George Whitefield Vol. 2 by Arnold Dallimore. Banner of Truth Trust. Price £9.95.
We warmly welcome this second volume of Arnold Dallimore’s biography of George Whitefield, the great evangelist of the 18th century revival.
In this volume the author deals very thoroughly with the doctrinal controversy between Whitefield and Wesley. He indicates how over the years a semi-legendary view of Wesley has grown up — a fact acknowledged even by Methodist scholars. He also tells that when he first began this study of Whitefield some thirty years ago that he then entertained the usual view of Wesley as ever calm and wise and forbearing, and as the foremost figure by far in the Revival work and of Whitefield as somewhat impulsive and erratic and as the secondary figure. “But,” he says, “as I examined the eighteenth century documents one after another, as the years passed I was driven from these views, yet only with reluctance and under the clear demand of historical evidence did I come to accept the concept presented in the following pages.” In this way Dallimore has established Whitefield as the leading figure of the 18th Century Revival. It is right to point out that he also finds that from 1743 onward a much larger measure of fellowship was achieved between Wesley and Whitefield though not an entire harmony. It is also clear from the book that Whitefield often preached for the Wesleyan Societies during the remaining years of his life — true to the principle that he had adopted at the outset to go wherever opportunity offered to preach the Gospel.
This second volume tells of Whitefield’s many visits to Scotland including that especially memorable one at the time of the revival at Cambuslang. It tells also of his visits to Wales and Ireland and his many journeys across the Atlantic to what were then the New England colonies. Accounts are given of several of the noted preachers who were associated with Whitefield, and also a chapter on Whitefield’s friendship with Benjamin Franklin which ends on the sad note of Franklin’s own statement: “Mr Whitefield used to pray for my conversion, but never had the satisfaction of believing that his prayers were heard.”
The book is full to overflowing of the prodigious labours of this honoured servant of Christ who was so greatly used to the ingathering of multitudes to the kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ — and that on both sides of the Atlantic. His part in the Great Awakening in America is also recounted. His overcoming of seemingly insurmountable obstacles and difficulties and discouragements appears again and again. Physical weakness and indisposition did not prevent him going out to preach the Gospel to his fellow men and continuing in the work until he had worn himself out in the service of Christ. The concluding chapter, The Measure of the Man, attempts an appraisal of Whitefield in summary.
It is our hope that this volume, notwithstanding its high cost, will have a wide circulation.
D.B.M.
Famous Hebrew Christians by Jacob Gartenhaus. Baker Book House, Grand Rapids. Price $5.95.
This paperback contains 33 biographical sketches of eminent Jewish Christians. Nearly all of them belong to the 19th century.
In the Introduction the author, himself a Jewish Christian, refers to the large number of Jewish converts to Christianity in the 19th century, one estimate putting the figure at 224,000.
As the Jews are scattered throughout the nations, it is not surprising to find that these converts came from various nations such as Prussia, Poland (which at that time contained one of the largest Jewish communities in Europe), Holland, Germany, England, Austria, Sweden, Palestine, Hungary, Russia and Lithuania. Many of them were brilliant men and a good number of them laboured in Jewish mission work in many lands. The list includes such noted names as Isaac da Costa, Alfred Edersheim, Rabbi Lichtenstein, August Neander, Adolph Saphir, etc. There are one or two whom we might not expect to find in a list like this, such as Benjamin Disraeli and Felix Mendelssohn.
The book serves as a timely reminder that the Lord has had His people in all ages among the Jewish as well as the Gentile nations. This should be an encouragement to us to plead for the promised ingathering of the Jews into the Christian Church.
D.B.M.