Reviewed Book: McLeod, Ian. Tommy Douglas: the road to Jerusalem. Edmonton, Alta: Hurtig Pub, 1987

Cole-Arnal, Oscar

English

Wilfrid Laurier University

ConsensusVolume 15Issue 2 Theology of the Cross: Theory and Practice Article 1711-1-1989Tommy Douglas: the road to JerusalemOscar Cole-ArnalFollow this and additional works at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensusThis Book Reviews is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in Consensus by anauthorized editor of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact scholarscommons@wlu.ca.Recommended CitationCole-Arnal, Oscar (1989) "Tommy Douglas: the road to Jerusalem," Consensus: Vol. 15 : Iss. 2 , Article 17.Available at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus/vol15/iss2/17132 Consensuswill challenge the long held “pre-critical blue-print” approach so familiarin the past.Of particular interest to Roman Catholics (though not exclusively tothem) will be the tracing of the development of the Church at Rome andits character throughout its early life as a predominantly Jewish-Christiancommunity. Matthew’s delineation of the symbolic Petrine role is discussedin the context of the Antiochene community but, the author concludes,“There is no evidence that any one individual in the mid-80s actually func-tioned in this Petrine role for the universal church either at Antioch oranywhere else” (156).One disappointment to this reviewer wels the treatment of women inthe text. On the one hand, the author presents us with much of the re-cent research on women as disciples, leaders of house- churches, widows,deacons (avoiding the trap of labelling them “deaconesses”), missionaries,co-workers, apostles, etc. The predominantly negative views of the Pas-torals are discussed contextually. Nevertheless in a work based on so manyconjectures and hypotheses, it is disappointing that the hypothetical recon-structions of feminist biblical scholars are not integrated as consistently asthose of their male counterparts.The volume concludes with a very helpful summary of seven majorthemes, including Unity and Diversity, the Local Church, The Role andMinistry of Women and Judaism and Christianity. The bibliography issufficiently brief and specific to be of help to the students and other non-biblical specialists who will find this book extremely helpful.This book is timely and exciting. It repeats the reflections of KarlRahner and Walter Buhlmann on the coming of the “third age” of thechurch and comments: “we cannot use the New Testament or the earlychurch to support or justify Christian division. Diversity within a basicunity, yes; division, no” (198). The author concludes with the hope thatpervades the whole volume: “The diversity in the early church and the NewTestament writings may be telling us that in that unity there may well beroom for greater diversity than was once thought possible” (198).Mary MaloneSt. Jerome’s College, Waterloo, OntarioTommy Douglas: The Road to JerusalemThomas H. McLeod and Ian McLeodEdmonton: Hurtig Publishers, 1987xiv-h 341 pp. $24.95Tommy Douglas, Baptist preacher and first socialist premier of Canada,is a life waiting for a definitive biography. This recent one, by a father-and-son team, will fill that gap for a number of years to come. The timelinessBook Reviews 133of it cannot be contested, given its appearance barely a year after Douglas’death. The senior McLeod knew and loved Tommy Douglas personallyand worked with him since the early days of campaigning in Weyburn,Saskatchewan. McLeod’s ties with Douglas continued during the earlyyears of the trail-blazing CCF government in Saskatchewan. The book’spostscript describes these personal ties and their impact upon its writing.In spite of this personal affection for Douglas by the authors, the book neverdegenerates to uncritical accolades, nor does it fall into “syrupy” sentimen-tality. It is exceedingly balanced and most forthright about Douglas’ foiblesand failures. Tommy Douglas’ life is treated with thoroughness and detailfrom his boyhood influences within Scottish radicalism and religiosity to hislast public outing at the parliamentary barber shop a few weeks before hisdeath. Events and ideas are described, in the most minute detail; virtuallyno stone is left unturned. The McLeods have taken full advantage of theircontacts. A quick examination of the footnotes is proof positive of the thor-oughness of their research. The use of newspapers, archives, private papersand interviews of people great and small who knew Douglas are indicativeof why this book paints so thorough a picture of the man and his times.Also to the book’s credit is its broad and rich portrayal of the political,economic, social and religious context of his life. Douglas’ college days, theinner life of the CCF, the town of Weyburn, the opposition parties (bothfederal and provincial), Canada’s political life, his Scottish forebears andmany other influences on his life are fleshed out in greater detail. Especiallyvaluable are the biographical details of other important politicians of theDouglas years, such as M.J. Coldwell, J.S. Woodsworth, George Williams,David Lewis, Ed Broadbent and others. Finally, extensive quoted materialin the book allows Tommy Douglas to speak for himself.In spite of these fine qualities the book has a couple of shortcomings.Its very thoroughness, on occasion, drowns the reader in details. Especially,toward the end of the work, one can feel bogged down, as events move soponderously forward. Interest can wane in this sea of detail. Also, thebook is far too silent on Douglas’ private life. One senses that he had arich family life with Irma and his two daughters, but there is a deadness tothe material given to the reader in these matters. Of course, authors mustmake their choices, and their emphases may clash with this or that reader’swishes. In the last analysis, whatever its few shortcomings, the McLeods’book on Tommy Douglas is a most valuable work and will likely hold thefield for some time as the definitive biography of one of Canada’s greatestpractical visionaries.Oscar L. Cole ArnalWaterloo Lutheran Seminary

Tommy Douglas: the road to Jerusalem

Scholars Commons

Consensus
Volume 15
Issue 2 Theology of the Cross: Theory and Practice Article 17
11-1-1989
Tommy Douglas: the road to Jerusalem
Oscar Cole-Arnal
Follow this and additional works at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus
This Book Reviews is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in Consensus by an
authorized editor of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact scholarscommons@wlu.ca.
Recommended Citation
Cole-Arnal, Oscar (1989) "Tommy Douglas: the road to Jerusalem," Consensus: Vol. 15 : Iss. 2 , Article 17.
Available at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus/vol15/iss2/17
132 Consensus
will challenge the long held “pre-critical blue-print” approach so familiar
in the past.
Of particular interest to Roman Catholics (though not exclusively to
them) will be the tracing of the development of the Church at Rome and
its character throughout its early life as a predominantly Jewish-Christian
community. Matthew’s delineation of the symbolic Petrine role is discussed
in the context of the Antiochene community but, the author concludes,
“There is no evidence that any one individual in the mid-80s actually func-
tioned in this Petrine role for the universal church either at Antioch or
anywhere else” (156).
One disappointment to this reviewer wels the treatment of women in
the text. On the one hand, the author presents us with much of the re-
cent research on women as disciples, leaders of house- churches, widows,
deacons (avoiding the trap of labelling them “deaconesses”), missionaries,
co-workers, apostles, etc. The predominantly negative views of the Pas-
torals are discussed contextually. Nevertheless in a work based on so many
conjectures and hypotheses, it is disappointing that the hypothetical recon-
structions of feminist biblical scholars are not integrated as consistently as
those of their male counterparts.
The volume concludes with a very helpful summary of seven major
themes, including Unity and Diversity, the Local Church, The Role and
Ministry of Women and Judaism and Christianity. The bibliography is
sufficiently brief and specific to be of help to the students and other non-
biblical specialists who will find this book extremely helpful.
This book is timely and exciting. It repeats the reflections of Karl
Rahner and Walter Buhlmann on the coming of the “third age” of the
church and comments: “we cannot use the New Testament or the early
church to support or justify Christian division. Diversity within a basic
unity, yes; division, no” (198). The author concludes with the hope that
pervades the whole volume: “The diversity in the early church and the New
Testament writings may be telling us that in that unity there may well be
room for greater diversity than was once thought possible” (198).
Mary Malone
St. Jerome’s College, Waterloo, Ontario
Tommy Douglas: The Road to Jerusalem
Thomas H. McLeod and Ian McLeod
Edmonton: Hurtig Publishers, 1987
xiv
-h 341 pp. $24.95
Tommy Douglas, Baptist preacher and first socialist premier of Canada,
is a life waiting for a definitive biography. This recent one, by a father-and-
son team, will fill that gap for a number of years to come. The timeliness
Book Reviews 133
of it cannot be contested, given its appearance barely a year after Douglas’
death. The senior McLeod knew and loved Tommy Douglas personally
and worked with him since the early days of campaigning in Weyburn,
Saskatchewan. McLeod’s ties with Douglas continued during the early
years of the trail-blazing CCF government in Saskatchewan. The book’s
postscript describes these personal ties and their impact upon its writing.
In spite of this personal affection for Douglas by the authors, the book never
degenerates to uncritical accolades, nor does it fall into “syrupy” sentimen-
tality. It is exceedingly balanced and most forthright about Douglas’ foibles
and failures. Tommy Douglas’ life is treated with thoroughness and detail
from his boyhood influences within Scottish radicalism and religiosity to his
last public outing at the parliamentary barber shop a few weeks before his
death. Events and ideas are described, in the most minute detail; virtually
no stone is left unturned. The McLeods have taken full advantage of their
contacts. A quick examination of the footnotes is proof positive of the thor-
oughness of their research. The use of newspapers, archives, private papers
and interviews of people great and small who knew Douglas are indicative
of why this book paints so thorough a picture of the man and his times.
Also to the book’s credit is its broad and rich portrayal of the political,
economic, social and religious context of his life. Douglas’ college days, the
inner life of the CCF, the town of Weyburn, the opposition parties (both
federal and provincial), Canada’s political life, his Scottish forebears and
many other influences on his life are fleshed out in greater detail. Especially
valuable are the biographical details of other important politicians of the
Douglas years, such as M.J. Coldwell, J.S. Woodsworth, George Williams,
David Lewis, Ed Broadbent and others. Finally, extensive quoted material
in the book allows Tommy Douglas to speak for himself.
In spite of these fine qualities the book has a couple of shortcomings.
Its very thoroughness, on occasion, drowns the reader in details. Especially,
toward the end of the work, one can feel bogged down, as events move so
ponderously forward. Interest can wane in this sea of detail. Also, the
book is far too silent on Douglas’ private life. One senses that he had a
rich family life with Irma and his two daughters, but there is a deadness to
the material given to the reader in these matters. Of course, authors must
make their choices, and their emphases may clash with this or that reader’s
wishes. In the last analysis, whatever its few shortcomings, the McLeods’
book on Tommy Douglas is a most valuable work and will likely hold the
field for some time as the definitive biography of one of Canada’s greatest
practical visionaries.
Oscar L. Cole Arnal
Waterloo Lutheran Seminary


https://scholars.wlu.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1991&amp;context=consensus

Tommy Douglas: the road to Jerusalem

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Wilfrid Laurier University

Scholars Commons