Proclaimer Blog
A brief book review for a brief book: Godly ambition
Godly ambition is Alister Chapman's new assessment of the ministry of John Stott: 'critical yet sympathetic' so the dust jacket goes. It was written in Stott's lifetime, with access to his private papers, and promises insights into something of the man. There is a sense in which it doesn't disappoint. Although much of the material is very familiar to anyone who has read any of Dudley-Smith or the other biographical volumes, there is more here than a simple biography. We get into a little more of the motives and passions. The insights I found particularly helpful were:
- why the ministry at All Souls was initially so fruitful but slowed up considerably in the 1960s
- the failure of Stott to reach much outside his class
- the struggle to make NEAC successful
- the Lausanne showdown with Billy Graham over inclusion of what Chapman calls 'the social gospel'
- Stott's changing views on, say, women's ordination (becoming less conservative, p123) and abortion (becoming more so, p124)
These are assessed in a gentle, loving but critical way. You don't feel at any point that Chapman is having a go at the man at all. He should be praised for that.
However, to be perfectly honest, I found it all a bit brief. The issue of women's ordination for example, and why Stott changed his position, warrants more than 3 paragraphs even though it is set in a broader canvas. The Lausanne issue gets a whole chapter and is, to be fair, dealt with much more thoroughly. I suppose I am saying, I wanted more. Much of the history, of course, is well rehearsed. But it is the additional insights that we need to hear….and I closed the book thanking God for a man who reintroduced some academic vigour into evangelicalism (Chapman says this is one of his major achievements), but still wanting to know a little more about what drove this remarkable servant, not least to ensure we hold onto what is good with objective, thankful and discerning minds. I felt more was also needed on his preaching.
This is a 160 page book, brief I would suggest. And at £35, you can't help forgetting that each page turn costs you 42p. So, I enjoyed it, found it illiuminating and stirring…..but I just wanted and needed more. More pages. More analysis. More of everything, really.