Topic Archives: History & Biography

Luther stood before church and emperor at Worms and his words cannot be forgotten: ‘Here I stand; I can do no other; God help me.’ Calvin invited an infuriated mob to shed his blood. John Knox rebuffed the queen and her court in Scotland. Courageous actions by courageous men — for courage is one of […]

Thomas Jolly is representative of the large number of Puritan pastors who left no books by which posterity might be reminded of them, but who were neverthe­less in their own day eminent in spirituality and preach­ing power. We need to remember that the literary remains of Puritans which have been reprinted only represent a comparatively […]

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 […]

‘Puritanism has left a vast literature of homiletics and casuistry, which is wholly dead save for an occasional excursion of the curious. Nothing could be more wearisome to the modern reader than its voluminous controversy. The Calvinistic theology, which was the intellectual form of Puritanism, is dead beyond recall.’ These words were penned in 1912 by a Fellow of All […]

Fifty years or so ago, you would have been hard-pressed to find anyone who could recognize the name John Owen. Today, he is regularly quoted from pulpits and in articles as though his name were a household word. This is even more surprising because almost everybody who mentions him adds, ‘But he is not light […]

David Brainerd was an 18th Century American missionary of Reformed beliefs. We say American but Brainerd lived before the Declaration of Independence and so, like his contemporaries, thought of himself chiefly as an Englishman. The struggle between the colonial powers of England, France, and Spain raged throughout his lifetime. In his short life, he travelled […]

In this video, Pastor Alistair Begg (Parkside Church, Truth For Life) tells us why the 2 Volume Set D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones by Iain Murray is his favorite Banner of Truth work, and how it continues to be impactful in his life and ministry today. This set and other 2 Volume Sets and Gift Sets are […]

It is the centenary of the end of the First World War. Let us remind ourselves of that fearful period in British history of valiant courage, self-sacrifice, unimaginable suffering and death. What can we learn from it? Five of the Causes that Triggered the War 1. Mutual Defence Alliances Countries throughout Europe made mutual defence agreements […]

Jacques Lefevre has been variously called ‘The Pioneer of the Reformation in France’, ‘The Patriarch of the Reformers in France’ and ‘The Founder of the French Reformation’. Why then is so little written and known about a man to whom such titles are given by historians? There are two probable reasons. Firstly, the dreadful persecutions […]

The arrival of the Autumn season, with the month of October in particular, ushers in a host of events, decorations, recipes—even scents—for occupants in the Northern hemisphere. Many prepare their homes both outside and in, eager for what the season will entail, while reflecting on what past Autumns have brought. This is especially true for […]

Augustine, the son of a Roman official, was born at Tagaste in North Africa in A.D. 354. Endowed with brilliant talents, strongly motivated by vain glory and the desire of praise, he was by the age of nineteen studying and teaching rhetoric in the ancient city of Carthage. Here, with his mind bent on the […]

I met Dick  in September 1961 when he took part in the opening exercises in Philadelphia of Westminster Theological Seminary’s academic year.  He prayed for the almost 300 students who were  the sum total of the student body at that time. He had driven there from his first congregation, Sixth Reformed Church in Paterson New […]

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). […]

In the video below, Pastor Mark Johnston details why the writings of the Puritans are so impactful even today. ‘Part of the genius of Puritan literature is that they were so taken up with God, and his grace, and the provision that was made for sinners through the Lord Jesus Christ, that they opened not […]

It’s impossible to measure the influence of Richard Baxter over four centuries. His works remain in print and are widely read, which shouldn’t surprise us. J. I. Packer considers him ‘the most outstanding pastor, evangelist, and writer on practical and devotional themes that Puritanism produced,’ listing Baxter’s The Reformed Pastor (1656) as one of the top five books that have influenced him […]