Grace and Personality

First published in 1917, this book by the theologian John Oman was based on a series of articles that originally appeared in the Expositor beginning in October 1911. Although the theological underpinnings of the articles remained largely unaltered, the publication of the book itself was considerably influenced by the events of the First World War. Oman reflects on the effects of the war in his preface: ‘It scattered my students, interrupted more directly historical and philosophical studies into which an appointment to the University lectureship on the Philosophy of Religion at Cambridge had led me, sent me into camps and hospitals where fundamental religious questions were constantly being discussed, and forced upon me the reconsideration of my whole religious position.’ The resulting work is a sober theological treatise on the themes of grace and personality, borne out of many years of personal reflection, and offering what Oman hoped would be ‘a Christian valuation of men and means, souls and things’.