STEPS TOWARDS HEAVEN
By J. C. Ryle
Banner of Truth. 160 pages. £5.50
ISBN 978 1 848 716 964
Ryle’s original readers would have been predominantly churchgoers (‘church’ more than ‘chapel’) of a clearly bygone age, many of them mere churchgoers, actual unbelievers.
Addressing himself so predominantly to such, this would be extremely limited as a modern evangelistic tool. ‘I take it for granted that every reader of this paper calls himself a Christian. You would not like to be a Deist, or an infidel.’ (p.39). If only! So I can’t see this being read nowadays by people without some church and Bible experience already. But much of this is vintage Ryle, good stuff for modern evangelical believers at any level of maturity.
Readable style
For a 19th-century writer, he has a very readable style. It is packed with sparkling verbal images whose occasional quaintness – from a pre-electronic era – may even enhance their impact nowadays. And yet it is far from lightweight, with chapters titled ‘Our Sins’, ‘Few Saved?’, ‘Conversion’, ‘Justification’ and ‘The Holy Spirit’. Direct, forceful, incisively and thoroughly (perhaps a little ponderously, by modern tastes?) argued, and no punches pulled as he presses his points home onto mind, emotion and conscience – sometimes an almost Puritan feel.
Yet I found this book predominantly uplifting and encouraging, as well as at times challenging and always theologically precise. Ryle is wonderfully Christ-centred, warmhearted and clear-sighted. I didn’t find the chapters equally grabby; with the headings of Old Paths in front of me*, I think I would have chosen differently. Yet even for the three I would have selected, this is a great read.
Yes, I recommend it. Don’t rush at it; take time to reflect and savour as you go. Refine your thinking. Stir your soul. Warm your heart. Worship your Saviour. And pray for a double portion of this churchman’s spirit for Anglican bishops nowadays!
