Ryle's writings

This morning I received a packet of books in the post. I wish to recommend them.

The Banner of Truth has finally succumbed to the pressure/made a wise decision on their own initiative and produced a reset, hardbound edition of J. C. Ryle’s Expository Thoughts on the Gospel. Now, I admit that there’s one font used – sparingly – that I would probably not have chosen, but this is a cracking set of volumes. No longer will your paperback copies start to unbind after a couple of readings; no longer will the spines crack when you try to hold them open on your desk; no longer will you strain your eyes to read the often fainter text of other hardbound editions.

These are beautiful to behold, excellent in their quality, and outstanding in their substance. Although the later volumes in the series have more in the way of exegetical notes, to none of these books will the technical exegete turn in order to find his exhaustive and exhausting way. There will be times when the good Bishop’s Anglicanism will skew his interpretations, and others at which his Amyraldism raises its head, but these are relatively easily negotiated. What you will get, by and large, are pastorally sound, eminently practical, thoroughly Christ-centred, happily straightforward expository thoughts, ideal for private or family worship, stimulating for preachers, instructive for pastors, models of earnest simplicity.

In short, then, this is a set which could and perhaps should replace any other more modern edition (and many older editions) of Ryle’s Expository Thoughts. What is more, the seven volumes are currently being sold for £45 (or $65) , reduced to £15 ($25) for ministers. In other words, there is no better time to bag these puppies.