In 1918, urged on by his son Harry, John Benton Hart began to tell stories of a three-year period in his youth. He recalled his days as a trooper in the Eleventh Kansas Cavalry, fighting in Missouri and on the frontier, and his time as a civilian jack-of-all-trades doing risky work for the U.S. Army on the Wyoming-Montana Bozeman Trail in the middle of the Indian resistance campaign known as Red Cloud’s War. Once started, John Benton Hart became an enthusiastic raconteur, describing events with an almost cinematic vividness, while his son, an aspiring writer, documented his father’s testimony in what became several manuscripts. Compiled and reproduced here, edited by historian John Hart, John Benton Hart’s great-grandson, this memoir is a singular document of living history. As a young Kansas cavalryman, John Benton Hart participated in two momentous episodes of the Civil War era—Sterling Price’s Missouri Expedition of 1864, including the Battle of Westport, and such engagements in the Plains Indian Wars as the Battle of Platte Bridge in July 1865 and the Hayfield Fight near Fort C. F. Smith in 1867. In the engaging style of a natural storyteller, Hart re-creates these events as he experienced them, giving readers a rare glimpse at moments of historical import from the point of view of the “ordinary” soldier. In arresting detail, he also tells of crossing the Plains as a bullwhacker, carrying the mail between the beleaguered forts on the Bozeman Trail, and befriending scout Jim Bridger and Mountain Crow Chief Blackfoot. Framed and supplemented with the editor’s biographical, historical, and explanatory notes, Hart’s memoir offers a new perspective on events long fixed in the historical imagination. As history writ large or on a personal scale, Bluecoat and Pioneer tells a remarkable story.
The epistle of Jude was written to combat false teaching which in many ways encapsulates all the worst dangers to the church and the biblical gospel today. John Benton urges his readers to regain Jude's vision of contending for the faith, not just at the intellectual level, but at the level of responsible Christian living and practical, loving Christianity for those led astray. In a society where the claim that we can know absolute truth is dismissed as ridiculous and moral standards are disregarded if they interfere with personal enjoyment, the church is under threat in two ways. Tired of swimming against the tide, it can be tempted to throw away its commitment to biblical standards of behaviour and to the uniqueness of Christ as the only Lord and Saviour in the quest for social acceptability. At the same time, in a longing to see God at work in revival and the desire to be seen to be successful, Christians may be open to accept anything that causes a sensation and attracts a crowd, even if it departs from the biblical gospel. The epistle of Jude was written to combat false teaching which in many ways encapsulates all the worst dangers to the church and the biblical gospel today. John Benton urges his readers to regain Jude's vision of contending for the faith, not just at the intellectual level, but at the level of responsible Christian living and practical, loving Christianity for those led astray.
First published in 2005, this book continues to be relevant, godly advice from an experienced pastor and author. It has been out of print for some time, and is now reissued with a new preface and a completely revised layout and cover. John Benton has written a sensitive and practical book out of a heartfelt concern for the many small groups of God's people who meet regularly and faithfully, but who may sometimes feel weak or isolated. Little churches can be the seeds from which God may yet give a might harvest, for his glory.
For many people their Christian life has become indifferent. Faith has lost its edge and the great enthusiasm which followed their conversion has gradually cooled. The Christian life has become comfortable and easy. It almost seems as if they are losing touch with the living God. While this may be a description of ourselves and even of the church today, it was the state of Israel at the time of Malachi. The prophet addresses the problem of spiritual degeneration, the fossilizing of our faith, and through Malachi God challenges and accuses Israel about their spiritual condition. John Benton shows how Malachi's book is a call from lax and hollow religion and points the way back to genuine, enduring faith in the Lord who does not change.
John Benton brings his wide pastoral experience to bear on the realities of Christian leadership as many experience it: "Our own sins always leave scars on us. These can go deep. There are also the bruises that come from being on the wrong end of other peoples' sins. No one has a perfect past or a perfect upbringing. So Christian leaders can be damaged goods. Furthermore, each of us, no matter how 'regular' we may appear outwardly, has his own weaknesses.... On his worst days, a Christian leader might actually be frightened of himself and what he is capable of, apart from God's grace. Here we are called to be a blessing to the church but we could so easily be the opposite.... It is my hope that this short study of the life of Samson as a defective Christian leader will enable others to be honest, and to understand themselves and to persevere in fruitful ministry.
Floyd Collins is perhaps the most famous person you've never heard of, but this young man's tragic death made him celebrated as "the Greatest Cave Explorer Ever Known." Collins was a Kentucky cave explorer in the early part of the 20th century, characterized by his lack of fear when exploring the most difficult cave passages, and few people could match his persistence and endurance. In the winter of 1925, Collins became trapped for more than two weeks in a cave located within the boundaries of what is now Mammoth Cave National Park. The story of Floyd Collins becoming trapped and ultimately dying alone in a cave held a powerful grip on the hearts and minds of people the world over. The resulting media coverage put Mammoth Cave on the map and helped usher the actual designation of Mammoth Cave as a national park. His explorations laid the foundation for others to later discover the truth of Mammoth Cave, the longest cave in the world.
The exclusive claims of Jesus have been reasserted by the church down the centuries. Personal redemption requires conscious faith in the Lord Jesus. What are people to make of the claims of Jesus? Are they simply misguided and outmoded statements no longer appropriate to the times? What are we to make of those who continue to believe the claims of Jesus? Do these claims to the exclusive way of salvation flow from mere arrogance and bigotry? Why is the controversy over these matters likely to become more acute in coming years? These are the kinds of questions John Benton considers in this book. The author ministers in Guildford in Surrey, and has a number of evangelistic books in print and is a contributor to the popular Welwyn Commentary Series.
Shaping the Future of Language Studies is a ground-breaking appeal to students and professionals in the field of Linguistics and Literature and the Philosophy of Language. It presents a coherent challenge to those who are struggling with the problem of language universals and to those who are trying to find a principle of integration in the broad field of language studies. The full reach of the work is summed up in the title to Chapter 9: "Towards Methodological Restructuring in Language Studies." In the field of Linguistics, the Greenberg School, reaching quite beyond previous efforts such as that of Chomsky, was looking for and grasping at a principle for methodological restructuring. However, the principle necessary for successful restructuring was not hinted at adequately either in the field of Linguistics or within the broad field of Language Studies itself. The elusive principle emerged more clearly in the field of Theology. That principle also furnished a precise dynamic underpinning for restructuring language studies by bringing to light two fundamental components: first, a focal shift in grammatology (treated mainly in chapters 1-4) and secondly, a functional relating of sub-fields of language (mainly discussed in chapters 8 and 9). The book proceeds "on the basis of empirical observation, rather than by speculation" (p. 1) with solutions drawn from long-neglected achievements in Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas and Bernard Lonergan and presented in conjunction with a rich panorama of linguistic specimens and performance. This study anticipates a future transformation of language instruction from junior kindergarten to advanced post-secondary levels of education, and ultimately, a lifting of education in the Humanities toward richer research and more adequate communication.
In studying the book of Titus, John Benton deals with the problem of how the modern world affects, almost unconsciously, the way we think. Many of the issues that Titus faced on Crete are faced by the church today: false teachers, the roles of men and women, authority and, which the author suggests is the main theme of this letter, the gap that so often exists between what Christians profess to believe and the way they actually live. Many Christians are unaware of this gap. This does not always arise from conscious disobedience to the Lord. Often sincere Christians find that this gap is opening up in their lives and they are rather bewildered by it. Something is happening which they do not quite understand, and they are not sure what to do about it. Because of this dichotomy between belief and behaviour the epistle has much to say to our generation of Christians today. As Paul writes to Titus, he is well aware of the problem. But he has a sure and firm answer. The apostle provides us with spiritual dynamite to blast a way out of the prison of subjectivism and self-centred living into the freedom and integrity which are ours in Christ. Titus is not just a book for trainee pastors, elders and Christian leaders. It is a book which has an urgent message for us all.
This collection is a notable example of how the cultural history of the middle ages can be written in terms that satisfy both the historian and the literary scholar. John Benton's knowledge of the personnel, structure and finance of medieval courts complemented his understanding of the literature they produced.
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