Book Reviews

A review by Bob Thomas of You Must Read: Books that have shaped our lives.1 Thirty-five luminaries of evangelical Christianity have each contributed an essay to this book in which they reveal which particular Christian book (apart from the Bible, of course) has been especially helpful in moulding their life, faith and ministry. The common […]

A review article by Gervase Charmley of Kevin DeYoung’s What Does the Bible Really Teach about Homosexuality?1 and Ed Shaw’s The Plausibility Problem.2 Homosexuality is the hot topic of the day and age in which we live. After the recent Irish referendum on so-called same-sex marriage, the Roman Catholic church in that nation spoke about […]

A review by Martin Williams of Robert White’s translation of the 1541 edition of John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion.1 C. S. Lewis once wrote: There is a strange idea abroad that in every subject the ancient books should be read only by the professionals, and that the amateur should content himself with the […]

‘A most enjoyable new book about old authors and their continuing influence.’ – Fred G. Zaspel on You Must Read: Books That Have Shaped Our Lives. In the Notes below are links to selected online reviews of Banner titles, mostly posted May/June 2015. The views expressed are of course those of the respective bloggers/reviewers. For […]

A review by Jeremy Marshall of J. C. Ryle’s Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties, and Roots.1 If there was one book any Christian could have – in addition to the Bible, obviously – various candidates would be advanced. Historically, it would have been, in English-speaking countries anyway, John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress.2 Other books might […]

James Bannerman was a son of the manse, his father being minister of the Cargill, Church of Scotland, congregation in Perthshire. James Bannerman was ordained and installed as the minister of the Ormiston, Church of Scotland parish in 1833 and in 1843, the year of the Great Disruption, he left the Church of Scotland for […]

A review by Peter Barnes of J. C. Ryle’s Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties, and Roots.1 No one has written more simply, more graciously, and more helpfully than J. C. Ryle, and the 21 chapters which constitute the full edition of Holiness (the enlarged 1879 edition which expanded the 1877 edition) reveal Ryle at his […]

A review by Mignon Goswell of Iain H. Murray’s Amy Carmichael: ‘Beauty for Ashes’ – A Biography.1 Iain Murray has written yet another compelling biography, this time about Amy Carmichael, missionary to India, whom Murray believes is ‘not known as she used to be’. As Murray read more of Amy Carmichael’s writings he became convinced […]

‘Iain Murray’s latest work is a brief, accessible biography of Carmichael, I knew I had to give it a go. I’m glad I did.’ – Tim Challies on Amy Carmichael – ‘Beauty for Ashes’: A Biography. In the Notes below are links to selected online reviews of Banner titles, mostly posted March/April 2015. The views […]

A few summers ago, I had the privilege of working on a proofreading/editing project for the Banner of Truth, a project which has very recently resulted in the four glossy volumes of The Works of John Newton.1 There was, however, nothing ‘glossy’ about the two 5-inch binders stuffed with paper and the slew of Word […]

A few evenings a week, after the younger children go to bed, my eldest, Chloe, and I sit on the couch and we read a good book together. I’m not talking about a Little House on the Prairie book or Anne of Green Gables book, though I’m sure we will do that too, one of […]

A review by Dr Stephen Westcott of John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion, translated by Robert White.1 After a long history of publishing Reformation, Puritan, and later Calvinistic books ‘Banner’ have returned to Reformed foundations by issuing this edition of John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion. This work, above any other, laid the […]

A review by Ian S. Barter of Amy Carmichael: ‘Beauty for Ashes’ – A Biography by Iain H. Murray.1 The name of Amy Carmichael will always be associated with The Dohnavur Fellowship that she founded in the south of India more than 100 years ago. In 1895 at the age of 27 she arrived in […]

A review by Dr J. Barry Shucksmith of John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion, translated by Robert White.1 John Calvin was the most eminent of all the 16th century Reformers. He was born at Noyon, 10th July, 1509. He trained to be a lawyer but being convinced of the errors of Rome, he turned […]

‘an accessible, edifying book on Scripture … an easy-to-read, straightforward guide to understanding and profitably using God’s Word.’ – Derek J. Brown on Sinclair B. Ferguson’s From the Mouth of God: Trusting, Reading, and Applying the Bible . In the Notes below are links to selected online reviews of Banner titles, mostly posted January/February 2015. […]

A review by Greg Goswell of Covenant and Commandment: Works, obedience and faithfulness in the Christian life (New Studies in Biblical Theology, No. 33) by Bradley G. Green [Nottingham: IVP, 2014], 192pp, paperback, $16.28/£12.99, ISBN 978 1 78359 1 664. The latest volume in the popular and reliable New Studies in Biblical Theology series is […]

This beautifully produced book consists of 34 short articles written by Pastor Benjamin Morgan Palmer for the Southern Presbyterian magazine between 1869 and 1870. The subjects covered include anecdotes from his pastoral life, a justification for foreign missions, the Beatitudes and Christian paradoxes. Pastor Palmer writes in the florid, wordy style of the 19th century […]

A review for the Pastor’s Library at LifeWay.com by Joey Cochran of The Works of Thomas Manton.1 Summary In 1662, the Church of England ejected two-thousand pastors for failure to accept the Act of Uniformity. These men lost pulpits, living, and homes. Many became fugitives for preaching and pastoring illegally. This company of pastors is […]

BOOK REVIEW: Bioethical Issues: Understanding and Responding to the Culture of Death by John Ling [Leominster: Day One, 2014], 312pp, $20.00/£10.00, ISBN 978 1 84625 427 7. Dr. John Ling, the author of Bioethical Issues: Understanding and Responding to the Culture of Death, has sat at my feet on Sundays for over 38 years. A […]

A review by Rt Revd Dr J Barry Shucksmith of Confessing the Faith: A Reader’s Guide to the Westminster Confession of Faith by Chad Van Dixhoorn.1 The Westminster Assembly took place in 1643 – a synod appointed by the Long Parliament to reform the English Church. Parliament issued an ordinance to allow the Westminster Assembly, […]

It is always refreshing when you come across an accessible, edifying book on Scripture. Sinclair Ferguson’s From the Mouth of God: Trusting, Reading, and Applying the Bible1 is an easy-to-read, straightforward guide to understanding and profitably using God’s Word. But Ferguson doesn’t leap right into the specifics of biblical interpretation. He knows our attempt to […]

‘a handsome volume … those who want a straight read of the mature theology of Calvin have their needs met in this translation’ – Paul Helm on Robert White’s new translation of Institutes of the Christian Religion. In the Notes below are links to selected online reviews of Banner titles, posted September – December 2014. […]

BOOK REVIEW: Calvinism: A History by D. G. Hart [New Haven: Yale University Press, 2013], 339pp, $40.00/£25.00, ISBN 978 0 30014 879 4. Professor Darryl Hart has taken the plunge. A specialist in the history of twentieth-century American evangelicalism, especially Presby­terianism, he has a string of impressive publications to his credit such as Defending the […]

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 […]

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 […]