Light From Old Times (J. C. Ryle)

Description

The nineteenth century was an age that witnessed great progress in many areas of exploration and learning. However, according to J.C. Ryle, it was an age of great ignorance too. 'With all the stir made about education', he wryly observed, 'the Ignorance of our own country's history is something lamentable and appalling and depressing.' What particularly distressed Ryle was the scant knowledge of the English Reformation evident amongst his contemporaries. In this lay a grave danger: one of the reasons so many congregations drift form their evangelical foundations is their sheer ignorance of Christian history, and their lack of understanding of the major doctrine controversies and why they matter. Therefore he taught that one of the best ways to stop Christians wavering 'with every changing wind of doctrine' (Eph. 4: 14) is to instill in them a deep love for Reformation and Puritan teaching, and a willingness to suffer for those gospel truths. The Bible often calls us to remember the past, Ryle explained, but the devil tries to make us forget. If the church is to be strengthened, then Christians must be persuaded to read the saints of the past and to learn the lessons of church history.

Ryle’s abiding hope for Light From Old Times is that our souls will be stirred to prayer and action by the great testimonies of Reformers and Puritans found within its pages, and then that we will dig deeper into the writings of these spiritual giants.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Andrew Atherstone vii

Introduction xi

John Wycliffe 1

Why Were our Reformers Burned? 13

John Rogers: Martyr 47

John Hooper: Bishop and Martyr 57

Rowland Taylor: Martyr 99

Hugh Latimer: Bishop and Martyr 115

John Bradford: Martyr 157

Nicholas Ridley: Bishop and Martyr 179

Samuel Ward 199

Archbishop Laud 219

Richard Baxter 257

William Gurnall 291

James II and the Seven Bishops 347

Index 393

Product Details

Title: Light From Old Times 

Author: J. C. Ryle

Publisher: Banner of Truth

Pages: 437

Binding: Cloth-bound

Size: 22.2 x 14.2 x 3.3 cm

ISBN: 9781848716360