermons were preached during the last period of Calvin’s life (1554-1555). They are the mature fruit of John Calvin, the pastor and the student of Scripture, delivered over consecutive Sunday mornings and afternoons. During the week he preached on the Old Testament. The preacher knows first-hand the trials and disappointments of the pastor, […]

At last ‘Banner’ have published an edition of this greatly valued Christian classic, and have done so in a format worthy of the lasting spiritual value of the work. John Bunyan (1628-1688) wrote voluminously, his collected making three portly volumes in the definitive nineteenth-century edition (available in facsimile reprint from the Banner of Truth Trust). […]

Proverbs 26.17 says, ‘He who passes by and meddles in a quarrel not his own is like one who takes a dog by the ears.’ Let go of either ear and you get bitten! If the controversy raised by this book review did not belong to me, wisdom would preclude my involvement—but alas, as a Reformed preacher I […]

Published the year after his world-wide bestseller, Pilgrim’s Progress, this 1679 work on the Fear of God is misunderstood & neglected. Yet, anything from the pen of the converted tinker is worth its weight in gold. Bunyan was not only a master of the Word of God — ‘prick him and he bleeds holy scripture,’ […]

This address was delivered by C. H. Spurgeon in 1891 and proved to be the final one he was to give at the Pastors’ College. A footnote to the introduction explains, ‘Having endured many years of poor health, which was not helped by the theological battles that had occupied his attention during the mid to […]

This is a remarkable volume to receive just now, in the early part of the 21st century. It is truly historically unique, containing as it does so much under one beautifully-produced cover. It is a joy to those committed to the Reformed Protestant Biblical Faith, and a timely publication in the midst of the gathering […]

The August-September edition of Banner of Truth is always something of an occasion — a significant increase in the heft of the envelope flopping on to the doormat, extra features etc — but the current issue has been particularly engaging. In the opening editorial Jonathan Watson hands over the reigns of the magazine to Ian […]

Scottish evangelical Christianity represents a tradition of biblically faithful, theologically rich, and spiritually powerful devotion and ministry. I think, for example, of William Still, Eric Alexander, and Sinclair Ferguson as outstanding representatives of this glorious tradition. And I can’t think of these men and others like them and what they stand for without emotion. So […]

This article is the third and final part of an extensive review of Jordan B. Peterson’s 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos. It is not an endorsement of the book. The first part can be found here and the second here. * * * RULE 7: Pursue what is meaningful (not what is expedient). This is […]

This article is the second part of an extensive review of Jordan B. Peterson’s 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos. It is not an endorsement of the book. The first part can be found here. * * * RULE 4. Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today ‘No matter […]

Jordan Bernt Peterson has recently become a YouTube phenomenon and a publisher’s dream. He has hundreds of YouTube films that have been watched well over 100 million times. This, his second book, (the first was Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief) has sold truckloads of copies and topped the bestseller lists since publication. Who […]

Over fifty years ago, retired missionary Jock Purves wrote a series of articles in a magazine on the martyrdom of the Scottish Covenanters. They were gathered together into an influential book entitles Fair Sunshine (Banner of Truth). The pathos with which Mr Purves described these Christians’ arrests, trials, wisdom in their self-defence before their inquisition and their […]

The doctrine of justification is undoubtedly among the most important and most disputed doctrines in the history of the Christian Church. Central to the recovery of the faith once delivered to the saints at the time of the Reformation, it has been at the centre of assaults on that faith ever since. These assaults continue […]

I have just completed the best book I have read for years, or perhaps in all my life. It is hard to be sure of that, of course, but it must be up there with the most life-changing books that providence has brought my way. It is the book that I hope will be read […]

See what people are saying about Rhett Dodson’s new book #marchingtozion on Instagram!   ‘As we journey, God is always by our side, working for our good, and powerful enough for that to matter. He’s got this – he’s got you. I’ve enjoyed reading this encouraging collection, that managed to be both pastoral and devotional […]

This latest book by Murray revisits some of the men whom the author has encountered in his reading and work for the Banner of Truth Trust; as such, it may be said to be proudly unoriginal. Murray is not breaking new ground, but mulling over past ministries and seeking to bring the memory of these […]

The close of December can be a time when well-intentioned resolutions are made about reading the Scriptures in their entirety in the year to come. An honest desire to know God’s Word more can quickly flounder, however, when pushed back by the reality of busy days and divided attention. While this can be symptomatic of […]

In 2012, a new five volume edition of the minutes and papers of the Westminster Assembly (1643-52) was published (Oxford University Press). This was the fruit of years of work by Rev. Chad Van Dixhoorn. This monumental work will probably form the basis for study o the Westminster Assembly for the remainder of this century […]