Finally – a biography of J. C. Ryle! Imagine preparing for a successful career, only to have your plans all totally undermined and left feeling that you had only one option: the Christian ministry! – and to enter it reluctantly. Then imagine learning about the grace of God only afterwards, and God somehow making you useful and effective, to everyone’s surprise! Welcome to the strange and stirring story of J.C. Ryle, English pastor of the 19th century. “It is very good to have Ryle’s story told afresh by someone who understands it so well!” – J. I. Packer.

Ryle was born into a comfortable English family background. His father was a politician and businessman. Ryle was intelligent, a great sportsman (captain of cricket at Eton and Oxford) and was set for a career in his father’s business – then disaster struck! The father’s bank fails, taking all related businesses down with it. Ryle loses his job and his place in society in a moment. One moment, a popular man with great prospects in this world – the next moment, the son of a bankrupt father, with no trade or profession. So as a last resort, Ryle is ordained into the ministry of the church, simply for something to do for a living! Who could have thought that a man who entered the ministry in such an uninspiring way could be so used of God?