The Works of Stephen Charnock is published by the Banner of Truth Trust. It was orignally published by them in 2010 with the most recent reprint being in 2021. Charnock’s works were originally published by James Nichol in 1864.
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The Works of Stephen Charnock
Wow. What a gift! The works of Charnock are an absolute blessing to the church today. These five volumes contain some of the richest teaching of the Bible that one will ever find published! Charnock is, of course, most famously known for his writing on the attributes of God. As a matter of fact, the first two volumes in this five-volume set contain his teachings on the attributes of God. But he also was a tremendous preacher who preached on many other topics as evidenced in the remaining three volumes.
Content in the Five Volumes of The Works of Stephen Charnock
Below is a quick summary of what each of the volumes contains:
Volume 1: An introduction to Charnock’s life, preaching, theology, and works in general by James McCosh. This is followed by a discourse on divine providence which is based on 2 Chronicles 16:9. Charnock masterfully and clearly teaches on a doctrine that is difficult for finite minds to wrap their minds around. He helps the reader to find great comfort in the providence of a good God! The remainder of volume one contains the first 8 discourses on “The Existence and Attributes of God”. He covers practical atheism, God’s being a Spirit, spiritual worship, the eternity of God, immutability of God, omnipresence, and knowledge of God.
Volume 2: A continuation of “The Existence and Attributes of God”. Six attributes are covered: wisdom, power, holiness, goodness, God’s dominion, and God’s patience.
Volume 3: The following theological topics are covered: the necessity, nature, and efficient of regeneration; The Word as the instrument of regeneration; God, the author of reconciliation; and the cleansing virtue of Christ’s blood.
Volume 4: The knowledge of God; the knowledge of God in Christ; conviction of sin; unbelief as the greatest sin; unbelievers and their misery; the Lord’s Supper; self-examination; the knowledge of Christ crucified; Christ our Passover; the voluntariness of Christ’s death; the acceptableness of Christ’s death; obedience.
Volume 5: The final volume includes a large amount of topics, such as: the necessity of Christ’s death and exaltation; Christ’s intercession; the object of faith; afflictions; the removal of the Gospel; mercy received; mortification; weak grace victorious; the sinfulness and cure of thoughts; the church’s stability; the fifth of November; delight in prayer; mourning for other men’s sins; the comfort of childbearing women; the sins of the regenerate; the pardon of sin; man’s enmity to God; chief sinners objects of the choicest mercy; and finally, an index of texts.
Before diving into the content further, let me say a word about the aesthetics of the books (for all those book nerds like me out there!). Banner of Truth publishes some of the most beautiful books in the world, and this series is proof of that. The books are bright red hardcovers with black and gold on the spine. Banner of Truth is found in gold lettering on the bottom of the spine. There is a beautiful picture of London in the early 17th century inside the front cover and a picture of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin (where Charnock lectured from 1655-1660), inside the back cover. For those who don’t mind dust jackets (like myself), the covers contain a picture of Emmanuel College in Cambridge along with a picture of Charnock. I really like the cover of these volumes! I found the print to be just a little smaller than I prefer. However, each volume is around 500+ pages already, so I understand the decision to make it as small as it is. The volumes are very well done, and they are sure to last for a very long time.
The content of these volumes is simply phenomenal! Though I certainly haven’t had the chance to read everything within these volumes, the chapters that I did read were pure gold! Charnock was a Puritan, and he is, in my opinion, one of the elite Puritans. He was clear, passionate, experiential, warm-hearted, practical, theological, and pastoral. His writings are, without a doubt, going to lead the reader to worship the Lord God! The reader will, without a doubt, grow in their understanding of who God is. The reader will be challenged and edified. The reader will learn what it’s like to not be able to put a book down. The reader will enjoy reading something not just once, twice, or even three times, but perhaps even four times just to make sure they rightly understand the glorious truth that they were reading. When I read books like these, it amazes me that they aren’t on the bookshelves of every Christian in the world! That’s how sweet these volumes are. I could go on and on, but instead, I’ll just encourage you to tolle lege, take up and read! You won’t regret it.
Disclaimer: My thanks to the Banner of Truth Trust for providing me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. The opinions expressed are my own.
Matt became a joyful follower of Jesus at the age of 21. He is very grateful to be a husband to Lindsey, and a father to four boys. He is an ordained minister (teaching elder) in the PCA. He previously served as a pastor of biblical counseling and is currently a corporate chaplain in southern Delaware. Matt received his Master of Divinity degree in Biblical Counseling from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and holds an advanced certification in biblical counseling from the Association of Biblical Counselors. In his free time, he loves playing with his boys, traveling with his wife, and reading (and buying!) books.
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