John
M.Barkley
One
of the most brilliant and most controversial careers in modern Irish Presbyterianism
has undoubtedly been that of the Reverend Professor John M. Barkley: theologian,
historian, ecumenist and free thinker, a man hailed by some as the embodiment
of enlightened Presbyterian values and denounced by others as a 'Jesuit'
and a 'Judas'
In this
engaging memoir, which will delight his admirers and offer his detractors
no comfort, Dr. Barkley, 'without doubt one of the most influencial Irish
Churchmen of the second half of the twentieth century', writes of his life
and the experiences that formed him, lacing his narrative with some astringent
criticism of contemporary Irish Presbyterianism, and explaining why, if
he were a young man today, he would have serious reservations about joining
the Presbyterian Church.
