Book Talk - New RHB Books for November
Posted by Fraser Jones on 13th Nov 2024
The Case and Cure of a Deserted Soul
Joseph Symonds
In diagnosing diseases, it is vital to recognize symptoms, find the root cause of those symptoms, and prescribe the correct cure. Spiritual desertion must be treated in much the same way, for it is a disease of the soul. In the throes of spiritual desertion, the believer may feel that God is distant; he may find that his heart is cold toward God; he may be overwhelmed with unbelief and the power of his corrupt nature; and he may even find himself quite depressed. With the skill of a caring spiritual physician (as well as typical Puritan precision), Joseph Symonds provides both diagnosis and prescription by examining the symptoms, causes, and cures of spiritual desertion.
(Reformation Heritage Books; paperback; 346 pages) $22.00 | $17.00
Geoffrey Thomas
The cross of Jesus Christ is at the center of the gospel. In twelve edifying chapters, Geoffrey Thomas views the atonement that Christ made on the cross from various angles, including imputation, substitution, propitiation, redemption, and satisfaction. This makes for ideal devotional reading.
(Reformation Heritage Books; paperback; 144 pages) $14.00 | $12.00
The Lord Our Righteousness: Christ Is the Righteousness of a Sinner before God
Obadiah Grew
In this exposition of Jeremiah 23:6, Obadiah Grew—a very readable Puritan—unpacks the doctrine of justification. He proclaims the sinfulness of sin, the foolishness of trusting self, the fullness of God’s free and sovereign grace, the necessity of Christ’s righteousness, the sufficiency of Christ to save sinners, the experiential reality of union with Christ, and the imputation of Christ’s righteousness. This treatise is excellent for Christians who struggle with guilt and condemnation, for the righteousness of Christ alone—not one’s own performance—is the only ground of comfort for the child of God. Here is a book to help get your eyes off of self and onto Christ.
(Reformation Heritage Books; paperback; 112 pages) $16.00 | $12.00
Sanctified by the Spirit: John Owen, Habits of Grace, and Biblical Counseling
Colin R. McCulloch
The biblical counseling movement is still relatively young, having entered the evangelical world little more than fifty years ago. Since that time, it has come to be dominated by two paradigms—the habituational model of Jay Adams (1929–2020) and the heart-motivational model of David Powlison (1949–2019). Taking us well beyond the establishment of the biblical counseling movement to the Puritans—and in particular to John Owen, the Puritan who developed a remarkably robust doctrine of the Holy Spirit as well as His work in sanctification—Colin McCulloch shows how the pneumatology and soteriology of John Owen provide valuable insights for biblical counselors, as well as a corrective to the views of both Adams and Powlison. Gleaning heavily from Owen, the author shows that through “Spirit-infused habitual grace,” the Holy Spirit sanctifies the believer and helps him or her gradually overcome sinful habits. McCulloch contends that this more historical and Puritan-minded model, while acknowledging insights in both the habituational and heart-motivational models, is more biblical and balanced than both.
(Reformation Heritage Books; paperback; 232 pages) $30.00 | $18.00
Theology, Piety, and Mission: The Influence of Gisbertus Voetius on Missiology and Church Planting
Ronaldo Lidório
Sketching the orthodoxy, piety, and missiology of Gisbertus Voetius (1589–1676)—one of the foremost luminaries of the Dutch Further Reformation (or the Nadere Reformatie movement)—Pastor Lidório ably demonstrates how Reformed orthodoxy, experiential piety, and dynamic evangelism coalesce to form a relevant and forceful paradigm for Christ-centered missions in the twenty-first century. The author highlights the centrality of prayer, doctrine, holiness, compassion, biblical worship, dependence upon the Holy Spirit, and Christ-centered preaching to effective missions work. Drawing from his experience as a pioneer missionary in Ghana, Lidório weaves together the fabric of this historical-theological treatise with captivating (and no less moving) stories of Christ’s work on the mission field. Here, then, is a comprehensive, practical vision for pursuing the Great Commission with boldness and fidelity to Scripture—perfect for missionaries, church planters, theological students, and believers in the pew alike.
(Reformation Heritage Books; paperback; 125 pages) $16.00 | $13.00
A Treatise on the Law and the Gospel
John Colquhoun
It is against the backdrop of our failure to keep the law of God—and our righteous condemnation under that law—that the gospel becomes unspeakably glorious. At the same time, it is impossible to pursue true obedience to God’s law until we have been delivered through the gospel. There is constant interplay between law and gospel throughout Scripture, and it is that interplay that the Scottish minister John Colquhoun (1748–1827) so ably captures in this classic treatise. With a firmly covenantal perspective, Colquhoun traces the moral law from Eden to Sinai, then shows how the gospel transforms the believer’s relationship to the law. The law no longer condemns the believer, who is dead to the covenant of works, Colquhoun says; rather, it becomes his rule of life as he responds to the free and sovereign grace of God with gratitude. This work is ideal for understanding the classic Reformed understanding of the relationship of law and gospel in biblical-theological and practical perspective.
(Reformation Heritage Books; paperback; 336 pages) $30.00 | $22.00
The True Believer: The Marks and Benefits of True Faith
Jonathan Edwards
What is saving faith? Answering that question in the course of eight sermons, Jonathan Edwards explains the difference between saving, Spirit-worked faith and the so-called “faith” of the unregenerate. In these messages, Edwards warns unregenerate, nominal Christians (or “professors of religion,” as he calls them) of their precarious spiritual state. Those who think that they are out of reach of God’s mercy should read Edwards’s first sermon in this compilation, “Pardon for the Greatest Sinners.”
(Reformation Heritage Books; paperback; 315 pages) $20.00 | $15.00
Other New Titles
Daily Doctrine: A One-Year Guide to Systematic Theology
Kevin DeYoung
In this clear, precise, and comprehensive treatment of systematic theology in the Reformed tradition, broken down into bitesize pieces, Kevin DeYoung provides 260 days of doctrinal teaching that is useful as a condensed handbook of systematic theology as well as a devotional (one can read through the entire guide in one year at the pace of just five entries per week). The author touches on every major doctrine of the faith, drawing from the wells of classical and Reformed theology, including the early church fathers, the Reformers, the Puritans, and later luminaries such as J. C. Ryle, Herman Bavinck, and Louis Berkhof. DeYoung considers foundational and eminently practical matters of the faith—such as the names of God, the attributes of God, prayer, the incarnation of Christ, the resurrection of Christ, and justification. He answers questions that Christians have asked for millennia: what is the image of God (day 79)? Is every sin the same in the eyes of God (day 86)? Do James and Paul contradict one another in their teaching on justification (day 178)? What will heaven be like (day 250)? And what is “the first resurrection” of Revelation 20:5 (day 259)? And he discusses more technical questions about such matters as perichoresis, Amyraldianism, and the extra Calvinisticum. Presented in a beautiful clothbound format, the physical book will last for generations, while the doctrines within will last for eternity.
(Crossway; hardcover; 409 pages) $32.99 | $22.50
The Way of the Spirit in Bringing Souls to Christ
Thomas Allen
In ten sermons from the gospel of John (John 16:7–10; 7:37), Thomas Allen (a little-known Puritan minister) shows how the Holy Spirit draws souls to Christ by showing to them the sinfulness of sin, convicting them for their sins, and displaying to them the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ. Above all, we read here how Jesus Christ freely welcomes all sinners to Himself to receive fullness of forgiveness and everlasting life.
(Northampton Press; hardcover; 216 pages) $30.00 | $21.00