Practical View of the Prevailing Religious System of Professed Christians, in the Higher and Middle Classes in This Country, Contrasted with Real Christianity [Paperback]

William Wilberforce (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 9, 2001

This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1829 edition by T. Cadell, London.

Product Details

• Paperback: 409 pages
• Publisher: Adamant Media Corporation (July 9, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1402100426
• ISBN-13: 978-1402100420
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,886,193 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Worthwhile challenge, March 29, 2009

By 

Barnabas - See all my reviews

This review is from: Practical View of the Prevailing Religious System of Professed Christians in the Higher and Middle Classes in this Country Contrasted with Real Christianity (Paperback)

I highly recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in living a true Christian life, and to anyone who has an interest in the man William Wilberforce, provided that they are willing to invest some time and effort in the reading of it. Wilberforce, who was elected to the British Parliament at age 21 and was instrumental in the abolition of slavery in Great Britain, was not called "the wittiest man in England" for nothing. His arguments are clear and, I believe, logically impeccable; his writing is not obscure, but it is somewhat difficult, with long, involved sequences. The vocabulary reminded me of Jane Austen's novels, which I very much enjoy, but it is harder to read, being not a story but a treatise. As he explains in his Introduction, his purpose is, "not to convince the Sceptic, or to answer the arguments of persons who avowedly oppose the fundamental doctrines of our Religion; but to point out the scanty and erroneous system of the bulk of those who belong to the class of orthodox Christians, and to contrast their defective scheme with a representation of what the Author apprehends to be real Christianity."
He does exactly that, deploring the state of Christianity among his fellow middle- and higher-class countrymen, most of whom thought it was enough to go to church and to be called Christians. Nor does he merely bewail the state of things, but carefully explains the thinking of these people and respectfully contrasts their mistaken suppositions with Scripture truth; and although his words are addressed to his countrymen of the 19th century, it is surprising how often they hit home in 21st-century America. You merely have to replace some of the styles and pastimes of 19th-century England with their modern counterparts.
Don't read this book to find out how to be saved; use your Bible for that. Wilberforce was a member of the Anglican Church, and his writing reflects that, but nearly all of the book deals with the principles of Christian living, not with the details of initial salvation. There is a section in the middle of the last chapter addressing those who wish to become true Christians, and I would advise anyone reading the book to compare his writing with the Bible's instructions on this subject.
I personally enjoyed this book, though 380 pages of this level of reading took me a long time to finish. I found it challenging, convicting, and helpful, and since I became interested in it through my study of William Wilberforce, I enjoyed the glimpses of his character that come through his writing. He was brilliant, industrious, compassionate, and rigorously self-examining. He understood the dedication of the life of real Christianity, and he was a great man because of it.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding, March 14, 2011

By 

Phillip Newman "Kampfflieger" (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Practical View of the Prevailing Religious System of Professed Christians, in the Higher and Middle Classes in This Country, Contrasted with Real Christianity (Paperback)

This book is quite outstanding for Wilberforce's insight into true Christian faith and what the product of such faith should be. He should be an inspiration to all. I thought his writing was fairly easy to follow, though he certainly was not a "professional" writer. This book is certainly worth any effort one might have in his style.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Intense, but worth reading, January 25, 2008

By 

R. S. Fertig "Materials Scientist" (Cheyenne, WY United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Practical View of the Prevailing Religious System of Professed Christians in the Higher and Middle Classes in this Country Contrasted with Real Christianity (Paperback)

This book was intense and for the most part I enjoyed it. At times it was powerfully eloquent and moved me to consider the seriousness with which I hold my convictions. For example, "...Christians are to become the sworn enemies of sin; they henceforth hold no parley with it, they will allow it in no shape, they will admit it to no composition; the war which they have denounced against it is cordial, universal, irreconcilable." However, I have few caveats. First, although there were plenty of powerfully written passages, there were passages that were unnecessarily florid and not particularly profound. Second, his approach seems unlikely to affect his intended audience, namely, nominal Christians. A nominal Christian will simply read this as the ravings of a religious zealot. Finally, like many of the puritan authors, Wilberforce can be excessive as he drones about the ills of civilization. This tends to facilitate a more bitter than salvation-oriented attitude toward society. Nevertheless, you won't be sorry for reading it, but I would recommend an edited version that still retains the original writing style, such as "A Practical View of Preferred Christians," published by Cosmo Classics.