The Life and Letters of Joseph Alleine, published by Reformation Heritage Books, paperback, 332 pages, available at £14.50 from the F P Bookroom.
Joseph Alleine (1633-1668) was one of the most famous of the Puritans. His Sure Guide to Heaven (also published under the title Alarm to the Unconverted) has been reprinted more than 500 times, and was a means of blessing to Whitefield, Spurgeon, and a multitude of others. In 1781 it was translated into Gaelic through the initiative of Lady Glenorchy. In several of the parishes of the Nether Lorn district of Argyll, south of Oban, the precentor would read the translation while the people were assembling for public worship, and the result was a widespread revival of religion. The Moderate-dominated Presbytery of Lorn took alarm and condemned the book for 22 supposed errors, forbidding its people to possess a copy on pain of excommunication!
Alleine was born in Devizes in Wiltshire and studied at Oxford. From 1655 he was the assistant to George Newton, minister of Taunton in Somerset, and in 1662 he and Newton were among the nearly two thousand English ministers ejected following the Act of Uniformity. Alleine continued to preach and was imprisoned more than once, the hardships of prison hastening his early death at the age of 34. He was “a burning and a shining light”, and the following well-known account of him, by George Newton, comes from the book under review (p 54):
“He was infinitely and insatiably greedy of the conversion of souls, wherein he had no small success in the time of his ministry; and to this end he poured out his very heart in prayer and preaching: he imparted not the gospel only, but his own soul. His supplications and his exhortations many times were so affectionate, so full of holy zeal, life and vigour that they quite overcame his hearers; he melted over them so that he thawed and mollified, and sometimes dissolved, the hardest hearts. But while he melted thus, he wasted and at last consumed himself.”
The book consists of an account of Alleine’s life, with chapters contributed by Richard Baxter, George Newton, Alleine’s wife (and cousin) Theodosia, and others (pp 21-135); of 49 letters by Alleine (pp 139-302); and of a valuable funeral sermon by George Newton on the text: “But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for Me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children” (pp 303-332). The Life is highly interesting and edifying, and the Letters, if anything, even more so. Many of them were written from prison, and others in sickness; the book is thus suitable for the anxious, the downcast, for those surrounded by worldliness, for those feeling the sluggishness and deadness of their souls, and for any who “if need be . . . are in heaviness through manifold temptations”. Here, for instance, is a description from the Life of the delight that Alleine took in praising God, and of the encouragement he gave to others to do the same:
“His exhortations to Christians did frequently design to raise them to that sublime life of praise and thanksgiving. Often hath he reproved Christians, charging them with the greatest folly and ingratitude in so much neglecting this so pleasing and profitable duty and in [giving it so small a share] in their religious exercises. He much condemned them for that too general practice in thrusting so enlarging a part of their devotions into so narrow a room, as only the close of their prayers. Especially did he excite Christians to this duty on the Lord’s day, as the most proper work for so divine a festival; shaming them with the excellent example of the primitive Christians who welcomed in the sun that brought so glorious a day as the Christian Sabbath. . . . Sometimes the greatest part of his own prayer was thanksgiving; and indeed he was never so much in his element, either in prayer or in preaching, as when he was extolling and adoring the love of Christ, and marvelling at God’s infinite goodness in the gift of His Son our Saviour” (p 131).
In a similar vein, in one of his letters to his flock from prison, he writes: “May your souls and all their powers be taken up with Him; may all the little doors of your souls be set open to Him! Here fix your thoughts, here terminate your desires; here you may light your candle and kindle your fire when almost out. Rub and chafe your hearts well with the deep consideration of the love of Christ, and it is a wonder if they do not get some warmth. The Lord shed abroad His love in your hearts by the Holy Ghost” (p 172).
Most of this book is a reproduction of the 1840 New York edition, but five further letters have been included from other editions and collections, together with the funeral sermon by George Newton. It seems extraordinary that such a book should have been out of print since 1840, but apparently it is so. The reviewer believes that this book is worthy of a place in every Christian home alongside the likes of The Pilgrim’s Progress, Boston’s Fourfold State, Rutherford’s Letters, Guthrie’s Christian’s Great Interest, and Bonar’s Memoir and Remains of M’Cheyne. (Rev) D W B Somerset
Princeton and Preaching, Archibald Alexander and the Christian Ministry, by James M Garretson, published by the Banner of Truth Trust, hardback, 304 pages, £16.75, available from the F P Bookroom.
Although this book is primarily directed to ministers, everyone should profit from the excellent account of Alexander’s life given in the first chapter. Garretson’s purpose is to direct attention to “the lessons we may learn from the way that the professors at ‘Old Princeton’ prepared men to be effective ministers of the gospel”, believing that these lessons “are still of abiding value”. He further emphasises in his Introduction that “Archibald Alexander and his colleagues were deeply spiritual men who understood how best to prepare young ministers in their use of the ‘spiritual weapons’ supplied by God for the battle they faced. Knowing that the battle was a spiritual one that could not be fought with earthly weapons, they prepared their students to go out to fulfil their ministries in the strength of the Spirit.”
The remaining chapters of this book cover subjects such as the call to the ministry, the preparation of the preacher’s heart, and the difficulties and challenges of the Christian ministry. What we are given is Alexander’s thoughts on such matters – from his books, but particularly from his unpublished lectures on pastoral theology, which he delivered in Princeton Seminary. Those who already know something of Alexander and his writings will not be surprised to discover in this book a wealth of deeply-spiritual observations from a man who was renowned for his sanctified common sense.
Many passages might be quoted, but we will restrain ourselves. First, after quoting in a lecture another writer’s comments on the need for gravity and warmth in public speaking, Alexander pointed to the necessity of “that solemnity which arises from the fear of God; and that affectionate manner, termed unction which arises from a deep feeling of the truth and importance and excellence of what he utters from the Word of God. This qualification, which is nothing else but piety in a lively exercise, is of the utmost importance to good and useful preaching. . . . Without it he may be a good preacher, a splendid orator . . . but there will be an essential defect in his sermons; the right spirit will be wanting. And while the multitude may be pleased and the refined gratified, the hearers will not be edified, nor sinners converted.”
In an address to a minister at an ordination, he emphasised how “essential to the character of a faithful labourer in the vineyard of the Lord is a devotional spirit – a love of prayer and delight in communion with God. He who communes most familiarly and affectionately with God will best understand His will and will be best qualified to declare His counsel. That minister who wrestles much in private with his Maker is likely to plead His cause most earnestly and successfully in public. As the success of preaching is not owing to the learning or eloquence of the organ by which the Word is proclaimed, but on the blessing of a sovereign God, we have good ground to expect that, in common, those ministers who most abound in prayer will see most fruit of their ministry.”
On a similar theme, he stated in another lecture: “It is an encouragement and comfort to the faithful minister that the cause in which he is engaged must prevail. The word of divine promise is sure, the Church of Christ cannot be overthrown. Whatever dark clouds may for a season shower rain, yet she shall rise and shine when the time – the set time to favour her – shall come. Glorious things are spoken in the word of prophecy respecting Zion, the city of our God, not one of which shall fail.”
Alexander called for discriminating preaching. “How often”, he complained, “do we hear a preacher expatiating on the rich consolations of the exceeding great and precious promises of God, when no mortal can tell, from anything which he says, to whom they are applicable. In much preaching there is a vague and indiscriminate application of the special promises of the Covenant of Grace, as though all who had heard them are true Christians and had a claim to the comfort which they offer.”
And again: “It is but seldom that we hear a discourse from the pulpit which is calculated to afford much aid to Christians in ascertaining their own true character, or which will serve to detect the hypocrite and formalist and drive them from all their false refuges. In the best days of the Reformed Churches, such discriminating delineation of character, by the light of Scripture, formed an important part of almost every sermon. . . . This indeed requires something more than a fertile imagination and a ready utterance . . . . It requires that the preacher study much on his knees, that he examine his own heart with unceasing care, that ‘the Word of God dwell in him richly, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding’; and also that he converse frequently and freely with experienced Christians.”
In the light of all this, we might note Charles Hodge’s testimony as to how Alexander put his own counsels into practice: “Perhaps most of those who remember him with personal gratitude recall him as their spiritual guide, who revealed to them the workings of their own hearts. Under his preaching was realised what the Apostle describes as the effect of intelligible discourse guided by the Spirit (1 Cor 14:24,25). Those who heard were convinced. Their conscience and consciousness bore testimony to the truth of what he said. They were judged, or examined. Their feelings, which lay as a confused, unintelligible mass, were analysed, examined, and their true character discerned and estimated. Thus the secrets of their hearts were revealed. They were brought to know and estimate themselves aright, and so falling on their faces, confessed that God was indeed with the truth and with the preacher.”
And the reasons behind such spiritual power in the pulpit are explained in this book, largely in Alexander’s own words. The material is very well presented and the author’s comments show a mind in thorough sympathy with his subject. The book can be highly recommended. May it help today’s ministers, young and old, in their use of the spiritual weapons which their Master has given them!