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Protestants

Nov 22, 2020 | 2017 - Winter, Book Reviews, Free Winter 2017

Protestants

Author Alec Ryrie
Publisher Collins £25
Format hbk
ISBN 9780007465033

This major work is a majestic and engrossing account of the history and development of our Protestant tradition – a real page-turner. Ryrie claims ‘Protestantism is about the…reckless pursuit of an unmeditated love affair with God’. He covers the peaks and pitfalls of the affair, from Luther onwards. The book comprises three parts: ‘The Reformation Age’, the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; ‘The Modern Age’, the nineteenth and twentieth centuries as Protestantism spreads from the Empire; and ‘The Global Age’ describes Protestantism in South Africa, Korea, China, ending with the worldwide spread of Pentecostalism. An epilogue reflects on the present worldwide situation. To quote Ryrie again – ‘my argument throughout this book has been that Protestants are best treated as family: a sprawling, diverse, extremely quarrelsome family, to be sure, but one that is tied together by more than an accident of birth’. His lively style will engage the reader – and what better way to become better acquainted with our relatives than with this enthralling book.

ROGER THORNINGTON

History

 

Radical Grace

Nov 22, 2020 | 2017 - Winter, Book Reviews, Free Winter 2017

Radical Grace

Author S.T. Kimbrough
Publisher Lutterworth  £16
Format pbk
ISBN 9780718894870

It’s a dramatic title! – but gives little away about the matter therein! Here is an insightful gathering across all the writings of Charles Wesley’s views on justice for the poor and marginalised of the world. Using Wesley’s journals, sermons and poetry (including hymnody), Kimbrough assembles a rich commentary on the centrality of the themes of inclusion, justice, and grace for the poor, and applies them to the circumstances of the twenty-first century where such issues still blight God’s world – and thus still have a strong message to speak to the church of today. Very readable, scripturally connected, and carefully structured, there is much here to earth our preaching preparation into the radical grace that the gospel calls for in our faith and action to the world. Helpfully included is an extensive bibliography, worship resources, and musical settings for singing that make this both a thoughtful compendium of Wesley’s reflection and concern, and a practical resource for worship today.

MARK PULLINGER

Methodism, History

 

Thomas More

Nov 22, 2020 | 2017 - Autumn, Book Reviews, Free Autumn 2017

Thomas More

Author John Guy
Publisher SPCK £12.99
Format hbk
ISBN 9780281077380

This brief examination of the life and later reputation of Henry VIII’s Lord Chancellor would make an excellent starting point for anyone beginning a course of study on the Reformation. However, the short biography which forms the first part of the book is disappointingly dry and dull. Guy becomes much more interesting as he discusses More’s treatment by later generations in art and literature. I found the discussion of the contrasting characterisations by Robert Bolt (A Man for All Seasons) and Hilary Mantel (Wolf Hall) especially useful as Guy points out how later contemporary political issues shape the portrayal. There is also a frank discussion of the political motivation behind More’s canonisation by the Roman Catholic Church (without any evidence of miraculous activity) in 1935. A good bibliography provides plenty of scope for further study.

KIRSTY ANDERSON

Biography, History

 

Liberating the Gospel

Nov 22, 2020 | 2016 - Winter, Book Reviews, Free Winter 2016

Liberating the Gospel

Author David Smith
Publisher DLT £12.99
Format pbk
ISBN 9780232532333

Today’s globalised world shares many of the characteristics of the Roman Empire: migrants, beggars, favelas, the poor thrown off their land by large businesses. Jesus’s message has been sanitised so the author helps us to see afresh its challenge. Smith draws on the work of Tom Wright, Ched Myers and others to look at Jesus, Paul and Revelation, paying particular attention to the socio-economic context that both the writers and readers of the Scriptures experience and draws out new insights from the text, critiquing the inequalities of our globalised world. The churches should not merely cater for spiritual needs but be counter-cultural. The author is a little naïve when it comes to New Testament scholarship but he engages in what he calls ‘deep listening’ to the message of Jesus and the New Testament writers. Preachers will find vivid detail about life during New Testament times among those to whom Paul wrote.

DEREK JAY

 

History, New Testament Analysis

 

Shrines of the Saints in England and Wales

Nov 22, 2020 | 2016 - Autumn, Book Reviews, Free Autumn 2016

Shrines of the Saints
in England and Wales

Author Michael Tavinor
Publisher Canterbury Press £19.99
Format pbk
ISBN 9781848258426 (2016)

In the first part of his book Tavinor explores the history of the major shrines of medieval times, their influence on the life and spirituality of abbeys and cathedrals, and their destruction in the sixteenth century. Tavinor devotes the second part to the fate of the shrines post-Reformation and to their revival and restoration from the nineteenth century onwards as the Church of England rediscovered the lives of the saints. Cathedrals have thus become central once again to the mission of the church, attracting large numbers of ordinary people, who seek comfort, encouragement and a focus for prayer by visiting a holy place. In a postscript, surveys conducted at three restored shrines demonstrate how shrines are used today, and there is a helpful bibliography for those wishing to know more. This book reminds us that places associated with the saints are important as an aid to devotion. It may also inspire Readers in their work of energising the faith of others.

GLORIA CADMAN

History, Pilgrimage

 

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