SELECTED WRITINGS OF BENJAMIN
MORGAN PALMER
Articles written for The Southwestern
Presbyterian in the years 1869-70
Selected by Caleb Cangelosi and edited by
C.N. Willborn
Banner of Truth. 205 pages. £9.50
ISBN 978 1 848 714 106
This is an unusual little book. It consists of brief magazine articles written by the 19th-century American Confederate Presbyterian leader, Benjamin Morgan Palmer.
None of the articles is more than four or five pages long. They are grouped under five themes: illuminating ‘leaves from a pastor’s portfolio’; a very timely and cogent defence of foreign missions; perceptive thoughts on each of our Lord’s beatitudes; a penetrating treatment of some of the paradoxes of godly Christian experience; and a brief ‘catch-all’ section.
I particularly enjoyed the vividly painted descriptions of pastoral situations and how they were wisely and graciously handled. It brought home again to me the urgency of speaking the gospel plainly, personally and with confidence to the dying and the self-deceived, as well as the need to be discerning and gospel centred in helping fellow Christians. These articles are beautifully written and very instructive.
Great paradoxes
The section dealing with four of the great paradoxes of the Christian life was also very helpful. Palmer clearly explains from Scripture a number of paired graces that mark godly believers and which often seem utterly bewildering to unbelievers. These are the believer’s self-loathing and yet confidence in God’s acceptance, his reverence and boldness before God, his sensitivity to the sorrows of life and enjoyment of peace in affliction, and his deadness to and yet pleasure in the things of this world. Here is great spiritual help.
The book comes with a warm recommendation from Dr John De Witt, a man whose kindness to me as a young minister is a precious chapter in my Christian experience. And he is absolutely right in his high estimate of this little volume. However, I fear that many will pass over it because it is a small book on a wide variety of less than exciting sounding issues. Yet there is much here to help the understanding and stir the heart of the Lord’s people: I heartily recommend it to thinking Christians.
