Reading across the lines

by Dr Sarah Mortimer

They say you can tell a person by their bookshelves - or perhaps nowadays by the books on their kindle…Recently a particular set of bookshelves have been in my mind, shelves tucked away in a corner of Christ Church like a long-forgotten time capsule.  They contain the library of a seventeenth-century scholar named Richard Allestree, a man whose writing helped shape the Church after the civil war.  Allestree held some prestigious roles, but he was best known for writing a runaway bestseller which urged people to put their faith into practice in their everyday lives.

Allestree was a staunch Anglican, but his library tells a revealing story.   Protestant and Catholic authors sit side by side, and there are dozens of well-thumbed works from heterodox or marginal figures. Allestree and his friends were adventurous spirits, they were genuinely fascinated by writing from all over Europe and from right across the religious spectrum.  And they put their reading to good use as they offered English Christians a vision of Anglicanism which was relevant and persuasive, without losing hold on their core beliefs.

The library shelves make clear how far Allestree ventured beyond a narrow echo-chamber. His views were shaped not just by those he agreed with, but also by his careful, attentive engagement with others, even with heretics and opponents. I wonder if this was part of his success – perhaps it is when we are willing to be challenged that our own ideas develop best.