A CORNISH REVIVAL
The Life and Times of Samuel Walker of Truro
By Tim Shenton. Evangelical Press. 400 pages. £16.95
ISBN 0 85234 522 4
Samuel Walker (1714-1761) was one of the most prominent and effective evangelical ministers of the 18th century; a man who was used by God to a remarkable extent.
The fact that he is not better known by today's evangelicals is probably due to the brevity and geographically circumscribed extent of his ministry which was largely limited to Truro and its surrounding districts. However, his reputation spread far and wide as did his writings which were much appreciated by many of his fellow evangelicals. He was held in high esteem by such men as John and Charles Wesley, in spite of their theological differences since Walker held firmly to Reformed theology. John Wesley, in fact, remarked that Walker was a better man than he was. Other famous men, both contemporary and later, such as Henry Venn, James Hervey, Thomas Haweis, Charles Simeon and J.C. Ryle, spoke and wrote very highly of Walker. Walker was at Oxford at the same time as the Wesleys, Whitfield, Hervey and William Romaine. Thomas Haweis was converted through Walker's ministry.
