Book Reviews

John Weir’s book was first published 1860, and now has been reprinted by the Banner of Truth.* There is plenty to warm the heart in this account of the Ulster Awakening of 1859.The author was an Irish Presbyterian minister who spent time in Northern Ireland during the revival and compiled the book from his own […]

‘Sometimes I stumble on a book that makes me see God more wondrously. Periodically, I will discover a book that will make me return again and again both to it and to that writer. Thomas Watson’s All Things for Good is just such a book.’ [Terry Enns] Below are links to selected online reviews of […]

A good autobiography should educate, edify and encourage. A Day’s March Nearer Home the autobiography of J. Graham Miller succeeds in all three areas. It is being published posthumously due to the faithful labours of Iain Murray, who was allowed access to 19 ring binders of autobiographical notes left by Rev’d Miller. Graham Miller was […]

If you want to know why the Christian church today is so weak compared with that of previous generations you will find one of the answers in reading this book, first published in 1826. Our Christian forefathers took the subject of repentance seriously. They expounded the subject thoroughly and deeply. In eight carefully argued chapters, […]

This book is a reprint of a book first published in the USA in 1882. It was written to comfort Christians who are suffering. Pastor Cuyler’s daughter had just died so he wrote from experience. There are 23 very short chapters each based on a scripture phrase. Some of the texts chosen are most unusual […]

‘Stuart Olyott is . . . a master of good communication and clear Christ-centred teaching . . . In 23 chapters he carefully states, illustrates and applies the teaching of this letter. In every chapter he paraphrases each verse to bring home, in today’s English, the train of thought and argument. This is a most […]

The subtitle of this book is, ‘An illustrated account of 20 centuries of Christ’s power’ – an ambitious effort for a 250-page paperback.1 Its author, S. M. Houghton, gallops through the history of the New Testament Church from its beginning at Christ’s death and resurrection all the way up to the 1900s. The pace in […]

The appearance of a new book by Stuart Olyott is always a welcome event and his latest offering is no exception. He is a master of good communication and clear Christ-centred teaching. The letter to the Hebrews is one of the hardest books of the New Testament to understand, yet as the author says in […]

This is a reprint of a book first published around 100 years ago. Its aim is to help Christians come to a clearer understanding of the doctrines of grace as taught by the system of theology called Calvinism. After a brief biography of John Calvin, the author reviews issues at the heart of the Gospel. […]

The Let’s Study series aims to explain the Bible in a clear and understandable way and then apply it to our lives today. Let’s Study Matthew by Mark Ross admirably fulfils these objectives. Writing from a reformed evangelical perspective, Mark Ross accepts Matthew’s teaching on such doctrines as the virgin birth, Jesus’ divine and human nature, and the reality […]

Calvin’s fame as the prince of theologians rests firmly on his ability and wisdom as an interpreter of God’s Word. In his commentaries on the Holy Scriptures we see that God-given skill put to a practical use. Indeed Calvin’s commentaries are still indispensable to serious students of the Bible almost 500 years after their original […]

These two attractively-bound volumes of Scottish Presbyterian biographies from the seventeenth century1 were originally published by the Wodrow Society in 1845. William Tweedie, the editor, who collected the biographies chiefly from the Library of the Faculty of Advocates in Edinburgh, was a minister of the Disruption Free Church of Scotland in Edinburgh. The original Wodrow […]

We must confess that we are fascinated with this book. Eighty-three letters by John Newton – and all but ten of them have lain in obscurity in the two hundred years since they were written! What a mercy that they have been found! John Newton was twenty-five years older than John Ryland, but took a […]

J. I.Packer and the Evangelical Future: The Impact of his Life and Thought Ed. Timothy George Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2009 256 pp, paperback ISBN: 978 0 80103 387 2 This book will be of general interest, both because Dr Packer rightly has many admirers around the world, and because anything that addresses the future […]

The Let’s Study is a series of paperbacks written to help ordinary Christians to read, understand, and apply God’s Word to their lives. Ian Hamilton has written an excellent addition to the collection, on the three letters of John. Although only 130 pages long there is a wealth of good, sound teaching in its pages. The apostle […]

‘provides great encouragement . . . reminds us to perseveringly pray and constantly remember that we have a Savior Who loved us before we ever loved Him and Who always provides what is good for us even in the midst of testing . . . particularly enjoyable to those who enjoy the fruit of Puritan […]

‘every minister of the gospel should read Smeaton’s two volumes on the atonement . . . an example of the marriage of the best exegetical theology and the warmth of genuine Christian piety. ‘If you want to get a better grasp of the biblical categories, terminology, and texts about the atonement, and if you want […]

These sermons1 were preached in St Peter’s Church, Geneva, to the citizens there between 4 September 1559 and 23 January 1560. They are numbered 1-49 (though number 27 is missing) and they are here translated into English for the first time by Dr Rob Roy MacGregor. Calvin’s custom apparently was to expound the Old Testament […]

In the year 2000 this author’s The Promise of the Future, a hardback volume of over 500 pages, was published by the Banner of Truth. The present book abridges the previous one, intending to whet the appetite for the more substantial volume. Setting out to pursue ‘a disciplined study of what God promises in the […]

How thankful to God we should be for preserving these priceless sermons1 and providing a translator who offers us ‘a quite marvellous gift’ (John R. de Witt). While reading them, we are conveyed back in time to St. Pierre in Geneva, where we hear this amazing man expounding and applying the Book of Beginnings with […]

Ian Murray has rightly titled the book Heroes: it comprises of a number of short biographies of evangelists, some well known and others less well known. All are heroes in different ways, from Spurgeon and Edwards to Hewitson and Kalley who evangelised in Madeira, or Charles and Mary Colcock Jones who evangelised among the slaves on […]

‘Newton’s practical and Biblical guidance in these letters epitomize the role of spiritual leadership given in Ephesians 4:12 “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ”‘ (Jeremy Walker on Wise Counsel) Below are links to selected online reviews of Banner titles posted during November and December 2009. […]

I sat down to read From Grief to Glory on a busy day, expecting to read only a chapter or so. As I began reading, I reprioritized my agenda and got through the entire book (and a stack of tissues) in one sitting. I expected this book to be good, but I did not expect […]

This is a book for children (aged 8-11), and we feel it is a good one. Briefly, simply and clearly the story is told, from creation, through the Old Testament, down to the New. Special emphasis is given to Genesis and the Gospels. Great reverence is shown for the authority of Scripture and much stress […]

This is a little gem – by which we mean that though small, its value is great. James Fraser (1639-1698), usually known as ‘Fraser of Brea,’ was a well-known Covenanter preacher. In the recently published Scottish Puritans, volume 2, there is a long, interesting account of his life, written by himself. This reaches almost 300 […]