Description
Book SynopsisBritish Christian leader John Stott was one of the most influential figures of the evangelical movement during the second half of the twentieth century. Called the pope of evangelicalism by many, he helped to shape a global religious movement that grew rapidly during his career. He preached to thousands on six continents. Millions bought his books and listened to his sermons. In 2005, Time included him in its annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Alister Chapman chronicles Stott''s rise to global Christian stardom. The story begins in England with an exploration of Stott''s conversion and education, then his ministry to students, his work at All Souls Langham Place, London, and his attempts to increase evangelical influence in the Church of England. By the mid-1970s, Stott had an international presence, leading the evangelical Lausanne movement that attracted evangelicals from almost every country in the world. Chapman recounts how Stott challenged evangelicals'' habitual conservatism and anti-intellectualism, showing his role in a movement that was as dysfunctional as it was dynamic. Godly Ambition is the first scholarly biography of Stott. Based on extensive examination of his personal papers, it is a critical yet sympathetic account of a gifted and determined man who did all he could to further God''s kingdom and who became a Christian luminary in the process.
Trade Reviewa carefully researched and clearly written appreciation of Stott that will set the benchmark for any subsequent studies. ... Chapman has given us a fair interpretation of his ministry, which offers manu illuminating insights. It is the first sympathetically critical biography with which any others will have to contend. * Derek J. Tidball, Baptist Quarterly *
Chapman succeeds in providing us with a more honest, certainly more nuanced account, than heretofore, including some new insights. * Derek J. Tidball, Baptist Quarterly *
Chapman's succinct and very readable biography provides us a welcome account of Stott's life. ... I certainly appreciated and commend Chapman's work. * E Loane, Churchman *
Alister Chapman's crisply written and scrupulously impartial study captures the delicately managed contradictions that characterised the life and work of John Stott, whose Evangelical career started with fundamentalist tracts smuggled into Rugby School 'in brown paper' and ended with a vast ministry in five continents and the status of an Evangelical pope. ... Godly Ambition is a perceptive study whose importance will increase as scholars continue to map the complex relationships between 'Western' and 'Global' Christianity that John Stott, the ascetical jetsetter, did much to build. * Dominic Erdozain, Journal of Ecclesiastical History *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ; Introduction ; 1. Conversion ; 2. Students ; 3. Parishioners ; 4. Anglicans ; 5. Society ; 6. World ; Conclusion
