Timely recall to the catechism

Grounded in the Gospel: Building believers the old-fashioned way
J. I. Packer and G. A. Parrett
BakerBooks £9.99
(978-0-8010-6838-6)
Church Times Bookshop £8.99

THIS is an excellent book, but not one for the faint-hearted: it consists of just over 200 pages of carefully argued writing, and those who take the time to read it and reflect on it will not regret doing so.

J. I. Packer probably needs no introduction, and his co-author, although not well know on this side of the Atlantic, is an American aca­demic and author. Although they are writing primarily for an Evan­gelical audience, some of the prin­ciples that they highlight are, of course, relevant for the whole Church.

The subtitle encapsulates the thrust of the book: Packer and Parrett were brought together as they discovered that they were both passionate about catechesis, sharing a belief that its absence from the life of many Evangelical churches in recent times had bred a generation of comparatively immature Chris­tians.

They explained this concern thus: “In most Evangelical churches today the need for lifelong Bible study and the value of Bible-study groups and the necessity of expository preach­ing is well established. But attention to the comparable value of cate­chesis is not appreciated; indeed attention to doctrine is sometimes actually avoided.”

Although they understand why this has happened, the authors re­spond to this situation both robustly and persuasively. There is a magis­terial section on the biblical basis for catechesis, followed by a survey of catechesis in church history, which somehow manages to be both full and yet remarkably suc­cinct.

Having read these sections, the reader is in some way better pre­pared to engage with, perhaps, the central two chapters of the book, “The Gospel as of First Importance” and “Three Facets of the Faith”.

These chapters show both the scope of the authors’ scholarship and their mastery of their subject; yet it will not make altogether com­fortable reading for many Evan­gelicals. We are told that although we “have been right about the essence of the gospel . . . we have missed some of the critical implica­tions and applications of the gospel for daily living”.

It is quite difficult to read what they have written, however, without acknowledging how accurate their analysis is and how spot on is their remedy. Incidentally, the short sec­tion on the “New Perspectives on Paul”, as well as the one entitled “The Gospel Alphabet”, is excellent.

The last third of the book is of an equally high standard, and there is no doubt that this is a seminal con­tribution to the present discussion among Evangelicals on our identity and priorities, and should be read not only by parish clergy, but perhaps particularly by those charged with responsibility for theological education in the Church.

The Revd Jeremy Crossley is Rector of St Margaret Lothbury and St Stephen Coleman Street, London.

STEPHEN J. LOUGHLIN, an as­sociate professor at DeSales Uni­versity, Center Vally, in the United States, and co-ordinator of the Aquinas Translation Project, has written a 336-page Aquinas’ Summa Theologiae: A reader’s guide, for a new series that seeks to provide students with “clear intro­ductions to key texts, their themes, context, influence and impact” (T. & T. Clark, £12.99 (£11.70); 978-0-567-55094-1).