J.C. Ryle

J.C. Ryle

157 Sermons|7 Books|2 Images
John Charles Ryle (1816 - 1900). English Anglican bishop, author, and evangelical born in Macclesfield, Cheshire, to a wealthy banker. Educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, earning a first-class degree in 1838, he planned a legal career but was ordained in 1841 after his father’s bankruptcy. Serving parishes in Hampshire and Suffolk, he became the first Bishop of Liverpool in 1880, overseeing a new diocese with 200 churches by 1900. Ryle wrote over 300 tracts and books, including Holiness (1877) and Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, selling millions and translated into 12 languages. A champion of evangelical doctrine, he opposed ritualism and liberalism, grounding his preaching in Scripture and the Thirty-Nine Articles. Married three times—Matilda Plumptre (1845), Jessie Walker (1861), and Henrietta Clowes (1883)—he had five children. His plain, practical sermons drew thousands, urging personal faith and godliness. Ryle’s words, “Be very sure of this—people never reject the Bible because they cannot understand it, but because it comes too close to their conscience,” reflect his bold clarity. His writings, still widely read, shaped Reformed Anglicanism and global evangelicalism.
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