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Editorial:
Spring Fever Comment:
What is Reconciliation? From
the Director: Ireland is changing and so are we! The
Whole Gospel for the Whole World (and beyond...) Rwanda
Ten Years On Anglo-Irish
Relations The
Hard Gospel Interview
with Robin Eames: RECONCILIATION - A View from Armagh Interview
with Sean Brady: RECONCILIATION - A View from Armagh Church-based
Peacebuilding Evangelism
& Reconciliation - are they irreconcilable? Dogville
and the Drama of Redemption Blessed
are the Peacemakers? Review:
Bitter Fruit Review:
The Colour of Darkness Review:
The Lost Message of Jesus Review:
The Futures of Evangelicalism Review:
Evangelicals in Ireland: An Introduction |
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review: IT MIGHT be tempting to judge this collection of essays for what it never claims to be! It is undoubtedly an introduction to what is an intriguing subject and during the reading I found myself wanting it to say more, to be clearer, to go into more detail on some issues that were raised and left hanging. Accordingly, whilst tempting, it would be unfair to treat it as anything more than an introduction. It does seem to suffer from not having an overall coherence and one gets the impression that the writers were perhaps not given the clearest of briefs, evidenced by the fact that they have viewed Ireland in different ways – some as just the South and some as the whole island. Nevertheless, for those interested in the history and diversity of the development of evangelicalism across the island this will prove to be a more than useful sketch. A broad range of contributors from within the evangelical family paints the picture and there was even the bravery to ask for an opinion from well without, even though Malachi O’Doherty’s contribution may be classed somewhat harsh at times! The history of evangelicalism in Ireland is dealt with in several ways; Fergus Ryan describes the impact of the ‘Christian Celts’ and the subsequent developments in Ireland’s religious history right up to ‘Post-modern Ireland’; Crawford Gribben challenges Ireland’s evangelicals to learn from the history of the ‘Irish Reformation’; a combined essay by Drew Gibson, Deborah Ford and Lynn Stanfield highlights the contribution of Irish evangelicals across the globe; and there is a fascinating chapter of mini-biographies on a broad range of characters from the past who have helped shape the evangelical community in Ireland. Add to that Warren Nelson’s attempt to highlight the core theology of evangelicals, an intriguing challenge from Tony Walsh under the title ‘Evangelical Experience and the Potential for Human Growth’, Patrick Mitchel’s efforts to address some of the prickly issues of diversity and two very personal contributions from Ken Clarke and Moya Brennan and we have a rich, if somewhat unco-ordinated, collection – not unlike the evangelicals whose story the book seeks to tell! Perhaps the key message of the book rests in the final chapter by Sean Mullan – ‘The Way Ahead’. He endeavours to see what the future could look like for evangelicals in a rapidly changing Ireland and the contribution they can make to that future. His conclusions warrant more than fleeting attention! He argues for an evangelicalism that will impact Ireland, will be personal, in the sense of a living faith existing even as the institutions of church fail; a communal life with the focus on ‘welcoming outsiders in without requiring conformity as a condition of acceptance’; nonjudgemental, whilst at the same time presenting a way of living that is ethical; offering hope, not just in eternity but for the present to a society with frightening rates of depression and suicide; life affirming, not repressing natural desires but seeing life and pleasure as gifts of God, fulfilled in living by God’s guidelines; and a realistic approach to human nature, which seeks to present an evangelical ‘perspective truthfully with fidelity to their own beliefs while at the same time reaching out to serve those who do not share their beliefs.’ One suspects many of us would add an ‘Amen’ to that! REV STEPHEN CAVE is General Secretary for the Evangelical Alliance in Northern Ireland. EVANGELICALS
IN IRELAND: An Introduction, Ed. Robert Dunlop |
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