Magazine Podcast

The churches today have no greater need than an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the glorious Divine Person who proceeds from the Father and the Son and who creates and sustains all true spiritual life. This week’s selections come from J. W. Alexander (1804–1859) and John Owen (1616–1683) and point us to the Holy Spirit […]

This week we examine the grace-exalting teachings of the great Anglo-Saxon Monk, Bede, and Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, who influenced him so much.   Featured Content: – ‘The Calvinism of the Venerable Bede’, Nick Needham, Banner of Truth Magazine (Issue 727, April 2024). – ‘Augustine: Theologian of Grace’, Banner of Truth Magazine (Issue 138, March […]

What is true Christian spirituality? This week’s episode explores this question with an editorial from Maurice Roberts, ‘Why Spirituality Comes First’, and an excerpt from John Owen on ‘How to Meditate on Heavenly Things’.   Featured Content: – ‘Why Spirituality Comes First’, Maurice Roberts, The Banner of Truth Magazine: Issue 367, April 1994. – ‘How […]

Last year the Banner of Truth Trust republished Alexander Moody Stuart: A Memoir, with the encouragement of Dr. Sinclair B. Ferguson. Banner editor Sam Cunnington, who worked on the project, sat down with Dr. Ferguson to discuss why it is worth reading about this remarkable Scottish pastor today.   Buy the book: https://banneroftruth.org/store/history-biography/alexander-moody-stuart/ Buy The […]

We recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Mark Dever, pastor at Capitol Hill Baptist Church (Washington, D. C.), to discuss books, ministry, and reading in the local church.   Mark’s book recommendations: Samuel Prime, The Power of Prayer: The New York Revival of 1858 (https://banneroftruth.org/store/history-biography/power-of-prayer/) Andrew Bonar and Bennet Tyler, Asahel Nettleton: Life […]

Reformer John Calvin (1509–1564) is principally associated with Geneva, where he pastored and preached for 23 years. It is easy to forget that he was French, and that he fostered and maintained a great love for his homeland and people throughout his life. This week in the podcast, we read a selection from W. J. […]

Paul confessed, ‘The life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.’ (Galatians 2:20). Paul knew that Christ Jesus not only loved Paul personally, but that he had given himself on the cross to save Paul individually. Developing and extending […]

This week’s episode delves into the mysterious world of Freemasonry, and addresses the important question of whether its practices, beliefs, and oaths are consistent with the Christian confession.   Featured Content: – Freemasonry, A. W. Rainsbury, featured in The Banner of Truth Magazine: No. 273, June 1986. – The Conversion of a Freemason, from Personal […]

Archibald Alexander (1772–1851) was the first Principal of Princeton Theological Seminary. A preacher and a theological educator par excellence, his commitment to scholarship and to the preparation of men for ministry made his contribution foundational to the long season of fruitfulness that Princeton enjoyed in the decades after his death. Alongside of his classroom teaching […]

This week we hone in on Thomas Goodwin, ‘The Atlas of Independency’, and read Ian Hamilton’s recent article, Thomas Goodwin: The Evangelical Puritan, before turning to an extract from Goodwin’s own Christ Set Forth, As the Cause of Justification and as the Object of Justifying Faith (Puritan Paperback).   Featured Content: – Thomas Goodwin: The […]

We continue this week with J. I. Packer’s piece ‘Puritan Evangelism’. Having outlined ‘modern evangelism’ as it was pioneered by Charles G. Finney, Packer proceeds to shine a light on the better way pursued by the Puritans. Convinced that salvation was, from first to last, the sovereign and gracious work of God in the souls […]

Among those who rediscovered the power of Puritan faith and piety in the 20th Century, the name of J. I. Packer stands out prominently. This week, we read Ian Hamilton’s editorial ‘The Essential Packer’, and proceed to the first portion of a probing article from Packer on ‘Puritan Evangelism’.   Featured Content: – ‘The Essential […]

This week’s selections take us to Genesis, and the account of Lot’s deliverance from the Lord’s righteous judgement of Sodom. There is much that we can learn here, particularly through a consideration of what the text teaches us about Lot’s compromise and sin, and the incredible grace and faithfulness of God towards him. God’s unconditional […]

‘The suddenness of the Lord’s second advent’, wrote J.C. Ryle in the present piece, ‘is a truth that should lead every professing Christian to great searching of heart.’ This week’s episode is a reading of Ryle’s exposition of Matthew 25:1–13, often called the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins. With crystal-clear explanation and earnest […]

Godly fathers are marked by concern for their children’s wellbeing, and especially their spiritual condition. This week’s first selection offers a number of compelling examples of this concern in faithful men of the past, from Jonathan Edwards to Charles Spurgeon. The second selection, from Martyn Lloyd-Jones’s ‘Raising Children God’s Way’, takes us to the practical […]