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Rating: 
Summary: Persevering against the Odds
Review: "I only know it is far easier to be a Christian among singing, praying, sympathizing Christians in a public room, than to be a consistent Christian in a quiet, retired, out-of-the-way, uncongenial home."
As the other reviewers have said, this is an appreciation and should be read sa such. Appreciation or no, Packer reaveals the facts and this makes Ryle enjoyable to read about. Ryle was a man among men in his day and would be a demi-god among men in our day, with so little doctrinal preaching in our midst. What caught me about Ryle was that he was widowed twice and he outlived his third wife, and yet still proclaimed the Word of God.
To be honest, his book holiness is not easy to read. BUt as John Piper said, "Raking is easy, but all you get is leaves. Digging is hard, but you might find diamonds." Ryle stands in the old Puritan tradition. Maybe tough to read, but extremely edifying to the saints when read. His view on Holiness stands in direct contrast with the view of Finney. But that is okay because the Bible stands in direct contrast with Finney. THis book should be read by all denominations: Anglican/Episcopal so that they may appreciate one of their own. Baptists, becasue he preaches like one. Charismatics--so that they might be rescued from their erring ways.
This is a good introduction to Ryle's life and hopefully will accomplish the task that Packer hopes, that one may read more of Ryle, along with the other puritans.
Rating:
Summary: Persevering against the Odds
Review: "I only know it is far easier to be a Christian among singing, praying, sympathizing Christians in a public room, than to be a consistent Christian in a quiet, retired, out-of-the-way, uncongenial home."
As the other reviewers have said, this is an appreciation and should be read sa such. Appreciation or no, Packer reaveals the facts and this makes Ryle enjoyable to read about. Ryle was a man among men in his day and would be a demi-god among men in our day, with so little doctrinal preaching in our midst. What caught me about Ryle was that he was widowed twice and he outlived his third wife, and yet still proclaimed the Word of God.
To be honest, his book holiness is not easy to read. BUt as John Piper said, "Raking is easy, but all you get is leaves. Digging is hard, but you might find diamonds." Ryle stands in the old Puritan tradition. Maybe tough to read, but extremely edifying to the saints when read. His view on Holiness stands in direct contrast with the view of Finney. But that is okay because the Bible stands in direct contrast with Finney. THis book should be read by all denominations: Anglican/Episcopal so that they may appreciate one of their own. Baptists, becasue he preaches like one. Charismatics--so that they might be rescued from their erring ways.
This is a good introduction to Ryle's life and hopefully will accomplish the task that Packer hopes, that one may read more of Ryle, along with the other puritans.
Rating:
Summary: A superbly presented tribute to Bishop John Charles Ryle
Review: Faithfulness And Holiness: The Witness Of J. C. Ryle by J. I. Packer (Professor of Theology, Regent College, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) is a superbly presented tribute to Bishop John Charles Ryle, a man who challenged his parishoners to seek greater holiness. Bishop Ryle's own testimony "Holiness," first published in 1877, is included in its entirety within the pages of Faithfulness And Holiness. A profound reflection upon Ryle's life, ideals, work, and legacy is a powerful and moving work of faith and joy, Faithfulness And Holiness is very highly recommended for Christian Studies reading lists and reference collections.
Rating: 
Summary: Ryle challenges you to be holy, Packer does a little less
Review: This is a beautifully produced book, with contents that really deserve to be read, Packer should be commended for re-presenting it to a readership it may not otherwise have received. Packer's has written a semi-autobiographical long introduction (longer than Ryle's text, hence the title of the book I guess) to the first (considerably shorter than the second) edition of JC Ryle's classic 'Holiness'.
The first half or so is a large number of short chapters by Packer, appreciating JC Ryle, his life, work, theology etc. You get a good feel of the man who was an amazing Christian, who stood firm for truth, and truly believed in the Church of England despite it's massive faults and so didn't take the easy way out but stayed to do great good. Although his life wasn't the most exciting story (no dramatic conversion, no physical persecution) I found this made him easier to see in my reality, although he was definitely a Victorian. This means that Packer's 'appreciation' isn't as riveting as it otherwise would be, and the fact that Packer does nothing other than 'appreciate' makes it a little unbalanced a look at the man. It was great to see his concern at the number of nominal Christians in the church with no concern for personal holiness, and that really hit home because although this is not quite as big an issue in the UK now as it was then, it is still common. Ryle pleads for these people to change, and for us Christians not to become like them.
Holiness, the actual book, is wonderful, and really outshines Packer's contribution (I think). Packer choose the much shorter first edition because it was more coherent, not as much of a random collection of essays like the more common second edition, and I think he made the right decision considering the purposes of this book. The book is basically an exploration of the titles/topics of the chapters (Sin, Sanctification, Holiness, the Fight, the Cost, and Growth), which are all relatively self-contained, although, as Packer notes, the flow of thought is obvious.
Ryle does spend quite a bit of time in the book refuting and explaining the consequences of a error about sanctification prevalent in his day, though not so much now, but it is not much of a distraction and in fact challenges us to think of our responses to similar problems today.
Ryle's writing confronts you with your life, and I don't think you will be left unchanged, and so I cannot fail to commend this book to you. The language is not hard, only a hundred years old, and style has not changed that much, and the different context in which it is wrote does not distance you too much from the points he makes.
This book is well worth buying, and reading, especially at this incredibly [low] price.
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