REFORM:
The church at the birth of Protestantism
ISBN 978 1 527 109 902
RENEWAL:
The church that expands outwards
ISBN 978 1 527 109 933
By Luke H. Davis
Christian Focus. 176 pages. £8.99 each
For those who find reading non-fiction books challenging, these latest additions to the ‘Risen Hope’ series help make church history accessible to a wider readership.
Reform tells the story of key individuals in the Reformation and shows how the Reformation was ‘a powerful historical shift, after which the world would never be the same again’ (p.15). We do well to remember the lives of these Reformers, often involving great personal risk or cost so that the truth of the gospel might be known.
Renewal, meanwhile, looks at those who contributed to the growth of the church from 1600–1900, when ‘the church kept pressing outward with a renewed zeal to reach the unconverted wherever they could be found’ (p.11). Their lives are certainly a challenge to us to have that same passion!
Some individuals are more renowned figures, such as Calvin, Luther, Whitefield and Spurgeon; others are less well-known but they still made significant contributions to the understanding and spread of the gospel. The writer chooses a single event in the person’s life and writes a narrative of it, fleshing out the story with emotion, drawing the reader in and helping us see these people as real men and women who worked tirelessly for Biblical truth to be understood and proclaimed far and wide.
The chapters read easily, more like a fiction book with conversation and description. Whilst it can be assumed that some liberties have been taken with small details, the writer has clearly researched well, and weaves direct quotations and prayers into the stories. Each chapter concludes with a short paragraph detailing some of the key information about the person and their contributions to their period of history. The books are also punctuated with short Fact File chapters which give a wider historical picture.
Whilst not complete biographies, these books are a great starting point for understanding these periods of church history. What shines throughout them both is how these people sought to cling to God’s truth and live it out in their lives and ministry.
