The Westminster Confession of Faith. Free Presbyterian Publications. Booklet, A5 size, 36 pages. Price £1.50 from The Free Presbyterian Bookroom, 133 Woodlands Road, Glasgow G3 6LE.
THE previous Free Presbyterian Publications (FPP) edition of this booklet sold well and proved very useful, especially to groups and classes studying the Confession of Faith. This new booklet is even better. It uses the edition of the text by S. W. Carruthers who ascertained the original text of the Confession and produced an accurate edition which did not have the misprints that had slipped into previous editions. The layout of the text is much improved, and, more important, all the Scripture references (not full quotations) for each point of doctrine are now given: they appear in smaller type at the foot of each section of each chapter. The cover carries an eye-catching colour picture of the Houses of Parliament.
Without dispute, there has never been a more accurate and concise statement of the Christian faith than that of The Westminster Confession of Faith. James H. Thornwell, the renowned theologian stated, “I have read the creeds of most Christian bodies, I have been rejoiced at the general harmony of Protestant Christendom in the great doctrines of the gospel, but I know of no uninspired production, in any language, or of any denomination, that for richness of matter, clearness of statement, soundness of doctrine, scriptural expression, and edifying tendency, can for a moment enter into competition with the Westminster Confession…”
The Confession, in its hardback and paperback editions (which include The Larger and Shorter Catechisms, The Directory of Public Worship, The Form of Church Government, The Sum of Saving Knowledge, and The Solemn League and Covenant), continues to be the flagship publication of FPP, but it issues this inexpensive edition of the Confession on its own to make it more accessible, especially to young people. We heartily concur with the publisher’s statement: “Because of its faithfulness to Scripture the Confession has permanent worth and abiding relevance.” We pray that many will prove this to be so by reading this new edition.
NMR
Singing in the Fire by Faith Cook. Banner of Truth Trust, paperback, £4.95.
THE title of this book comes from the words of Susannah Spurgeon, whose husband was the great nineteenth-century London preacher. Lying in bed after a long period of illness she noticed the melodious sounds emitted by the oak log burning in the fire. Susannah expressed herself in the words of the title and added, “God helping us, if that is the only way to get harmony out of these hard, apathetic hearts, let the furnace be heated seven times hotter than before.” Both Spurgeons, husband and wife, were to endure long periods of serious illness, nevertheless they both succeeded in making extraordinary efforts for the cause of Christ. Susannah, who is the subject of one of the chapters in this book, sent out thousands of books to the multitudes of ministers who at that time were living in great poverty.
The book’s subtitle is Christians in Adversity, and all who are the subjects of the 14 chapters endured adversity in one degree or another. The earliest is Monica, who endured so much through the waywardness of her more famous son Augustine, until his conversion shortly before her own death. Others include John Bradford, the English martyr; Thomas Hog, who suffered greatly during the persecutions of Covenaning times, before returning briefly in weakness to his parish in Easter Ross; Catherine, wife of the great minister of the Scottish Borders, Thomas Boston, who described her as “a woman of great worth, whom I therefore passionately loved . . . patient in our common tribulations, and under her personal distresses.” She suffered prolonged periods of severe mental illness.
Not all who appear in these pages are well known. Nor should one accept all of them as altogether reliable doctrinally. Wang Ming-Dao, a Chinese pastor, who endured extremely cruel treatment from the authorities during many years of imprisonment, has elsewhere expressed himself in a quite unsatisfactory way about the Sabbath. One feels also that as times of persecution loomed ever closer Ming-Dao wrote with too much confidence: “We are ready to pay any price to preserve the Word of God.” As it turned out he succumbed to the pressure of his enemies, which caused him great grief afterwards. No more than Peter should we trust in our own powers.
Those who have read the author’s earlier book Samuel Rutherford and His Friends will not be surprised to find that she has again produced a series of well-written and interesting brief biographies, which prove the power of God’s grace to sustain His children in trouble, however severe. KDM