Description
Some Pastors and Teachers is a volume for every minister’s study and indeed for the bookshelves and bedside tables of everyone who has a concern for the ministry of the gospel and the well-being of the church in the twenty-first century. In many ways, it reflects the biblical vision of what every minister is called to be: pastor, teacher, counsellor, and example—but also a man who is growing spiritually, both in understanding and in character, before the eyes of his congregation.
In five sections and thirty-nine chapters, Sinclair B Ferguson writes on pastor-teachers whose life and work have left an indelible mark on his own life, and then leads us in a series of chapters on the teaching of John Calvin, John Owen and the seventeenth century Puritans. This is followed by studies of Scripture, the ministry of the Spirit, the nature of Biblical Theology, the work of Christ, adoption, the nature of the Christian life and other important doctrines. The final section discusses various aspects of preaching, including preaching Christ from the Old Testament, the importance of theology, reaching the heart, and concludes with a decalogue for preachers. All this, as the epilogue makes clear, is set within the context and goal of doxology.
Here is a book to return to again and again, for instruction, for challenge, and also for enjoyment. While written particularly with ministers in view its style makes it accessible to all. Dr Ferguson describes Some Pastors and Teachers as a series of small gifts for fellow-ministers and others, written as an expression of the love of Christ. It is calculated to help both ministers of the gospel and entire congregations to realize Paul’s vision of churches growing up into Christ as they are nourished and taught by their pastors and teachers.
Endorsements
‘Some Pastors and Teachers will bring Sinclair Ferguson into your life as an inspiring teacher and at times as a gentle goad, helping you fan into flame the gift of God which is in you, so that you fulfill your ministry (2 Tim. 1:6; 4:5).’
— RAY ORTLUND
‘Sinclair Ferguson’s Some Pastors and Teachers is a feast for the soul.’
— WILLIAM BARCLEY
‘A treasure trove of wisdom from a seasoned pastor-professor! A book I will be returning to in ministry year after year.’
— JONNY GIBSON
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION xi
I PASTORS AND TEACHERS: THREE JOHNS
1 John Calvin: Pastor-Teacher 3
2 John Owen: Pastor and Teacher 21
3 John Murray: Teacher of Pastors 39
II JOHN CALVIN: PASTOR-TEACHER
4 A Heart for God 65
5 Manifested in the Flesh: John Calvin on the Reality of the Incarnation 77
6 John Calvin: Commentator for Preachers 93
7 Christology and Pneumatology: John Calvin, the Theologian of the Holy Spirit 107
8 Calvin and Christian Experience: the Holy Spirit in the Life of a Christian 135
9 Calvin on the Lord’s Supper and Communion with Christ 153
III PURITANS: PASTORS AND TEACHERS
10 Puritans: Ministers of the Word 167
11 John Owen and the Doctrine of the Person of Christ 193
12 John Owen on the Glory of Christ 217
13 John Owen on the Priesthood of Christ 229
14 John Owen and the Doctrine of the Holy Spirit 241
15 John Owen on Christian Piety 263
16 Some Thoughts on Reading the Works of John Owen 299
17 John Flavel and the Mystery of Providence 309
18 Preaching the Law of God: Reformers and Puritans 325
IV THE PASTOR AND TEACHING
19 How Does the Bible Look at Itself? 349
20 Scripture and Tradition 373
21 The Holy Spirit and the Holy Scriptures: Inerrancy and Pneumatology 393
22 What Is Biblical Theology? 417
23 ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’: the Holiness of the Father 449
24 Christus Victor et Propitiator: the Death of Christ, Substitute and Conqueror 465
25 Sola Fide 487
26 Assurance Justified 505
27 Christian Spirituality: the Reformed View of Sanctification 521
28 Reformed Theology—Reformed Lifestyle 553
29 The Reformed Doctrine of Sonship 579
30 Some Reflections on the ‘First Title’ of the Holy Spirit 591
31 Repentance, Recovery, and Confession 603
V THE PASTOR AND PREACHING
32 The Bit, the Bridle, and the Blessing: An Exposition of James 3:1-12 627
33 Exegetical Preaching 651
34 Preaching Christ from the Old Testament Scriptures 669
35 The Preacher as Theologian 685
36 Preaching the Atonement 697
37 Preaching to the Heart 717
38 Preaching and the Reformed Theological Tradition 733
39 A Preacher’s Decalogue 753
EPILOGUE:
Doxology 767
SCRIPTURE INDEX 777
GENERAL INDEX 791
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 799
Product Details
Title: Some Pastors and Teachers: Reflecting a biblical vision of what every minister is called to be
Author: Sinclair B. Ferguson
Publisher: Banner of Truth
Pages: 824
Binding: Hardcover
Size: 22.3 x 14.4 x 5.0 cm
ISBN: 9781848717893