Matthew Henry: His Life and Influence [Kindle Edition]

You likely have come across the works of Matthew Henry, especially his commentary on the Bible (in either its full or abridged form) which is often bundled with Bible software or found relatively cheaply on Amazon. But why would a Bible commentator and author from the late seventeenth, early eighteenth century have such enduring popularity? Why does his commentary have such enduring popularity?

Allan Harman is the research professor of Old Testament at Presbyterian Theological College in Melbourne, Australia and has written a book exploring the life and influence of Matthew Henry which is aptly titled Matthew Henry: His Life and Influence. Beyond stating the subject and scope of the book, the title also provides Harman's basic outline. The first ten chapters of this book provide a biographical sketch of Matthew Henry. The final four chapters talk about his influence as a preacher, commentator, author and his influence on subsequent generations.

The biographical portion of this book give the basic details of Matthew Henry's life including the the influence of his father, Patrick Henry, who had studied under the Puritans (like John Owen). Harman provides details about Henry's education and youthful illness, his ordination and more than twenty-five years of ministry in Chester, his final parish in Hackney, his death and various family details along the way(like the death of his first wife, his second marriage and the birth of his children). In the portion of the book which assesses Henry's influence, Harman examines Henry's homiletic style and strengths as an expositor.

This book is well researched and provides a sympathetic picture of who Matthew Henry was. However I was mildly disappointed that Harman did not provide more information on Henry's wife and children. Henry gives bare bones factual data on them but does not explore Henry's relationship to them much. For example Harman tells us that his son, Philip Warburton was elected to parliment, did not share his father's religious convictions and went by his mother's maiden name (41). From these facts, we can surmise that their relationship was strained but this is not explored in any depth. Perhaps there is little substantive which could be said about this relationship or the Henry household. Harman avoids speculations so maybe he had nothing more to say. Other details of family life he is much more forthcoming on, such as the death of his first wife and how that affected him.

Harman is much more interested in exploring Henry's life as a minister and author. This he does rather well, providing an analysis of Henry's homeltic style, his strengths as an expositor and his influence on the Wesleys, Whitefield, Spurgeon and Bavinck and others. Henry's Exposition of the Bible is still valued for its insights, its accessible and memorable style (Henry used a lot of alliteration). He was certainly engaged and cognizant with the best scholarship of his day and knew the Bible well.

Occasionally Harman's prose is a little repetitive (repeating direct quotes, etc.) but the strength of this book is that it is well researched, relying on both primary and secondary sources. This book will be valuable for students researching Henry's life and for those interested in church history. Matthew Henry was a great synthesizer of some of the Puritan and non-conformist insights. He was and remains highly influential on a significant swath of evangelicalism. Harman is a faithful guide to Henry's life (even if some details are not forthcoming).

Thank you to Christian Focus for providing me with a review copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

There are few books on the Puritans and the surrounding era that I do not try to get my hands on so when I was asked to review this book I jumped at the chance. Harman has done a wonderful job presenting both the life of Matthew Henry and the key events of his life in a way that the average reader and novice to the Puritan era will find helpful and enjoyable to read.

Harman presents Matthew Henry from three distinct but important viewpoints. One is his family life. This was the most interesting for my intentions since he gives the reader such a wonderful portrait of Matthew's father, Philip. The influence of Philip and his Puritan roots on the life of Matthew is well laid out but the spiritual impact of the worship in the family that helped form Matthew is critical. Matthew made sure to carry this practice forward into his own family and it is no wonder why Matthew was able to deal faithfully with the loss of friends, family, children, and his first wife.

Harman also presents Matthew Henry from the viewpoint of his pastorate. The impact that Matthew had in a time when dissenters were looked on with suspicion and even persecution is paramount to the treasure that we have in the ministry of this man. Matthew had only two pastoral posts in his career, at Chester and Hackney, but he made the most of both. There is much to learn from Matthew for the modern pastor and Harman does a fantastic job of allowing the reader to discern those without throwing them in the reader's face.

Harman finally gives the viewpoint of Matthew Henry's writings. Matthew Henry was an incredibly gifted writer in his era. I have read many Puritan works and in comparison to Henry the writing is difficult to follow and the language clumsy. Henry's works have had a great impact on pastors and will continue to for many years. Harman pointed me to writing by Henry, A Church in the House, which I read before writing this review. This book is a wonderful introduction to the many writings of Henry.

The one critical remark of Harman's book is his repetition throughout. These are mild at first but begin to become more apparent and annoying later. A simple rewording of certain phrases or paraphrasing certain quotes would have been sufficed. Instead the exact same statement is made word for word and for me this was unnecessary.

In all, this book is much commended to the pastor, parent, and Christian for a wonderfully written and easily read introduction to the life of a stalwart Christian in a critical time. There are many lessons to learn from the life and ministry of Matthew Henry and Alan Harman took great care to see that you will not miss a single one.

Matthew Henry was a talented and intelligent man, and his voluminous writing has left a great impact on the lives of many of those who've influenced our own spiritual walk. Many of his works are available free online in digital formats. Yet Henry, like many other writers of bygone days, receives less attention than he should.

Allan Harman's book introduced me to the man behind the books, and to the story behind the man. The faithfulness of Christians who lived before him influenced Henry's spiritual walk, and he, in turn, has influenced many others. Harman's biography renewed my appreciation for people like Matthew Henry and his father, Philip Henry, and I'm even more inspired to reread some classic Christian writings.

Matthew Henry was an interesting man and the life he lived was a full one. His family endured through many trials. His father suffered religious persecution, even spending time in prison, while the whole family mourned the untimely death of close family members. Henry himself lost his first wife to illness and was a single father for a year before remarrying. He lost children to illness, and gained children through adopting his nieces and nephews after his sister passed away. Yet through it all he remained faithful to God. This is a life we can learn from.

Not many books are made to endure. Many of the books I read as a teenager are now out of print and teenagers today have never heard of them, much less read them. And this is in less than a decade! Yet Henry's works will still be read long after I'm gone, and I'm grateful to Harman for introducing me not just to Henry's works, but to his life as well.

I received this audio book from the publisher for the purpose of review.