For the lives of those we give the title Saint, and other historically noteworthy Christian men and women, written by their contemporaries, their own writings and stories about them painstakingly put together by modern day writers.

Archive - Book Titles reviewed - G

G.K.Chesterton, Theologian

by Aidan Nichols

This book is deceptively simple with commendably brief notes included in the text and consisting almost exclusively of book references. It does not take long for Nichols dense style and vocabulary to assert itself, likely to send many students reaching for their dictionaries. The author lectures at Cambridge and is a member of Blackfriars in that University. His analysis of Chesterton is based on his John Paul II Memorial Lectures at Oxford – the first Catholic Lectureship created in the University since the Reformation.
The first four Chapters offer an overview of Chesterton’s life identifying some salient intellectual themes including the most characteristic - the Paradox. The second half explores five theological themes: the existence of God, anthropology, Christology, morality, and ecclesiology.
En route to Roman Catholicism, he was a significant Anglo-Catholic, who during this time offered serious critiques of Blake, Watts, Browning and Dickens, but his chief works were Heretics and Orthodoxy, which were the nearest he got to writing an Apologia. He became increasingly disturbed at what he saw as “doctrinal minimalism” in Anglicanism especially at the Lambeth Conference of 1920, and he remained a lifelong opponent of Modernism and Liberalism.
Following Chesterton’s reception into the Roman Catholic Church in 1922 until his death in 1936 he was still much in demand as a writer and public speaker and, latterly, broadcaster. In short, Chesterton was a very significant Christian thinker but is difficult of access in this book, at least for the humble student, to say nothing of the general reader. Nichols is doubtless very sound in his analysis, although sometimes he unconsciously takes on the guise of a Hagiographer, and the reader is not offered very much in the way of looking critically at his subject and his limitations.
A comprehensive and profound study which is worth pursuing even when the going gets hard.

Review by John Methuen (17/03/10)

Paperback
Price: £12.95
Publisher: DLT (Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd)
Published: 21 October 2009
ISBN: 978-0-232-52776-6

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G.K.Chesterton: A Biography

by Ian Ker

G.K. Chesterton is best known as a writer of satirical verse and of detective stories. Ian Ker presents him in a new light. He emphasises the formidable defender of Christian values; the champion of 'ordinary' people against the power of the establishment. Chesterton is one of the least known and most remarkable figures of the mid twentieth century. Those for whom Ker’s biography is their first introduction will warm to the humanity of a great Christian. Those who already know and love Chesterton will not be disappointed.

Review by Teresa De Bertodano (13/10/11)

Hardback
Price: £35.00
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published: 21 April 2011
ISBN: 978-0-199-60128-8

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Gandhi – and the Unspeakable

- His Final Experiment With Truth

by James W. Douglass

This book is very readable and could be described as a page turner, although you already know how it ends. The first section of the book deals with Ghandi’s struggle in South Africa and the way in which his beliefs and practices were sharpened. Douglass demonstrates that Ghandi’s experience in South Africa held both the germ of his success in India as well as his eventual assassination. The second section details the struggle for Indian independence, alongside the struggle between Ghandi’s non-violent philosophy and the competing philosophy of violence. Douglass writes; ‘The non-violent vision Ghandi opened up to the country was based on a power his old disciples, India’s new rulers, could not accept, unless they were willing to reject the kind of nation-state handed over to them by the British.’ (p100).
In the third and final section there is a short reflection on Ghandi’s understanding of the cross and the teaching of Jesus.
The issue of non-violence was a fundamental truth that Ghandi believed and practiced, he followed that truth to the point of his death, this is what Douglass refers to as his ‘Final experiment with truth’. This concept of experimenting with truth by following it wherever it leads is profoundly challenging.

Review by John Macaulay (30/08/12)

Hardback
Price: £16.99
Publisher: Orbis Books from Alban Books
Published: March 2012
ISBN: 978-1-570-75963-5

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George Fox

- The Founder of the Quakers

by Jean Hatton

In this book the author takes on a huge task as the events of the 17th century, and particularly the life of George Fox, were not always well documented. It is obvious also that Fox was a complex person who lived when both Society and the Christian Church were going through great turmoil and civil war. Jean Hatton takes the trouble to explain all of the context, which I feel is essential to grasp why Fox felt as he did, why people had the need for a new way to believe, and thus, why they followed him.

Review by Carole Burrows (11/07/08)

Paperback
Price: £9.99
Publisher: Monarch imprint of Lion Hudson
Published: 2007
ISBN: 978-1-854-24753-7

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George Müller of Bristol

by Arthur T.Pierson

It might seem incredible that the story of George Müller is not only still being published after 110 years but that it is still so remarkably refreshing and uplifting to read. Arthur T. Pierson add much to George Müller’s own account of his conversion, his awesome reliance on God, his unswerving trust in the power of prayer and his love for orphans by his own thoughtful and powerful witness to God's care for the underprivileged. No one who reads this book can help being encouraged in their faith, and hopefully inspired in their own prayer life.

Review by Christine Mundell (12/02/09)

Hardback
Price: £9.99
Publisher: Hendrickson from Alban Books
Published: June 2008
ISBN: 978-1-598-56252-1

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George Whitefield

- The Evangelist

by John Pollock

Originally published in 1973, I enjoyed it then, I still have my copy, and thoroughly enjoyed re-reading it. John Pollock is an excellent story teller and George Whitefield comes alive as you read about his life. From a hostelry in Gloucester, he became a Servitor at Pembroke College, Oxford where he met John and Charles Wesley. He joined with their group, derided as the ‘Holy Club’ and ‘Methodists’ by the others in the University. George Whitefield had already received a strong impression that he should preach, and soon that is precisely what he did but first he tried all sorts of ways to prove his devotion to God, and took things to extreme till he read a book which changed his life. He was then convinced that ‘new birth was the point of all devotion’. This he preached for the rest of his life. Though ordained into the Church of England, he sought out any who would listen to his message of salvation. Inevitably his ‘enthusiasm’ antagonised some but the majority of listeners in Britain and in his beloved American Colonies welcomed him with exuberance. John Pollock details how this came about.

Review by Mary Bartholomew (06/07/09)

Paperback
Price: £7.99
Publisher: Christian Focus Publications
Published: 2009
ISBN: 978-1-845-50454-0

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Georges and Pauline Vanier: Portrait of a Couple - Footprints Series by Mary Frances Coady
ISBN: 978-0-773-53883-2 Price: £25.99	Published: September 2011
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Glory Descending - Michael Ramsey and his writings by Douglas Dales, John Hapgood, Geoffrey Rowell and Rowan Williams
ISBN: 1-853-11630-0 Price: £18.99	Published: 2005
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Glory: The Spiritual Theology of Michael Ramsey by Douglas Dales
ISBN: 1-853-11535-5 Price: £16.99	Published: Spring 2003
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God Truly Worshipped - Thomas Cranmer and His Writing Edited by Jonathan Dean
ISBN: 978-1-848-25048-2 Price: £19.99	Published: 31 March 2012
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God, Where Are You? by Gerard W. Hughes
ISBN: 0-232-52226-X Price: £9.95	Published: 2001
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God’s Politician - William Wilberforce’s Struggle by Garth Lean
ISBN: 978-0-232-52690-5 Price: £10.95	Published: 22 January 2007
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God’s Smuggler by Brother Andrew
ISBN: 0-340-86114-2 Price: £5.99	Published: October 2002
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Going Forward on Your Knees - Lessons from the Life of Hudson Taylor by Joanna E. Williamson
ISBN: 978-1-850-78961-1 Price: £7.99	Published: 07 July 2011
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Great Christian Thinkers: From the Early Church Through the Middle Ages by Pope Benedict XVI
ISBN: 978-0-281-06474-8 Price: £12.99	Published: July 2011
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The Gospel as Taught by Calvin by R.C.Reed
ISBN: 978-1-848-71030-6 Price: £5.50	Published: 2009
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