THE CHRISTIAN IN COMPLETE ARMOUR
by
William Gurnall
The Christian in Complete Armour was first published in three volumes in 1655, 1658 and 1662. It was revised and reprinted in 1864 by Blakie & Son, Glasgow, Scotland. The 1864 edition (unabridged) was republished by Banner of Truth Trust, Edinburgh, Scotland in 1964, 1974, 1979, 1983, 1987, 1989 and 1995.
The 1864 edition (Volume 1) revised and abridged, published by World Challenge, Inc., David Wilkerson Crusades, Lindale, Texas, U.S.A. in association with the Banner Truth Trust, 1986.
The 1864 edition (Volume 2) revised and abridged, published by World Challenge, Inc., David Wilkerson Crusades, Lindale, Texas, U.S.A. in association with the Banner Truth Trust, 1988.
The 1864 edition (Volume 3) revised and abridged, published by World Challenge, Inc., David Wilkerson Crusades, Lindale, Texas, U.S.A. in association with the Banner Truth Trust, 1986.
A list of the chapter titles provides some insight into what these three volumes are about.
Volume One has 308 pages
Chapter 1: The Saint's Call to Arms
Chapter 2: First Consideration - The Saint's Armour
Chapter 3: Second Consideration - The Nature of the War and the Character of the Enemy
Chapter 4: Third Consideration - A Second Exhortation to be Armed
Chapter 5: Fourth Consideration - The Position to be Maintained in the Fight
Volume Two has 398 pages
Chapter 6: Fifth Consideration - The Christian's Spiritual Girdle
Chapter 7: Sixth Consideration - The Christian's Breastplate
Chapter 8: Seventh Consideration - The Christian's Spiritual Shoe
Volume Three has 319 pages
Chapter 9: Eighth Consideration - The Christian's Spiritual Shield
Chapter 10: Ninth Consideration - The Christian's Helmet
Chapter 11: Tenth Consideration - The Christian's Sword
There are four recommendations included in this set of three volumes. Three of them are from more than one hundred years ago with the fourth by one living today. Their eloquent summaries, included below, speak much better than any comments I might add in describing these three books.
"If I might read only one book, beside the Bible, I would choose The Christian in Complete Armour." John Newton (1725 - 1807) Converted slave trader who wrote "Amazing Grace"
"A beautiful feature in Gurnall's book is its richness in pithy, pointed, and epigrammatical sayings. You will often find in a line and a half some great truth, put so concisely, and yet so fully, that you really marvel how so much thought could be got into so few words. Solid scriptural theology, like that contained in these pages, should be valued and studied in the church. Books in which Scripture is reverently regarded as the only rule of faith and practice - books in which justification, and sanctification, and regeneration, and faith, and grace, and holiness are clearly, distinctly, and accurately delineated and exhibited - these are the only books which do real good. Few things need reviving more than a taste for such books as these among readers." J. C. Ryle (1816 - 1900) First Bishop of Liverpool
"Gurnall's work is peerless and priceless; every line is full of wisdom; every sentence is suggestive. This 'Complete Armour' is beyond all others a preacher's book: I should think that more discourses have been suggested by it than by any other uninspired volume. I have often resorted to it when my own fire has been burning low, and I have seldom failed to find a glowing coal upon Gurnall's hearth." Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834 - 1892) Pastor, London Metropolitan Tabernacle