John Williamson Nevin, High Church Calvinist, D.G. Hart

John Williamson Nevin's name, as far as I can remember, had never past my hearing or appeared in my reading. It was not because he was one of my faith heroes that I purchased this book. There just seemed to be something that caught my interest as I perused the P&R catalogue. I suppose it was the terms "high church" and "calvinist," two viewpoints that I'd always been taught were mutually exclusive, applied to the same man! How could this be? What did this mean? Who was this man? What happened to him? If that sounds like the start of a good read, you are spot on! 

Nevin resisted the revivalism of his day seeking to restore healthy protestant spirituality. Granted this is a theological biography about a controversial man but D.G. Hart is to be commended for his balanced presentation. Perhaps enough time has passed that the compulsion to "take sides" has wained so that this man's writings can be weighed to see if there be any substance. "Even if Nevin's views were quirky and his career was uneven, his theological creativity and observations of American Protestantism were sufficiently penetrating to attract the interest of various scholars (Hart)." 

Though this biography probably will not fall within the interests of many (and that's okay), I confess to being taken in by it. If you read theology, church history, or are a student of worship then you'll appreciate Nevin's life struggles and contribution to the church, even if you do not always agree with him. 

post tenebras lux, Scott