Quoting Ryle: The Value of an Anthology

The Banner will release a new anthology of J. C. Ryle quotes next week (September 22). The following is the introduction to the work by the compiler, Rev. Daniel W. McManigal (Grace Presbyterian Church, Florida):

‘Of the making of many books, there is no end’ (Eccles. 12:12). What you are holding in your hand is not so much an illustration of the inspired statement—though it is that—but, rather, a topical guide to the many volumes of timeless wisdom and practical insights of one of the great champions of biblical truth.

I first became aware of the writings of J. C. Ryle (1816–1900) in my father’s study. Among the books lining his shelves was Ryle’s Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties and Roots. I did not begin reading it at that time, sadly, but I do recall looking at the chapter headings and thinking that I should. This thought would bear fruit years later in the midst of a busy preaching and teaching ministry.

Pastors and teachers should consult the written wisdom of the past for deeper understanding of the biblical truths they are preparing to explain in the present. In the writings of J. C. Ryle readers have found faithful biblical wisdom and searching applications that aim at the heart. Such were the gifts the Spirit gave him. ‘The characteristics of Bishop Ryle’s method and style are obvious,’ wrote Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones. ‘He is pre-eminently and always scriptural and expository. He never starts with a theory into which he tries to fit various scriptures. He always starts with the word and expounds it. It is exposition at its very best and highest. It is always clear and logical and invariably leads to a clear enunciation of doctrine.’¹D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, ‘Foreword,’ in Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties and Roots (Cambridge: James Clarke & Co Ltd, 1977), iii. Ryle’s expositions of Scripture and articulation of biblical doctrines were equally well-informed by the writings of the great theologians of the past. One need only glance through the notes of his Expository Thoughts on the Gospels to see that he took time to study the reasoned positions of others, before putting his own to paper.

Not only were biblical fidelity and practical applications hallmarks of his work, but the doctrines he unfolded often came in lively, vivid, and memorable language. His writing has been described as having a ‘brisk, blunt style, pungent and persuasive, made up of short, abrupt, in-your-face sentences.’²J. I. Packer, Faithfulness and Holiness: The Witness of J. C. Ryle (Wheaton: Crossway, 2002), 61. Ryle wasted no words and used no filler materials to pad his arguments and exhortations. What he pressed upon aspiring preachers, he himself practised in the pulpit and also in the study. ‘He is the best speaker who can turn the ear into an eye.’³J. C. Ryle, Simplicity in Preaching (Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2010), 16-17. His books, many of which are compilations of tracts reworked from sermons, are illustrative of this conviction. He honed his God-given skills in such a way so as to make deep truths accessible to broad audiences and with a sense of urgency.⁴According to Iain Murray, Ryle did not find preaching easy and confessed that he had not learned to preach until after the age of fifty. Iain H. Murray, J. C. Ryle, Prepared to Stand Alone (Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2016), 59. As J. I. Packer observed, ‘his down-to-earth illustrations and rhetorical emphases gave a sense of the drama, the dangers, the challenges, glories and joys of life under the eye and hand of the God of the gospel; and thus, in a word, he communicated brilliantly at [the] popular level.’⁵Packer, Faithfulness and Holiness, 61. The net result is that more than one hundred years after the first Bishop of Liverpool’s entrance into glory on 10 June 1900, those who read him will be anything but disappointed. It is the aim of this anthology to encourage readers, old and new alike, to pick up Ryle’s many volumes and spiritually profit from them.

Reflecting back on the many hours reading thousands of his pages, if there were two things that stand out like jewels in his crown, they were Ryle’s unflagging determination to tell us the terrible truth about ourselves, and to point us to Jesus. And this, after all, is what faithful ministers of the gospel aim to do (Acts 5:42; Rom. 15:20; 1 Cor. 1:23; Phil. 1:18), yes, must do. In this, the great expounder of biblical truth is a faithful example for us to follow. To pastors and teachers of God’s word, it is my hope that this selection of quotations will prove useful in your studies and helpful in your teaching and preaching. If new generations of pastors, Bible students, teachers, and, indeed, believers in general are introduced to Ryle’s writings through this book, I will be grateful to have played a small part in pointing the way.

There have been a number of people who have encouraged me in the creation of this anthology. Were it not for the help of David Davis giving me many of the Banner of Truth’s volumes of Ryle, and the encouragement of Jeremy Baker, Weston Stoler, Clayton Willis, Bulut Yasar and others with whom I shared so many Ryle quotations, this work may have remained on my laptop’s hard drive for my own personal benefit and that of the congregations I served. I am particularly grateful to my family for giving me the extra time to read and compile this book of quotes, and to Rev. Jonathan Watson, the Banner of Truth’s senior editor, for his kind encouragement.

Daniel McManigal

Florida

May 2025

The Truth Spoken in Love: An Anthology of Quotations from J. C. Ryle releases on September 22. You can sign up for the Waitlist to be notified as soon as it is available for order.

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Featured image (visible when article is shared on social media) is a detail from John Constable, Ploughing Scene in Suffolk.