To watch the new video series from Banner of Truth, go to their YouTube channel.
Christian biography ought to be a source of strength and renewal to the believer – a sparkling well of faith-fortifying refreshment. Often, however, we find ourselves struggling to turn the riches of Christian history to our spiritual advantage. The well, as it were, has become clogged by the silt of distraction and distance.
In such circumstances, we need to imitate the patriarch Isaac in Genesis 26:18: 'And Isaac dug again the wells of water that had been dug in the days of Abraham his father, which the Philistines had stopped after the death of Abraham.' Recovering the lessons of the past is a matter of 'digging again' the wells that once ran clear and clean.
Since its foundation, the Banner of Truth Trust has set great store on Christian history and biography. This has largely been due to the defining role that the Revd Iain H. Murray has played in the life of the organisation. Iain has faithfully discharged the duties of a Christian historian – a chronicler of the Lord's dealings with his people.
Iain's own addresses and books (not to speak of those he has been instrumental in publishing, e.g. Arnold Dallimore's George Whitefield and Faith Cook's Selina, Countess of Huntingdon) have demonstrated the tremendous spiritual value of 'unblocking the wells of the past' to allow the water of spiritual testimony to flow freely again.
Rediscovering the Covenanters
It may be argued that the work of re-digging the wells of evangelical history has been more successful in some areas than others. The 18th-century revival, for example, has been exceedingly well covered. Figures such as Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield are well known and justly celebrated, their theology and faithful lives of service still instructing many today. Other periods, figures, and movements are less well known or, perhaps more accurately, less widely known.
