Books in the Christian Mentor series

Alongside the fourth and sixteenth centuries, the eighteenth-century is arguably one of the most important eras in Christian history. The great evangelical awakening that began in the 1730s resulted in many thousands of conversions on both sides of the Atlantic and a reviving of the church throughout the English-speaking world.Here, historian Michael Haykin considers key aspects of this revival-the anointed preaching, the new birth and justification, the Lord's Supper, hymnody and spiritual direction-through some of its leading figures-George Whitefield, Charles Wesley, William Williams, William Grimshaw, Anne Dutton and John Newton. He also considers the lives and spirituality of two Dissenters, Andrew Fuller and William Carey. The final chapter deals with the topic of the gifts of the Spirit. In both the lives of these people and the issues they wrestled with, we can learn much about loving, Spirit-filled Christianity for our day.

Historian Michael Haykin examines the lives of such Reformers as William Tyndale, Thomas Cranmer and John Calvin to see how their display of the light of the gospel in their day provides us with a "usable past"-models of Christian conviction and living who can speak into our lives today. Born in a time of spiritual darkness, they model what reformation involves for church and culture: a deep commitment to God's Word as the vehicle of renewal, a willingness to die for the gospel and a rock-solid commitment to the triune God. As a reminder that at the heart of the Reformation was a confessional Christianity, an essay on two Reformation confessions is also included.The Puritan figures who are studied are Richard Greenham, Oliver Cromwell, John Owen, Richard Baxter and his wife Margaret, and John Bunyan. In addition, a study of the translation of the King James Bible (KJB) reminds us that the Puritans, like the Reformers, were Word-saturated men and women-may we be as well.