The Wanderer

The Unquenchable Flame: Introducing the Reformation by Michael Reeves

IVP, 2009 (192pp, pbk)

A genuinely popular book on the Reformation doubtless involves many tensions.  The style must be accessible without being careless; the substance must be accurate while the scope is broad; brevity is required, but historical carelessness cannot be countenanced.

In many ways, this author has succeeded: in a few pages, he carries us from the Reformation’s medieval beginnings, through Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, the Reformation in Britain, and on to the Puritans before asking whether or not the Reformation is over.  A helpful timeline and some valuable suggestions on further reading are furnished; occasional ‘break-out boxes’ deal with individuals and issues of interest.  It is thoroughly orthodox in many respects: the author focuses repeatedly on a Scriptural grasp of justification by faith as one of the driving forces of the Reformation and a continuing issue in ongoing reform.  In doing history accessibly and attractively, with wit and verve, the author has succeeded.

At the same time, its excellences are slightly marred by occasional excesses.  That chatty and casual tone sometimes slips needlessly into breeziness and on into a racy brashness (perhaps aimed squarely at the intended student audience).  Historical accuracy and nuance is sometimes sacrificed to speed of movement, or for the sake of a stark declaration or striking comparison.  I suspect that the author’s Anglicanism has an impact on his assessment at points: while Bunyan gets a nod basically for being Bunyan, the Puritans are covered somewhat ambivalently, and the history peters out in the 17^th century with little apparent sense of the character and momentum of healthy Dissent, leaping then to the 21^st century and taking up again – with helpful clarity and urgency – the issue of justification by faith.

I hope that this book will succeed in stimulating a wider and deeper reading of church history.  It deserves to do so.  However, unless it does so, there is a danger of readers being left with the lack of balance and perspective that a wild ride can leave behind.  If you put this book in the hands of a reader, make sure you are ready to follow up any interest with fuller and more nuanced material.

Martin Downes interviews Michael Reeves here, here and here.

• Westminster Bookstore – not yet available (US edition in 2010)
• Monergism Books – not yet available (US edition in 2010)
• Amazon.co.uk