HIGH CALVINISTS IN ACTION:
Calvinism and the City, Manchester and London, 1810 - 1860
By Ian J. Shaw . OUP. 413 pages. £55.00
ISBN 0 19 925077 4
This is an important piece of work in a previously neglected area. Dr. Ian Shaw has focussed on the social involvement of four Hyper-Calvinists or, as he prefers to term them, High Calvinists, two from Manchester and two from London. The group includes one Anglican, William Nunn; two Strict Baptists, William Gadsby and James Wells; and one Independent, Joseph Irons. Their work is set against that of two Evangelical Calvinists, William McKerrow, a Presbyterian and Andrew Reed, a Congregationalist.
Ian Shaw's meticulous study explodes a number of myths. Whatever inhibitions may have limited the gospel presentation of his main characters, they were not men unconcerned about the serious social needs which surrounded them. Each man served close to scenes of deep poverty and degradation. Each was convinced of the primacy of preaching and to that devoted his main energies, 'all four stood or fell by their preaching' (p.326). There are interesting discussions of High Calvinist gospel preaching, often indirect in application and yet for a variety of reasons in these cases very effective. Gadsby built up 'the largest Dissenting cause in Manchester' (p.121), and Wells the biggest Strict Baptist congregation in the country (p.243). Recognising the priority of preaching the Word, they all knew that they had to do something to meet the needs of their areas.
