A TENDER LION
The Life, Ministry, and Message of JC Ryle
By Bennett W Rogers
Reformation Heritage Books. 380 pages. £23.00
ISBN 978 1 601 786 407
Interest in JC Ryle continues, with many of his works still being republished and a couple of recent books on his life. Why, then, is there need for this new volume? In the preface, the author explains his purpose: ‘to produce the first intellectual biography of JC Ryle’ (page xiii), an undertaking that he has found easier due to some important new studies on Anglican Evangelicalism.
Does this mean the book is for academics? Not at all. While it certainly is a well-researched and scholarly production, it presents a most readable and illuminating insight into the ministry of this clergyman who became the leader of the evangelical party within the national church of England and Wales during the late Victorian period. By the close of the book, readers will be much better informed than previously as to who Ryle was.
