The Book of Saints: The Early Modern Era ed. by Al Truesdale (review)

This title is the fifth installment in The Book of Saints devotional series. Each volume in the series spans a specific epoch of Church history—the early era, the middle era, the reforming era, the early modern era, and the modern era—with individual chapters that follow a standard format. At the beginning of each chapter, Truesdale provides a brief biography (1–3 pages) of a heroic figure from the Christian past, which is followed by excerpts from that figure's writings. Underneath each excerpt, he includes a prayer (not necessarily written by the figure) as well as scriptural passages for further reflection. The ethos of the series is more devotional than scholarly, and the overarching goal is for readers to utilize these books as a resource for regular reflection and prayer.

In the introduction to the first volume, Truesdale laments that our highly mobile society often makes it difficult for us to know our family, both "current and past" (12). He argues that a similar problem plagues the family of God, so he hopes that his books might serve as a way for Christians to come to better know their family history through learning more about the lives of the saints. Readers looking to strengthen their familiarity with the Christian past will find Truesdale's series a readily accessible resource. As handy devotional guides, these volumes perform a serviceable role.

However, the series is burdened by one serious flaw. Namely, Truesdale never explains his criteria for discerning who a saint is. This oversight presents less of a problem in the volume on the early era, as Christians of various stripes mostly agree on the roster of heroic figures from the first few centuries of Christian history. Once Truesdale approaches the reforming and early modern eras, though, this matter becomes more contentious. Catholics are likely to have a different perspective than Lutherans and Congregationalists regarding the qualifications for sainthood, especially concerning such figures as Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Wesley, and others associated with Protestantism. While Truesdale's desire to be ecumenically sensitive is admirable, he appears overly confident that readers will automatically see eye-to-eye with his judgments about who should be considered a saint.

For instance, Catholics who read this particular volume will undoubtedly be drawn to the chapters on Elizabeth Ann Seton, John Henry Newman, and Thérèse of Lisieux, but the remainder of the book will possess far less attraction for them. It is not that Catholics are unwilling to recognize the heroic qualities of individuals such as Jonathan Edwards, Phoebe Palmer, and Frederick Douglass, it is simply that, from a Catholic perspective, these historical figures are out of place in a devotional book specifically dedicated to looking at the lives of the saints. From another angle, confessional Protestants may raise their own objections to upholding the Catholic figures as models of sanctity, or even to the very idea of elevating a certain segment of Christians to a higher status above the rest of God's children. Ironically, by seeking to broaden the category of who counts as a saint, Truesdale may have crafted a book that does not appeal strongly to members of any one tradition.

Readers who come to Truesdale's work specifically with the intention of learning more about Newman's life will not find a great deal here. Truesdale's two-page biography of Newman's life is accurate, but surface-level. While he narrates Newman's movement from the Church of England to the Roman Catholic communion, Truesdale offers no indication as to whether this decision should count in Newman's favor or against him. Finally, all of the selections from Newman's writings (four from the Parochial and Plain Sermons and one from the Essay on Development) can be accessed easily online. This fact would be less relevant if Truesdale had provided more extensive original commentary on Newman's life...