Living Wittily

Commemorating Ordination 4. ‘with cheerful aplomb’

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1986  Adrian Hastings, History of English Christianity, 1920-1985. A terrific survey of English church history in the volatile and challenging 20th Century. Now revised and updated to 2000, but I haven’t bothered replacing my first edition.

1987  Owen Chadwick, The Victorian Church, 2 Vols. The best history of the Victorian Church by the best church historian I’ve ever read. Owen Chadwick exemplifies careful, witty and weighty judgement. His comment on Spurgeon’s spiritual confidence, ‘He approached the burning bush with cheerful aplomb’. Superb!

1988  Philip Toynbee, End of a Journey. This was the second volume of Toynbee’s Journal. The first, Part of a Journey, I read while on a caravan holiday in 1977! This volume is movingly written against the backdrop of his final illness, and his late-in-life journey to God. He is a crabbit saint, at times moody, at other times surprisingly reconciled to his own mortality, and most of the time on speaking terms with God.

1989 Gordon Rupp, Religion in England, 1688-1791. Vintage Rupp. He writes about the decades before the Evangelical Revival with far more historical reliability than a lot of stuff up till then. And his account of the Evangelical Revival itself is nuanced, fair and satisfying. This is one of those books that is also beautifully produced by Oxford – a bibliophile’s must have. And it aint cheap – but quality shows. You show me your BMW and I’ll show you my Rupp!

Comments

4 responses to “Commemorating Ordination 4. ‘with cheerful aplomb’”

  1. andy goodliff avatar
    andy goodliff

    I’m interested that the mid to late 80s are all history, is this because you were writing your evangelical heroes book? BTW you should plug your books on your website.

    Reply
  2. andy goodliff avatar
    andy goodliff

    I’m interested that the mid to late 80s are all history, is this because you were writing your evangelical heroes book? BTW you should plug your books on your website.

    Reply
  3. jim gordon avatar
    jim gordon

    Hi Andy – By the late 1980’s I’d started reading church history systematically, with a focus on the modern period. I have a note of everything I’ve read since 1976 – and it is a much broader selection than these annual reminders might suggest. But you’re right, church history along with biblical studies account for the 1980’s. The 1990’s are mostly theological – of which more anon.
    I do remember buying Rupp’s volume while beginning the work on Evangelical Spirituality. I felt rather reassured to have it as a sane, authoritative account of the Revival, the Church of England and key personalities such as the Wesleys, Whitefield et al. As for plugging my own books…I’ll think about it, but so far have resisted literary self-advertisement!

    Reply
  4. jim gordon avatar
    jim gordon

    Hi Andy – By the late 1980’s I’d started reading church history systematically, with a focus on the modern period. I have a note of everything I’ve read since 1976 – and it is a much broader selection than these annual reminders might suggest. But you’re right, church history along with biblical studies account for the 1980’s. The 1990’s are mostly theological – of which more anon.
    I do remember buying Rupp’s volume while beginning the work on Evangelical Spirituality. I felt rather reassured to have it as a sane, authoritative account of the Revival, the Church of England and key personalities such as the Wesleys, Whitefield et al. As for plugging my own books…I’ll think about it, but so far have resisted literary self-advertisement!

    Reply

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