TYNDALE HOUSE & FELLOWSHIP
The First Sixty Years
By Thomas A. Noble. IVP. 336 pages. £19.99
ISBN 1 84474 095 6
Don’t let the title put you off! This is a great book, meticulously researched from primary sources and written with both clarity and energy.
Tom Noble draws a fascinating historical sketch of British Evangelicalism’s back room boys (and a few girls!) of scholarship and research over the past 60 years. He charts the history of Tyndale House, Cambridge, from its humble beginnings in 1944 to its present position as one of the world’s leading biblical research libraries. In addition, the Fellowship of the House (sounds a bit Tolkien!), that is its scholars and writers, are also included. From the few‚ who were fighting for more than the physical liberty of Great Britain in the 1940s, emerge the many‚ who now resource the church worldwide via the fruits of their scholarship.
Many of us born later‚ into postwar Britain, may not appreciate the sheer paucity of evangelical works of scholarship available to help the beleaguered pastor and Christian in the first half of last century. Under the blessing of God, commentaries, Bible dictionaries and books on all sorts of related subjects have poured off the presses, many of them published by Inter-Varsity Press, the publishing arm of what is now UCCF, the umbrella organisation of Tyndale House. The change has been revolutionary. There can hardly be a pastor or congregation who is not deeply indebted, whether acknowledged or not, to the fruitful labours of many of these unsung heroes of the faith.
Of course, not all are by any means unsung. Here you will discover household names that have helped shape evangelicalism in the UK and beyond: Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Jim Packer, John Stott, F.F. Bruce, etc. The latter, in particular, with his commitment to Believing Criticism‚ has helped steer many between the Scylla of an irrational fundamentalism and the Charybdis of a theological liberalism into the clear waters of believing, conservative scholarship. That said, the strains and tensions of maintaining such believing scholarship in the face of pressures from outside and within are also highlighted.
For some, the very words ‘theology’ or ‘biblical research’ are synonyms for boring and ‘unbelieving’, and an invitation to place a warning: ‘Here be dragons’. Well, this book could carry a warning: ‘Here be giants’, dedicated men and women who, in the words of Charles Wesley, have said:
Jesus, confirm my heart’s desire
To work and speak and think for thee...
A fascinating book, quite fascinating. Make sure your pastor gets a copy!
Steve Brady,
Principal, Moorlands College and a very minor Member of Tyndale Fellowship
