Some people see the Church of England as in crisis at the present time. Perhaps lessons from great men of the past need to be heeded.
John Charles Ryle was born on May 10 1816 at Park House, Macclesfield. His father was a banker with an income of £15,000 a year, and he grew up in an environment of privilege and prosperity, but spiritually there was little evidence of vital Christianity. In recalling these early days, he concluded that they were 'destitute of any real religion'.
From a preparatory school he was sent to Eton in 1828. Here he mixed with the sons of the rich and famous, and excelled at study and sport. In 1834 his outstanding academic ability gained him a place at Christ Church Oxford, where he captained the university cricket team and continued his academic progress. The young Ryle was a man of great intellectual and physical stature, and his presence (he was over six feet two inches tall), commanded respect. He was regarded as one of the three most outstanding students in his college. The future looked bright, but he had no knowledge of Christ as his Saviour, and Oxford was a place where pleasures, position and possessions were all that really mattered. But before that year had come to a close, Ryle's life was to be spiritually transformed.
Conversion and calling : 1837-44
Just before his finals, he fell ill with a severe chest infection. For the first time in his life he began seriously to read Scripture and pray. A spiritual awakening had begun. On returning to Cheshire he was further affected by his sister's conversion, and the ministry of a local evangelical clergyman. While at worship one Sunday the words of Ephesians 2.8 spoke to him very directly: 'by grace are ye saved . . .' He realised that his salvation was entirely dependent on God's grace in Christ, and new light and new life came into his soul.
As he began to grow as a Christian, he devoted himself to the reading of the Scriptures and to the writings of men like John Newton. His future employment had not yet been decided. It was hoped that he might pursue a parliamentary career, but a great domestic tragedy was to prevent this. In 1841 the family business collapsed, and they lost nearly all they possessed. But Ryle found strength in his Lord, and in the providence of God was invited to be the curate of Exbury, a little backwater in the New Forest. He accepted the call, and the humble stipend of £100 a year.
Ryle gave himself fully to the flock. He was a great admirer of the puritan Richard Baxter, and sought, like Baxter, to visit every home on a regular basis. Soon the church was full. He laboured fervently in an area where scarlet fever and typhus were rife, and before long was seriously ill himself. He had to resign his ministry, and after a brief period of convalescence, and a short ministry in nearly Winchester, he accepted a call to Suffolk, where he was to minister for the next 36 years.
Suffolk : 1844-80
Helmingham was a small country village controlled by the local squire whose wife was a sincere believer. Ryle's income was now a princely £500 a year, and so he felt able to support a wife and family. His first wife, Matilda, bore him a daughter, but her health rapidly declined, and he was soon left a widower and a single parent.
Not long afterwards he married again, and four more children were born, but again his wife's health was very frail, and Ryle often found himself caring for the children. Nevertheless, he continued to expand his ministry. His preaching was in demand and so were his writings. His tracts soon became best-sellers. Their sincerity and simplicity had a wide appeal, and within the next 100 years, over 12 million copies were published. At the same time he began devotional writings on the Gospels, with a scholarly three-volume work on John being the most impressive. His reputation as a champion of the evangelical cause was now established, but his ministry at Helmingham was coming to a close. In 1860 his second wife died, leaving him with five children aged two to 14 years. At the same time his relationship with the local squire had broken down, and so he accepted a call to become Vicar of nearby Stradbroke.
At Stradbroke he remarried and continued his commitment to systematic visitation, preaching and evangelism. When a new church pulpit was being installed he requested that 1 Corinthians 9.16 be carved on it: 'Woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel'. He was also a great believer in parish missions and open air evangelism, and invited Reginald Radcliffe, a lay evangelist from Liverpool, to lead meetings at Ipswich and Stradbroke. In succeeding years he supported the American evangelist, Moody, revealing his great passion for the multitudes who might never enter a church.
Earnestly contending
If he expressed a sincere desire to feed the flock, he had an equal desire to guard the gospel. Since the 1830s, the Tractarian movement had grown from strength to strength. Some, like Newman, had converted to the Church of Rome, but others Romanised the church from within, through the introduction of ritualistic practices. Ryle was one of its most effective opponents. His writing skills were again put to great effect. In 'What do we owe to the Reformation?' and 'Why were our Reformers burned?', we see him at his brilliant best. He reminds us of the sacrifice of the Reformers and the truth for which they gave their lives. His arguments are not a call to live in the past, but a call to learn from the past. In Knots Untied, published in 1874, he masterfully confronts the false teachings of the ritualists and clearly explains that the 39 Articles and 1662 Prayer Book are consistent with biblical teaching, showing the true nature of 'evangelical religion'.
In addition to his stand against ritualism, he spoke out against the rationalists or liberals of his day. Two works, Essays and Reviews (1860) and Lux Mundi (1889), had been particularly destructive. These works had challenged the authority and authenticity of the Scriptures, and cast doubt on some of its fundamental teachings.
For Ryle, the ritualists were like the Pharisees, adding to Scripture, and the liberals were like the Sadducees, subtracting from it.
Ryle thought that if the Christian church was to be effective in challenging error, it had to show the reality of its message in godly and holy living. He lamented the low level of spirituality in his day, and wrote Holiness and Practical Religion to present a clear picture of true Christian discipleship.
Liverpool : 1880-1900
Toward the end of his time at Stradbroke, his influence continued to grow. He sought to prepare the way for the training of evangelicals in the CofE and helped in establishing Wycliffe Hall, Oxford and Ridley Hall, Cambridge. By 1875 he was generally recognised as the leader of the evangelical party, but seemed likely to end his days at Stradbroke. Quite unexpectedly, therefore, he was summoned by Disraeli, and offered the new bishopric of Liverpool. It was not something he had sought, but one he willingly accepted as God's calling. So he left the quiet rural scenes of Suffolk to live in the second city of the empire, and lead the newly formed diocese of nearly one million souls.
Early on, he established a diocesan conference for the encouragement of his clergy. During his time as bishop, incumbents increased from 170 to 206, and curates from 120 to 230. Scripture Readers, a Women's Bible Society and a Lay Helpers' Association were also established. Many new church buildings and mission halls were built, the latter with the poorest unreached populations particularly in mind. Some complained about the delay in building a cathedral, but Ryle replied: 'My first and foremost business . . . is to provide for preaching the gospel to souls now entirely neglected, whom no cathedral would touch.'
After 1895 his health began to deteriorate, and by 1899 his son writes that he was 'evidently enfeebled in step, hearing and memory'. On March 1 1900 he resigned and retired to Lowestoft with his daughter, where he died on June 10. He was buried next to his wife at All Saints, Childwall, Liverpool.
