People My Teachers

Stott's heroes

PEOPLE MY TEACHERS:
Around the world in 80 years
By John Stott
Candle Books. 143 pages
ISBN 1 85985 460 5

Nobody can write a coffee table book like John Stott. Make no mistake - this is a coffee table book to be picked up and savoured at leisure, or to leave around for unsuspecting guests and visitors to delve into.

The book has three intertwining strands. The first strand concerns all the many corners of the globe that the author has visited. Occasionally the works of men - the Taj Mahal for instance - get an appreciative mention, but chiefly it is the works of God that enthral the author. For those who prefer their birds on a plate with gravy this could become wearisome, but it is hard to resist Dr. Stott's enthusiasms perhaps especially for the Cornwall Chough - a species of crow with glossy black body and scarlet bill and legs. We rejoice with the author in the growth in their numbers along the Pembrokeshire coast.

The second strand has to do with the people we are introduced to in each chapter. There is a wide range, from the Apostle Paul to Charles Darwin. Some of the biographical sketches are very mushy - especially those of Allen Gardiner or Ernest Shackleton. However, although one is well aware that John Stott applies the doctrine of total depravity to himself, one wonders whether he really believes in it in the case of other people. He is uniformly generous, and a touch more cynicism about, say, Mohandas Gandhi might be more realistic.

The third strand is the best of all. Here we are given autobiographical glimpses into the life and ministry of this amazing man of God. The book is worth it for this strand alone. I shall treasure my copy - on the coffee table.

Jonathan Fletcher, Wimbledon

© Evangelicals Now - January 2003
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Main Articles

• Which way for Anglicans?
  Peter Jensen, Archbishop of Sydney, on the future of the Church of England
• A day to remember - Anniversaries for 2003
  Joy Horn tells us when we should be commemorating John Wesley, Jonathan Edwards and others
• BBC's Ten Great Britons
• How do you spot a gospel minister?
  Vaughan Roberts of St Ebbe's, Oxford, expounds Colossians 1.24-29
• The gospel in student hands
  An interview with Lindsay Brown, IFES General Secretary
• Something's wrong
  Peter Comont visits an exhibition of Tracey Emin's work
• The devil's beatitudes
• Is evolution atheistic?
• An invisible notice board
• Monthly column on hymns and songs
  Going for a song
• Monthly column on the arts
  To the Great Omnibus in the sky
• Monthly column for youth leaders
  The Power Game - a Lord of the Rings talk
• A hiding to nothing?
  On the campaign to undermine the proper discipline of children
• Gap-Year Globe Trotters: More kindness than we could ever repay
• Monthly column on student work
  Studying theology?
• The Dhimmitude of the West

Other articles

• The Heavenly Man - Saved at 16, a leader in the house church movement in China during the 1980s and 90s, he suffered terribly in prison. Here he relates some of his story.
• The Heavenly Man - A second extract from his book
• Without looking down
• Discovering Christ in Genesis
• Meltdown
• God, Time & Stephen Hawking - An exploration into origins
• Encountering Religious Pluralism - The challenge to Christian faith and mission
• Can Evangelicals Learn from World Religions - Jesus, Revelation and Religious Traditions
• 90,000 Hours
• Journey with David Brainerd
• 365 Days with Spurgeon
• Good News For All Nations - Mission at the heart of the New Testament
• A Long Way East of Eden
• Himalayan Vision - 50 years in Nepal
• People My Teachers - Around the world in 80 years
• An Illustrated Survey of the Bible
• Know the Bible
• Transforming Communities - Re-imagining the church for the 21st century
• Faith Works - Lessons on spirituality and social action
• I Love My Work