William Wilberforce died on July 29, 1833.
In 1797 Wilberforce, a member of Parliament for the County of York, published a small book which has come to be known as "A Practical Guide to Real Christianity." The original title gives us a much clearer picture of what Wilberforce intended to accomplish with his work;
A Practical View of the Prevailing Religious System of Professed Christians in the Higher and Middle Classes in This Country, Contrasted with Real Christianity
It was a book which immediately caught public attention. Kevin Belmonte, a contemporary scholar of Wilberforce's text, notes that the book became an immediate "bestseller" of the time and went through five editions within six months. 15 more editions would be printed in Britain before 1826, and 25 editions would be published in the US. It was translated into Dutch, French, German, Italian and Spanish.
A new, somewhat paraphrased edition has been prepared by Dr Bob Beltz [Ventura, CA: Gospel Light/Regal, 2007]. This new edition is simply titled "Real Christianity", and retains the thought and powerful message of Wilberforce's original text.
So on a sunny afternoon, while the felix clan is having naps, I sit down to read a most remarkable work by an even more remarkable man. I'll do some further reviewing as I go along (I'm currently halfway through the new edition) for those who have not read this book before. Let me give you a piece from his original introduction to the book:
I would suggest that faith is everyone's business. The advance or decline of faith is so intimately connected to the welfare of a society that it should be of particular interest to a politician.
The book into 7 chapters:
- The State of Contemporary Christianity
- Current Ideas About the Nature of Man
- Understanding Cultural Christianity
- True Standards of Christian Behavior
- Arguments for True Christianity
- The Current State of Christianity
- Practical Hints About Authentic Faith
I'll let you know...
Have you seen Amazing Grace yet? I thought it was flawed but still very moving. I plan to take a bio of Wilberforce on my holidays. I'll have to take a look at this too. Looking forward to hearing more about it.
Posted by: Erin | July 29, 2007 at 08:48 PM
Joseph:
Enjoy. I skimmed an abridged edition for an assignment last year(education having a way of intruding on actual learning). I might have to go back now and read it more thoroughly.
Posted by: Donald | July 30, 2007 at 07:48 AM
Great Wilberforce quote here:
William Wilberforce commenting on nominal Christianity in his book A Practical View of Christianity:
“The fatal habit of considering Christian morals as distinct from Christian doctrines insensibly gained strength. Thus the peculiar doctrines of Christianity went more and more out of sight, and as might naturally have been expected, the moral system itself also began to wither and decay, being robbed of that which should have supplied it with life and nutriment.”
Posted by: CPM | July 30, 2007 at 07:51 AM
Erin: I have not yet seen the movie, maybe I'll rent it and do a movie review as well :^)
So far the book has not disappointed.
Posted by: joseph | July 31, 2007 at 09:52 AM