A man may be known by the company he keeps. Here, Faith Cook introduces us to Samuel Rutherford’s friends, who are called on to give us a fresh look at the man who has long been held in such high affection by Christian people around the world.

The days in which Samuel Rutherford (c.1600-1661) lived were ones in which ‘a man must sin or suffer’, and most of Rutherford’s friends chose the latter course. Two were martyred, two exiled and all paid a high price for allegiance to the truth.

The primary aim of these short biographies is to cast light on Rutherford’s genius as a faithful counsellor and spiritual guide. We are introduced to the depth and beauty of his Letters and brought to share in the wisdom and consolation of his pastoral ministry.

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Review

• Review by Mignon Goswell (see page 17).

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Faith Cook’s subject is familiar to Christian literature but these pages have several factors which make them arresting and captivating. Instead of meeting with well-known names, here is a portrait gallery which includes a number who lived far from public notice. Perhaps John Bradford, Richard Cameron and Edward Payson are still remembered, but who knows of such things as John Oxtoby’s fellowship with God, Wang Ming-Dao’s resolution, Susannah Spurgeon’s ministry of love and Catherine Boston’s lonely sufferings? These pages are full of moving records from the old and the modern.

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Peer pressure is very hard to resist. So many are affected by the views and values of their social circle and largely conform to what others think, say and do, as well as to what they eat and wear.

But this is not new. While the Bible does not speak of ‘peer groups’ and the pressure they exert, it does point to ‘the course of this world’ and warns Christian believers not to be conformed to its thought patterns or to the ignorance of God which they betray.

But the Scriptures do more. They give us examples of those who have, by the grace of God, lived and died in faith, saying to us, ‘Whose faith follow.’

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Faith Cook shares her first-hand story of the trials faced by a child of missionary parents living in China during the turbulent period of the Second World War and the subsequent Communist takeover. While much has been written about the heroic achievements and sacrifices of many Christian missionaries to China, Troubled Journey introduces us to a side of the story that has rarely, if ever, been told. Many young people today have known much emotional deprivation early in life. This story of childhood in a war-torn country may well help them to reconcile their painful experiences with God’s loving kindness and his purposes of grace for them. It may indeed encourage all who read it to appreciate in a new way the care and mercy of God, overruling even the tragedies of life and turning them to good for his people.

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‘Perhaps this century has not produced another who could say with more justice and propriety to his hearers (if his great humility would have permitted him). “be ye followers of me, as I am of Christ”.’ — JOHN NEWTON

‘A few such as him would make a nation tremble. He carries fire wherever he goes.’ — JOHN WESLEY

‘Grimshaw’s unflagging energy and vigorous defense of the faith was matched by a charitable spirit that was a model of true Christlikeness . . . a surprising measure of what he said and wrote is germane to the times in which we live. This is a welcome addition to the rich treasure trove already available from the Banner of Truth. It is also a classic example of what a good biography ought to be.’ — JOHN MACARTHUR

‘A biography that I hold dear because it is a challenge to my wimpishness, something this Canadian Christian historian deeply laments. Grimshaw was a true radical.’ — MICHAEL HAYKIN

‘Atmosphere, action, great character: it’s Wuthering Heights meets Whitfield-Wesley revival.’ — MIKE REEVES

Book Description

Faith Cook has drawn on unpublished and little-known sources to produce this comprehensive new biography.

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By any standard, Samuel Rutherford was a remarkable Christian: as a pastor he was devoted to his congregation in Anwoth, Scotland; as a leading churchman he was selected in 1643 as a member of the Scottish delegation to the famous Westminster Assembly; as a scholar he was offered some of the most distinguished professorships in Europe; as a letter writer Samuel Rutherford stands second to none in the galaxy of those whose personal correspondence has appeared in published form.

Yet, perhaps the description which would have most encouraged and humbled Rutherford himself came from the lips of a visiting Englishman who said of him that he ‘heard a little fair man, and he showed me the loveliness of Christ’.

Rutherford knew that the heart of Christian experience is in union and communion with Christ. He saw, with the apostle Paul, that only those who share in the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings experience the power of his resurrection. To him, joy in the Lord and suffering for him were inseparable elements of Christian experience. ‘Grace’ he wrote out of deep personal experience, ‘grows best in winter’.

In these pages, Faith Cook has sensitively transformed Rutherford’s eloquent prose into the form of poetry, and provided cameo portraits of his correspondents. Grace in Winter not only gives pleasure and joy because of its poetry; it also shares the encouragement, comfort and wisdom of Rutherford’s own ministry.

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‘Perhaps it was King George III who said it best: “I wish there was a Lady Huntingdon in every diocese in my kingdom.” May the Lord raise up many more like her!’ — TIM CHALLIES

Book Description

Deeply admired by contemporaries such as King George III, Henry Venn and George Whitefield (who described her as ‘all in a flame for Jesus’), Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon left an indelible mark on the Evangelical Awakening of the Eighteenth Century. Closely involved for nearly forty years with the leaders of the burgeoning Methodist movement, she gave herself unstintingly to the cause of Christ. She contributed sacrificially to the construction of sixty-four chapels, the opening of many other places of worship, and the founding of Trevecca College in Wales. Drawing on unpublished letters, Faith Cook gives a deeper and truer-to-life portrait than previously available. Introducing the reader to a gallery of well-known Eighteenth Century personalities, she takes us behind the scenes into Selina’s drawing rooms. There the Countess secured an entrance for the gospel among the aristocracy through the powerful preaching of such evangelical luminaries as George Whitefield, William Romaine and John Fletcher.

The driving passion of Selina’s life, according to the author, was ‘a zeal for the salvation of her servants, her acquaintances, her family and the nobility’.

As Lady Catherwood points out in the Foreword, Faith Cook’s biography not only rescues the Countess from undeserved obscurity and misrepresentation, but also shows what God can accomplish through the tireless labours of a godly woman whose heart’s desire was that the ‘dear Lamb of God, my best, my eternal, my only Friend should have all dedicated to his service and glory’.

Reviews

• Meet My Friend Selina by Tim Challies

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