The Significance of J. I. Packer for Evangelicalism

Article Sidebar

Requires Subscription or Fee PDF (AUD 4)

Issue:

Vol. 85 No. 2 (2026)

Published:

Aug 1, 2026
Section
Articles

Keywords:

J. I. Packer, evangelicalism, historical retrieval, Puritan spirituality

Main Article Content

Bruce Hindmarsh
Regent College, Vancouver
https://doi.org/10.53521/a479

Abstract

This essay assesses J. I. Packer’s significance for evangelicalism, arguing that Packer’s enduring contribution was to help those who identify socially as evangelicals become evangelicals theologically and spiritually. Packer did this through six roles: Robin Hood, retrieving the riches of church history and the Puritan tradition; Traffic Cop, regulating the movement theologically; Plumber, keeping the theological water clear for spirituality; Catechist, teaching ordinary Christians; bridge builder, uniting evangelicals with other historic Christian communities; and Tigger, embodying effervescent Christian joy.

Article Details

How to Cite
Hindmarsh, Bruce. “The Significance of J. I. Packer for Evangelicalism”. Reformed Theological Review 85, no. 2 (August 1, 2026): 122–139. Accessed October 9, 2026. https://rtrjournal.org/index.php/RTR/article/view/479.

The Author/s grant/s to the Journal the rights to edit the Work and to reproduce and distribute the Work in the Journal, in reprints, as a contribution to a collection published by the Journal, and by means of an Internet or Intranet site over which the Journal exercises effective control, and also by means of third-party online legal information providers. The Author/s grant/s the above rights without claim of royalties or other compensation. The copyright in the Work shall remain with the Author/s and the copyright in the reproduction format shall remain with the Journal. Notwithstanding, the copyright notice in publication shall be stated as belonging to the Journal. The Author/s agree/s not to publish the Work elsewhere without the permission of the Journal for a period of five years commencing from the date of first publication by the Journal.

References

Adey, Lionel, Class and Idol in the English Hymn (Vancouver: UBC Press, 2014).

Adey, Lionel, Hymns and the Christian Myth (Vancouver: UBC Press, 2014).

Barth, Karl, Church Dogmatics, trans. Geoffrey Bromiley (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1980).

Bebbington, David W. and Mark A. Noll, eds, A History of Evangelicalism, 5 vols (Downers Grove: IVP, 2004–2013).

Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, The Statesman's Manual: Or, The Bible the Best Guide to Political Skill and Foresight (London: Gale and Fenner, J. M. Richardson, and Hatchard, 1816).

D'Ambrosio, Marcellino, 'Ressourcement theology, aggiornamento, and the hermeneutics of tradition', Communio 18 (1991).

Egerton, George W. et al., eds, The Anglican Network in Canada: Protest, Providence, and Promise in Global Anglican Realignment (Huntington Beach, CA: Anglican House Publishers, 2021).

George, Timothy, 'Ecumenism in the Trenches: Evangelical & Catholic Dialogue', Biola University Center for Christian Thought / The Table (10 Apr 2015), https://cct.biola.edu/ecumenism-trenches-evangelical-catholic-dialogue/.

Hindmarsh, D. Bruce, 'Contours of Evangelical Spirituality', Journal of Spiritual Formation and Soul Care 10, no. 2 (2017), 195–206.

Hindmarsh, D. Bruce, 'Retrieval and Renewal: A Model for Evangelical Spiritual Vitality', J. I. Packer and the Evangelical Future: The Impact of His Life and Thought, ed. Timothy George (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2009), 99–114.

Hutchinson, Mark and John Wolffe, A Short History of Global Evangelicalism (Cambridge: CUP, 2012).

'J. I. Packer on Catechesis', Catechesis Renewal, https://www.catechesisrenewal.com/j-i-packer-on-catechesis (accessed 9 Mar 2026).

Lewis, C. S., 'On the Reading of Old Books', God in the Dock: Essays on Theology and Ethics, ed. Walter Hooper (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1970), 200–207.

McGrath, Alister E., J. I. Packer: A Biography (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1997).

Milne, A. A., The House at Pooh Corner (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1928).

Neff, David, 'The Top Books That Have Shaped Evangelicals', Christianity Today 50, no. 10 (2006), 51–55.

Packer, J. I., 'An Introduction to Systematic Spirituality', Crux 26, no. 1 (1990), 2–8.

Packer, J. I., Growing in Christ (Wheaton: Crossway, 2022 [1977]).

Packer, J. I., 'The Means of Conversion', With Heart, Mind, & Strength: The Best of Crux, 1979–1989, ed. Donald M. Lewis (Langley, BC: Credo, 1990), 63–79.

Packer, J. I., 'On from Orr: The Cultural Crisis, Rational Realism, and Incarnational Ontology', Crux 32, no. 3 (1996).

Packer, J. I., 'Reflection and Response' — incomplete: cited only in short form at n. 33; needs full details.

Packer, J. I., Weakness Is the Way: Life with Christ Our Strength (Wheaton: Crossway, 2013).

Packer, J. I., 'Why I Signed It', Christianity Today 38, no. 14 (12 Dec 1994), 34–37.

Packer, J. I., 'Why we need the Puritans', Among God's Giants: The Puritan Vision of the Christian Life (Eastbourne: Kingsway, 1991).

Packer, J. I. and Thomas Howard, Christianity: The True Humanism (Waco: Word Books, 1985).

Packer, J. I. and N. T. Wright, Anglican Evangelical Identity: Yesterday and Today (Vancouver: Regent College Publishing, 2009).

Packer, J. I. et al., eds, To Be a Christian: An Anglican Catechism (Wheaton: Crossway, 2020).

Ryken, Leland, J. I. Packer: An Evangelical Life (Wheaton: Crossway, 2015).

Scandrett, Joel, '"To Be a Christian": J. I. Packer and the Renewal of Evangelical Catechesis', Crux 52, no. 1 (2016), 4–12.

Sinclair, George, 'God Draws Straight with Crooked Lines: From Essentials to ANiC', The Anglican Network in Canada: Protest, Providence, and Promise in Global Anglican Realignment, eds George W. Egerton et al. (Huntington Beach, CA: Anglican House Publishers, 2021), 103–121.

'The 25 Most Influential Evangelicals in America', Time (7 Feb 2005), https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1993235_1993243_1993310,00.html.

Tyndale, William, 'A Pathway into the Holy Scripture', Doctrinal Treatises, ed. Henry Walter (Cambridge, 1848).