Thread: James Durham on Isaiah 53

Well, I was trolling through the Puritan Board just now, when I suddenly heard a "thud" at my front door. That "thud" signaled the arrival of my pre-paid copy of Christ Crucified: The Marrow of the Gospel in 72 Sermons on Isaiah 53 by James Durham (Dallas: Naphtali Press, 2001; second printing, 2007).

I'm very glad to have it. Just looking at the physical book, it looks very impressive: well made and dignified-looking. It looks like it will last for many years.

Can't wait to start digging into the contents!

Chris Coldwell, you've done it again!

(Now all I'm waiting for is Confessional Presbyterian #3.)

I trust the postman made it a gentle thud. Enjoy. Speaking of thuds; if any Arminians come to the door you can thump them on the head with it; but that could be lethal.

FYI. I'm told an ad will run on the back of RHB's Tolle Lege newsletter. They will be selling the title big time I suspect since they purchased a goodly number of copies and encouraged the reprint.

While I enjoy Durham on the Ten Commandments, he is very boring on Isaiah 53 - therefore I sold him.

You might want to consider that may reveal more about you than about Durham. I hope you got good money for it.

Chris

I also enjoyed the book Concerning Scandal was it and the commentary on the Ten Commandments not written as a books, while Isaiah 53 were sermons published posthumously? Generally speaking, I don't like Puritan sermons...far too many points...too difficult to read.

Originally Posted by Daniel Ritchie

Chris

I also enjoyed the book Concerning Scandal was it and the commentary on the Ten Commandments not written as a books, while Isaiah 53 were sermons published posthumously? Generally speaking, I don't like Puritan sermons...far too many points...too difficult to read.

Well, too each his own. Concerning Scandal was actually formally written out by Durham, as was the Commentary on Revelation. The Ten Cs were lectures to the congregation and taken from notes; either his wifes or some other in the congregation. Same with the Isaiah 53 though there the notes may have been someone else; don't recall, and I really worked harder than I recall on any project to recover an outline from them. I think I did, but being MSS notes by a hearer there are certainly going to be imperfections. All said though, the Isaiah 53 I think represents a maturer approach than earlier efforts and probably is my best production from an technical standpoint. As you noted all his works are posthumously published; he lived to see off the last drafts of Concerning Scandal to the printer I think. It is what is usually mentioned as his contribution to Scottish Presbyterian theology. A very important work; certainly saved me from going down a separatistic path that I could very easily have done prior to obtaining it (one of my first purchases of antiquarian titles from David Lachman, Fall or late 1983 I think). But now I'm

Originally Posted by Daniel Ritchie

While I enjoy Durham on the Ten Commandments, he is very boring on Isaiah 53 - therefore I sold him.

I've NEVER heard that opinion before... Would that all expositors produced such rich meditations as Durham.

Originally Posted by NaphtaliPress

Concerning Scandal... A very important work; certainly saved me from going down a separatistic path that I could very easily have done prior to obtaining it...

Me too, Chris. I would suggest if anyone reads Gillespie's Miscellanies he should make sure it is accompanied with Durham's Concerning Scandal. I had the misfortune of reading the Miscellanies first and Scandal two years later. It makes for a lop-sided view.

And how could anyone find Durham on Isa. 53 "boring?"

Originally Posted by NaphtaliPress

...was actually formally written out by Durham, as was the Commentary on Revelation...

Apparently, D. A. Carson doesn't think much of the Puritans. From his New Testament Commentary Survey, page 145:

Of the writing of books on Revelation there is no end: most generations produce far too many. It is a little-known fact that the Puritans, for instance, produced far more commentaries on Revelation than on any other book, most of them eminently forgettable and mercifully forgotten. Something similar could be said about most periods of church history, including our own...

A very important work; certainly saved me from going down a separatistic path that I could very easily have done prior to obtaining it

Me too, it was the book the convinced me to join the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Ireland - despite its imperfections.

And how could anyone find Durham on Isa. 53 "boring?"

Its the style in which it is written in. But that's just my opinion.

Speaking of RHB, this landed in my in box this AM:

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$RETAIL PRICE / RHB PRICE
Durham, James, Christ Crucified: The Marrow of the Gospel in 72 Sermons on Isaiah 53 $45.00/$29.00 (Naphtali Press, 704 pages). First published in 1683, then in 1686, this collection of sermons was reprinted six times in the eighteenth century. The present reprint is carefully and beautifully done; it uses the 1702 edition as the base text but also takes the other editions into account. This book belongs in the class of Friedrich Krummacher’s The Suffering Savior. Like Krummacher, Durham was gifted at describing the sufferings of Christ through illustration, though his language is now antiquated. For example, in describing Christ’s agony in Gethsemane, he writes, “There was such a striving, wrestling and conflicting, not with man without him, but with inward pressures on his spirit, that he is like one in a barrace, or c ock-pit, or engaged in a duel with a mighty combatant, sore put to it, very far beyond aught that we can conceive of, so that he sweat great drops of blood.” The sixty-ninth sermon on making use of Christ’s intercession is a masterpiece. This is an excellent book for believers who yearn for a more intimate fellowship with Christ in His sufferings. The Marrow of the Gospel is one of the best commentaries ever written on Christ’s person and work in redemption. Charles Spurgeon highly recommended this book, saying, “This is marrow indeed. We need say no more: Durham is a prince among spiritual expositors.” Others have said this work equals if not excels all of Durham’s other publications.

John "Rabbi" Duncan, quoted by David Brown, The Life of Rabbi Duncan, p. 411:

Read Durham on the 53d of Isaiah at my request. He has much repetition; you may be disgusted with that. But it's repetition of a very fine thing, the eating of Christ's flesh and the drinking of His blood. Well, that's what we must be repeating, in fact, all our life long.

Be interested to hear someone really give a review of sorts (large or small) on this

Here is Tony Reinke's review.