Jewels from John Newton, Daily Readings from the Works of John Newton, published by the Banner of Truth Trust, hardback, 384 pages, £15.50.
As Miller Ferrie, the compiler of these “jewels”, states in the very helpful Preface, “the material included in this book is largely drawn from Newton’s prolific correspondence, and covers a wide variety of topics. Although written more than two hundred years ago, it remains as relevant and edifying as ever.”
Following the Preface, there is a brief outline of John Newton’s life (1725-1807), who is well described as “a trophy of God’s grace”, being transformed “from a blasphemous slave trader to a much-loved minister of the gospel”. His homely letters and other writings “have been a source of strength and comfort to Christian believers for centuries”. The daily readings, which are each contained within a page, are all based on a portion of Scripture and clearly and simply laid out. The source of the extracts is given at the foot of each page.
Over the years, daily readings from various well-known preachers have appeared in print and one may ask what this present volume has to offer. Perhaps the answer to this is best summed up by Miller Ferrie herself: “I have been greatly blessed by the writings of John Newton and for this reason desired to put together a book of daily devotional readings selected from his Works. What impresses me about this man is his honesty in readily admitting his struggles, sinfulness and failures. This aspect of his writings has been an encouragement to me personally, for it gave me the assurance that my own daily battles and humiliations are not unique. In addition, he repeatedly reminds his readers of God’s trustworthiness, no matter what circumstances they might be facing.”
An example of this is seen in some comments on the words, “The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto Him ye shall hearken” (Deut 18:15): “The Lord says, ‘This is My beloved Son, hear Him’. If you approve Him, He is yours. If you are still perplexed with doubts, they are owing to the weakness of your faith. But there are means appointed for the growth of faith. Wait patiently upon the Lord in the use of those means and you shall find He has not bid you seek His face in vain. . . . Allowances must be made for the effects of constitution and temperament. Some sincere persons are beset and followed, through life, with distressing temptations. But, in general, simplicity and obedience lead to assurance.”
For those who do not possess the Works or even a volume of his letters, those Jewels would provide an excellent introduction to his writings.
(Rev) W A Weale
Light from Old Times, Protestant Facts and Men, by J C Ryle, published by the Banner of Truth Trust, hardback, 427 pages, £15.00.
John Charles Ryle (1816-1900) was one of the most influential Evangelical clergymen of the nineteenth century. After serving several Anglican parishes in Suffolk he became the first Bishop of Liverpool in 1880. The current year marks the two-hundredth anniversary of Ryle’s birth and the Banner of Truth are to be congratulated for reprinting several of his major works in a retype-set, uniform edition. These currently include the following classic volumes of Ryle: Holiness, Knots Untied, Old Paths, Practical Religion and his seven volume Expository Thoughts on the Gospels. In addition, Rev Iain Murray has written a new biography of Ryle, published by the Banner of Truth, and the same publishers have announced that later this year they are to print Ryle’s autobiography, covering the first 45 years of his life. Iain Murray’s biography is titled Prepared to Stand Alone. The Ryle autobiography will be a scholarly edition produced from the original manuscript and edited by Andrew Atherstone of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. The volume will also include many rare photographs of Ryle from the family album. A version of the autobiography was published in 1975 from a third-hand copy of the original, J C Ryle: A Self Portrait, Reiner Publications, edited by Peter Toon, with a biographical postscript of his later life by Michael J Smout.
Light from Old Times, as Andrew Atherstone points out in his foreword to this new edition, is “designed to whet our appetites for Reformation and Puritan theology” (p viii). This volume, in common with several of Ryle’s other major works is a miscellaneous collection of articles and addresses, composed over several decades, for different audiences. As such there is inevitably a little unevenness in some places. The earliest of the chapters dates from 1853, while the last paper to be written was that on John Wycliffe in May 1884 and was an address commemorating the quincentenary of the death of the proto-reformer.
After the article on Wycliffe, the next 190 pages are taken up with six chapters that formed an earlier publication of the Banner of Truth Trust, Five English Reformers, first published in 1960; it begins with a chapter on “Why were our Reformers burned?” This is followed by biographical sketches of English martyrs: John Rodgers, John Hooper, Rowland Taylor, Hugh Latimer, John Bradford and Nicholas Ridley. When this volume was reprinted in 1982 the editor of The Free Presbyterian Magazine, Rev D B Macleod, observed, “This further reprint is most timely in view of the proposed visit of the Pope to this country. From it we learn how the Roman Catholic Church dealt with those who differed from her in the past, and how she would deal with those she calls heretics, if power were ever again given to her. We warmly commend these sketches to our readers.” Free Presbyterian Magazine, vol 87, p 28 (January 1982).
The remainder of the volume contains five further chapters, three of which provide biographical sketches of Puritans: Samuel Ward, Richard Baxter and William Gurnall. The remaining two chapters provide accounts of Archbishop Laud’s evil influence on the Church of England Ryle writes regarding William Laud: “I hold that, wittingly or unwittingly, meaningfully or unmeaningly, intentionally or unintentionally, Laud did more to harm the Church of England than any other Churchman that ever lived. He inflicted a wound that will never be healed; he worked mischief that will never be repaired” (p 226). and that of the Seven Bishops who went to the Tower of London in the reign of James II rather than agree to a Declaration of Indulgence that, under a mask of giving liberty to Nonconformists, would have given freedom to Roman Catholic worship. One lesson Ryle draws from this is the “duty of never allowing the government of this great country to be placed in the hands of a papist” (p 388). As Dr Atherstone observes, “Ryle believed that one of the reasons so many congregations drift from their Evangelical foundations is their sheer ignorance of Christian history, and their lack of understanding of the major doctrinal controversies and why they matter” (p ix).
The volume contains many fine statements which one wishes that an Anglican bishop would make today. Ryle writes, “The Romish doctrine of the real presence, if pursued to its legitimate consequences, obscures every leading doctrine of the gospel, and damages and interferes with the whole system of Christ’s truth. Grant for a moment that the Lord’s Supper is a sacrifice, and not a sacrament; grant that every time the words of consecration are used, the natural body and blood of Christ are present on the Communion table under the forms of bread and wine; grant that everyone who eats that consecrated bread and drinks that consecrated wine does really eat and drink the body and blood of Christ; grant for a moment these things, and then see what momentous consequences result from these premises. You spoil the blessed doctrine of Christ’s finished work when He died on the cross. A sacrifice that needs to be repeated is not a perfect and complete thing. You spoil the priestly office of Christ” (pp 38-39).
Regarding the necessity of episcopal ordination in order to attain ministerial status, Ryle makes the following statement, “The divine right of episcopacy, to the exclusion of all other forms of church government, and the absolute necessity of episcopal ordination to make a right minister of Christ, are positions that cannot be established from Scripture” (p 314).
The re-typeset Ryle volumes are of the highest quality. The publishers have added a number of footnotes to the present volume which are identified by the letter P; almost all of them seek to explain archaisms in Ryle’s citations. However, one note which seems to deny that the Epistle to the Hebrews was written by Paul (p 177) would best be deleted if this volume is reprinted.
When Ryle died in June 1900, The Free Presbyterian Magazine of the following month carried a note on his passing by the editor, Rev James S Sinclair: “The deceased was long and favourably known as an able champion of the Evangelical faith. His departure deprives the Bishop’s bench of the English Church almost of its last defence and ornament. . . . He was the penman of many sound and earnest tracts, as well as more laborious expository works. His Christian Leaders of the Last Century The Banner of Truth Trust currently has this volume also in print. is a fine work, introducing the reader to the goodly fellowship of Toplady, Romaine, Hervey, Grimshaw, and other heroes of the faith, who fought the good fight one hundred and fifty years ago. Whatever defects and errors attach to the Church of England, it were mere folly to deny that Christ has signally adorned it from age to age with shining examples of true Christianity.” Free Presbyterian Magazine, vol 5, pp 118-119 (July 1900).
While there are comments in the volume from which Free Presbyterians will demur, such as Ryle’s unwillingness to exclude High and Broad Churchmen from the Anglican Communion, this book is classic J C Ryle material and we heartily commend it to our readers.
Roy Middleton
Meditations on the Lord’s Supper, by John Willison, published by Reformation Press, paperback, 72 pages, £5.25.
In reading this beautiful little book, taken from Willison’s Works, the reviewer found more than once that while he “was musing the fire burned”. The meditations are written in the first person, expressing John Willison’s own desires and prayers. The effect is to transplant these desires and words into the reader’s mind. While he ascends high in earnest breathings and longings of soul after Christ and holiness, yet it is from the depths of felt depravity and disability. The poor soul conscious of its own spiritual weakness and unworthiness for the holy ordinance of the Lord’s Supper finds a sympathetic frame of spirit throughout. In one place he writes, “O Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come under my roof; the house is so ruinous, smoky and defiled, Thou hast not a fit place where to lay Thy head with me. But, since Thou didst not disdain to lie in a manger among beasts, nor to dine with Simon the leper, O come and furnish the house, prepare an upper room in my soul, and there abide and keep the Passover with me!”
The inescapable conclusion in reading the book is that the godly in Willison’s day had a view of the solemnity and holiness of the sacrament rarely found among us now. He asks, “O whither am I going? The place is holy, the table is holy, the bread I am to eat is holy, the cup I am to drink is holy, and God, who is infinitely holy, is terrible from His holy places.” A dread of formality is also apparent, and the frequent yearning desire is for the presence of Christ Himself at His own table: “Lord, come to the feast, for it will be a dead and heartless feast if Thou be absent. Sit Thou at the head of the table, carve everyone their portion, and give me a Benjamin’s mess – if it be Thy will – that my soul may be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth may praise thee with joyful lips.”
The Meditations also describe spiritual exercises suitable to the period after partaking of the sacrament. Often the author breathes out his wish for a blessing to follow, conscious of the fresh obligation to holiness of life. Thus we read, “Seeing then that I have eaten of Christ’s meat, O that I may travel a good journey and work a good turn for Christ in the strength of it! O that I may be a diligent and faithful servant to so good a Master! Lord I have eaten of Thy bread; let me never lift up the heel against Thee.”
The book begins with those meditations which are suited to preparation for the sacrament, and proceeds to those which are concerned with the period after partaking. It closes with Willison’s useful suggestions on making personal covenants with God.
In this book readers will find the writings of one of the outstanding Scottish divines at their spiritual and experimental best. We most willingly recommend it to our people.
(Rev) I D MacDonald