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Any rationalism one finds in Stott needs to be put in context. As a young man, he reacted against both a highly pietistic and anti-intellectual British evangelicalism, and a liberal, if not openly skeptical, theological establishment. Therefore, Stott championed the need to use the sanctified intellect, and thereby inspired many millions (including me) in resisting these extremes. Rationalism is not finally the religion of John Stott or of this book. Time and again in this volume, this rector emeritus of All Souls Church exhorts his readers to be doers of the Word, and not merely hearers only. Stott's own career shows a man ever concerned to move from the study and the pulpit into the lives of the people in his charge.

Still, the tendency is there in this variety of evangelicalism: a tendency to prize soundness of conviction more than intensity of experience, to champion the objective work of justification above the subjective work of sanctification, and even to identify, at times, more quickly with the Bible than with the Lord Jesus. (Surely we should be "Jesus people" even more than we should be "Bible people"!)I am sure John Stott would agree that evangelicals characteristically have been at least as interested in heart religion and hand religion as in head religion. Yet "conversionism" and "activism" (following David Bebbington's influential, if problematic, description of evangelicalism) show up only as secondary matters in Stott's book. They are not, however, secondary in the history of evangelicalism—nor, ironically, in the career and teachings of this great evangelical leader.

To be sure, the pressures under which Stott formed his theology have not eased in our own day. In an age of increasing religious diversity, superficial experientialism, and postmodern doubt, we still need skilled masons such as John Stott to carve out biblical teachings to inform and buttress our faith. Evangelical truth is not all there is to even the core of evangelicalism, but we cannot do without it.

John G. Stackhouse Jr. is Sangwoo Youtong Chee Professor of Theology at Regent College, Vancouver, and author ofCan God Be Trusted? Faith and the Challenge of Evil(Oxford).

Stott's Evangelical Truth: A Personal Plea for Unity, Integrity, and Faithfulnesscan be purchased at Worthybooks and other book retailers. For more information about John Stott, see "Guardian of God's Word| The amazingly balanced, wise, biblical, and global ministry of a local pastor, John Stott." The article, by David Wells, appeared in the September 16, 1996 issue of our print magazine.

Timothy Dudley-Smith's John Stott: The Making of a Leader: A Biography, 1921-1960, was briefly mentionedin our July 12, 1999 issue.The John Stott Ministriessite offers excerpts from Stott's works, "Stott Daily Thought" and "Stott Bible Study" newsletters, a biographical sketch, and his North American speaking schedule.

John G. Stackhouse Jr., a Christianity Todayconsulting editor, has written often for the magazine and our sister publication Books & Culture. For some of his past articles, click here.

Copyright © 2004 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

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February 7 2000, Vol. 44, No. 2