AN A-Z OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH AND EXPERIENCE
By J. Graham Miller
Banner of Truth. 122 pages. £8.95
ISBN 0 85151 836 2
This book is a compilation of memorable quotations culled from the notebooks of J. Graham Miller, who ministered for many years in the New Hebrides, New Zealand and Australia. These contained the fruit of a lifetime's reading, meticulously cataloguing what the author calls the 'flakes of shining gold' discovered along the way, and some of the best are represented in this typically well-produced, yet reasonably-priced hardback volume from the Banner.
Following a brief biographical introduction, and a helpful contents section, there follows an alphabetical arrangement of entries - beginning Ability, Adam, Adoption, Ambition... right through to Work, World mission, Worship, Zeal - which do indeed relate to both Christian doctrine and the Christian life, reflecting the fact that this is the anthology of a pastor of real people, not of an abstract theologian. Nearly 200 subjects are covered with varying weight. The largest section is (appropriately) on Jesus Christ, covering all aspects of his person and work. Other major entries include Atonement ('the grand distinctive peculiarity of the Christian religion': George Smeaton), Bible, Faith, Judgement, Sanctification and, reflecting the pastoral interest in Christian experience, Assurance, Error, Family, Prayer, Sin, Satan, and many others.
Quotes go back to the Fathers (sometimes incredibly contemporary: 'academics doubt everything!', Augustine), though most come from the Reformation onwards. Each century is well represented: from the 16h, John Calvin (overwhelmingly the most quoted author overall) and others; Rutherford, Owen, Baxter, Boston from the 17th; from the 18th, Edwards, Wesley, Whitfield; Cunningham, Warfield, Hodge, Ryle from the 19th, right through to Bonhoeffer, Brunner, and John Murray in more recent times. Here is collected, in brief compass, some of the greatest wisdom of the believing church through the ages, from some of its most godly minds.
One is struck by the clarity of thinking among our forebears in comparison with the prevailing mood today. To them it was obvious that in their teaching 'the omission of fundamental truth is the equivalent to inculcation of deadly error' (Calvin on Error), and it was without question that 'whatever contradicts the Word of God should be instantly resisted as diabolical' (Bunyan on Bible). These are the kind of good Christian friends we need to listen to today more than ever!
Buy this book for Christmas for a young Christian you know; it may just open their eyes to the wealth of a great tradition, and in turn whet the appetite to discover (with the help of the excellent bibliography of sources) more abiding treasure than merely the 'flakes' of gold assembled here.
William J.U. Philip,
Director of Ministry,
The Proclamation Trust, London
