Jonah

Written by R. T. Kendall Reviewed By Robert Norris

This is a collection of 22 sermons preached at Westminster Chapel, London by its present American minister. Dr Kendall admits in his preface that he has not prepared a scholarly textbook on Jonah, but throughout his aim has been to meet the needs of the people that gathered week by week. Those who read these sermons will quickly find that they encounter a lot of basic theology, and not a little ‘strong meat’. Yet throughout this has been made digestable, and applicable to the human situation. The style employed is that of the preacher and not primarily that of the writer. This means that often the reader has to contend with much material that is purely repetitive and rhetorical. Yet having said that there remains a warm, personal and engaging style. Dr Kendal obviously establishes an intimate relationship with his hearers, and by apt use of illustration strengthens and applies what he has said. He ranges through the attributes of God, and the doctrine of the nature of Grace, and yet does so in a way that is never removed from pastoral concern, nor does he ever violate the text that he is expounding.

Because his defined aim was not a simple exegesis of the text of Jonah it could be imagined that he has simply used the text as a peg on which to hang his sermons, yet this is not the case. There is evidence of progression of thought, and encounter with the text, and what emerges as a result is that which has obviously challenged and stimulated him.

There remains however one deficiency at least. He has omitted to deal with the reason why Jonah refused to go to Nineveh. Most authorities are agreed that as an ardent Jew who realised that the nation would incur the wrath of God, he also was aware that Nineveh represented the fast growing power of the day, and was loathe to succour what could be a tool of destruction for his people. This conflict between his national loyalty, and his obedience to a received command of God seems an important interpretive key that has been omitted.

Had there been more editing of the material, a process the author said was not possible, then perhaps the high price of the volume could have been reduced, and the very useful material could have been made available to a wider public.

We are grateful on this side of the Atlantic that Dr Kendall takes time to explain some of his ‘Americanisms’, for example when he talks of leading two or three ‘revivals’ I am pleased he explains what he means.

All who seek spiritual stimulus, and preachers who seek illustrations will be well rewarded in reading this volume, those who seek a more exact meaning of the text will need to look elsewhere.


Robert Norris

Robert Norris holds a BA degree from Kings College in London and dual doctorates in history and dogmatics from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. He serves as pastor of Fourth Presbyterian Church in Bethesda, Maryland and has taught at Washington DC’s Reformed Theological Seminary, and in seminaries in Ukraine, Malta, Japan, and Sudan. He and his wife, Caren, have five children.