ADOLPHE MONOD
The voice of the Awakening
By Constance K. Walker
EP Books. 176 pages. £7.99
ISBN 978 0 852 349 571
Adolphe Monod was arguably the most influential evangelical voice in France in the 19th century. His preaching and writing, in wonderfully pure French, had an enormous impact on his contemporaries and on following generations.
After a rather slow start, this biography really takes off in chapter four when Monod, already a pastor, comes to saving faith – as a direct result of the Awakening which had started in Geneva – and launches into a lifelong battle to bring the historic French Reformed Church back to the gospel (a need which still unfortunately exists today).
Honesty and humility
What makes this book such a fascinating read is the genuine honesty and humility of Monod in the face of his two great struggles – against false doctrine and against ill-health. We see his self-questioning as a pastor in Lyon faced with opposition from within his church: ‘Am I somewhat at fault? Perhaps my liveliness and energy have sometimes passed the limits of gentleness in preaching, especially when preaching extemporaneously, as I almost always do’.
Enduring monument
And at he end of his life, after several years of unremitting pain, he is still questioning his ministry: ‘I know that I am washed in the blood of Christ … but, oh God, is my work finished? You alone know. It seems to me that it is not. I would like to leave some enduring monument for your glory’. But he did! Each Sunday for the last six months of his life, a group of family and friends met at his bedside and Adolphe Monod spoke simply but eloquently on living wholeheartedly for Christ for whatever time remained in this life. His listeners took ample notes and these talks were published under the title Les Adieux, a book which still speaks to the hearts of believers today.
