Church House Publications. £6.99
Of the 18 members of the doctrine commission that produced the report The Mystery of Salvation, published in January, seven would wish to be known as evangelicals, a fact which makes this document all the more disturbing and significant.
Its reading makes for a peculiar experience of being lifted up one minute by what seems to be clear biblical truth only to be cast down the next by woolly theological error. If ever a book was to qualify for the curate's egg of the year award (good in parts, bad in others) this wins hands down.
A form of words
The problem is in the method. What else can one expect when a volume is the product of people from totally different ends of the theological spectrum? We are told what our expectations should be in the preface: 'These drafts were discussed, rewritten, amended, refined, until at last a form of words was achieved with which everyone who was a member of the Commission at the time of final drafting could concur.' Sir Humphrey Appleby would be proud of the result. However, it does make for uneasy reading.
