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Heroes

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In "Heroes" Iain Murray offers the church an outstanding tool to build up one's faith as the reader discovers what real heroes are.

Murray winsomely writes about the lives of faithful Christians such as:

- Robert Kalley

- William Hewitson

- Charles and Mary Colcock Jones

- George Whitefield

A powerful and not too dainty of a book (320 pages) written to both inspire and exhort. This work may be expensive, but it is well worth the price. Makes a wonderful gift and an encouraging personal or family devotional resource.

God Does Exist!: Defending the faith using presuppositional apologetics and evidence - Does God Exist? Yes and the contrary is not possible

This is a collection of biographical sketches of preachers. Some are well-known, such as Whitefield, Newton and Spurgeon. Others, such as Thomas Charles and William Hepburn Hewitson, I'd never heard of before. The author focuses more on their thoughts and their spiritual works than on telling the miscellaneous details of their lives.

Most chapters are about 30-45 pages, but one (to me the most interesting) is 86 pages. That one tells of Charles Colcock Jones and his wife. He was a plantation owner in the southern US during the days of slavery, but being a plantation owner was far from first in his desires. His passion was the evangelization of the slaves.

The chapter on George Whitefield focuses on the value of the way he embraced Christian unity. I found that odd, because every hero in this book is a Calvinist.

If you're a Calvinist, you'll probably love this book. If you're a non-Calvinist Christian, you'll still find much that's of value. It's well worth your time.

Title: Heroes

Author: Iain Murray

Publisher: The Banner of Truth Trust

First Copyright: 2009

Hardback

Price: $20.44

ISBN 978-1-84871-024-5

General Subject Matter: Biography

Theme: Eight short biographies of Christian greatness

Thesis: The study of history is vital to the health of the church

The purpose of this book in the words of the author, "...these pages may give young Christians a relish for old authors, and encourage younger ministers of the gospel in the assurance that the Savior of yesterday is the same today and tomorrow." (p. xiii)

Murray develops his thesis with a very informative and spell bounding narration of four well known and 3 unsung heroes of the faith. Murray is a very talented writer and his talent always shines when he tells the life story and experiences of God's servants.

Murray's Heroes is an extremely interesting book that will hold your attention from the first word to the very last word. Murray pain-stakingly researches the people and events that he writes about. This book is extremely important and valuable due to the information that Murray preserves for his readers about little know individuals and their stories. The reader benefits significantly by being privileged to take an insight look into the lives of these unique men and women.

Murray is more than qualified to pen this collection of biographies. He was educated at the Isle of Man and the University of Durham. He served as assistant to Martyn Lloyd-Jones at Westminster Chapel (1956-59) and subsequently at Grove Chapel, London (1961-69) and St. Giles Presbyterian Church, Sydney, Australia, (1981-84). In 1957 he and Jack Cullum founded the Reformed publishing house, the Banner of Truth Trust, where he has periodically worked full-time and remains the Editorial Director. He has written numerous books, including a number of excellent biographies. He is amply and ably qualified to not only write on the lives of Christian men and women, but he also is faithful "to help younger Christians understand the great heritage of the English-speaking churches on both sides of the Atlantic and in Australia."

This book is laid out very well. The type and layout makes reading very easy. Murray includes black and white photos of the subjects.

Footnotes are included in each chapter for further referencing. This book contains a subject index in the rear.

In summary, the biographical information provided in Murray's Heroes is outstanding. Murray intended on providing background information and the ministries of these seven (7) individuals and he was successful at that task. Murray included Jonathan Edwards, George Whitfield, John Newton, Thomas Charles, William Hepburn Hewitson and Robert Reid Kalley, Charles and Mary Colcock, and Charles Spurgeon. Murray has made it very clear that the study of (Christian) history is vital to the health of the church.

Murray's book Heroes, published by Banner of Truth in 2009, grew out of talks and shorter articles about some of his favorite Christians of the past. Ever the preacher and exhorter, Murray is not content to simply give the biographical details of his subjects' lives. He gives practical lessons to be followed by Christians today. For him, history is not merely interesting stories of the past or an academic discipline; rather, it is moral philosophy. History teaches.

Murray's heroes include such famous men of Christian history as Jonathan Edwards (summarizing and building upon his book of some years earlier), George Whitefield, John Newton, and Charles Spurgeon. He also included lesser known Christians, such as Thomas Charles of Bala, the missionaries William H. Hewitson and Robert Reid Kalley, and the Charles and Mary Colcock Jones family of ante-bellum Georgia. In every case, Murray had particular themes to draw out of each of these Christian lives and their ministries. In the case of the Jones family, for example, he discussed the efforts of that family to minister to slaves in the old South.

As a history teacher, I found these biographical sketches useful. Whether it was British missionary efforts or life in early America, the men of those times exemplify the issues of the time. But biographical details can be easily picked up in encyclopedias or the more handily accessible Internet. What the history resources cannot give is the soul stirring nurture of Murray's heroes. This book rekindled a love of Calvinistic piety and evangelism. Sometimes, as a school administrator and teacher, my emphasis is on the Christian worldview thinking in all subject areas and Calvinism can appear, distortedly yet frequently, as being all head and no heart. Murray is not promoting an emotion-centered faith, but rather an eminently pious and heart-felt Christianity that is nurtured through sound theological preaching and solid books.

His heroes were, quite often, men of books. Murray's labors, his efforts to emulate his heroes, has been to fast track young Christians toward spiritual maturity through an acquaintance with the riches of the past. As he notes in a quotation from Thomas Fuller:

"History maketh a young man to be old, without either wrinkles or grey hairs; privileging him with the experience of age, without either the infirmities or inconveniences thereof."

Even those of us who do know wrinkles, grey hair, and infirmities, can still profit from Murray's heroes.

I've never really enjoyed biographies very much until a month or two ago I received a copy of Iain H. Murray's John MacArthur: Servant of the Word and Flock. I read it in just a few days and I loved it. That led me on to some of Murray's other biographies.

I was given this volume for my birthday, and I am almost finished. It's a very great read. Murray doesn't just write "this person did this, then this, and then this happened," etc. He discusses and interacts with a lot of their thoughts and writings and actions, and he appears to be very well-read with the subjects writings. I've often found myself reading this book with a pen or a highlighter - something I've never done with any other biography.

Heroes contains brief biographies of 9 people:

1. Jonathan Edwards

2. George Whitfield

3. John Newton

4. Thomas Charles

5. William Hepburn Hewitson & Robert Reid Kalley

6. Charles and Mary Colcock Jones

7. Charles Spurgeon.

Most of the biographies are around 40-50 pages. You'll find Murray's style to be very easy and enjoyable to read.