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The heart of faithFollowing Christ in the C of EPassions and convictionsTHE HEART OF FAITH It is not often that a book can be described as unique in the strict sense, but I suspect this is so with The heart of faith. It focuses on 13 men and women who have served Christ faithfully in the Church of England from the Reformation to the present day — from Cranmer to John Stott. The 13 turn into 16 with the introductory chapter by Gerald Bray, ‘Before the Reformation, which introduces Bede, Archbishop John Peckham and Wycliffe. What makes the book distinctive is that it is not a collection of biographies as such, but studies of ‘theological passions and convictions’, as Andrew Atherstone puts it. As he says, they all ‘showed by their lives and teaching a clear commitment to a generous Christian orthodoxy’. The variety of individuals included gives a flavour to savour. In addition to those already mentioned, there are studies of Hooker, Sibbes, Boyle, Susanna Wesley, Simeon, Shaftesbury, Ryle, Frances Ridley Havergal, C.S. Lewis, and David Watson. While each chapter fully deserves its place, the study of Hooker is particularly valuable, giving Nigel Atkinson further opportunity of rightly placing Hooker as a mainline Reformed Anglican theologian. Michael Ward on Lewis is fascinating: why did Lewis ‘tend deliberately towards a kind of impersonality in much of his work’ — even in Surprised by Joy? Or was that true? The oddest one out in the collection is, in fact, an inspired inclusion: Andrew Atherstone on Frances Ridley Havergal, the hymn-writer. Godly, Christ-centred, and managing to glean spiritually from the rather less-than-biblical ‘Higher life’ movement, her final words as she lay dying at 42 were, ‘Come, Lord Jesus, come and fetch me; oh, run, run’. Ordinands, ministers and thoughtful Anglican evangelicals would appreciate these essays; so should other Anglicans, as the book shows what undergirds true, orthodox Anglicanism; and so could those outside the C of E, who may have wondered (understandably) if much good has ever come out of the C of E. This book shows it has. Tony Baker,
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