Audiobook Sample
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- Title: Christ Is All
- Author: J.C. Ryle
- Narrator: Reigning Voices (jason Belvill)
- Length: 01:08:00
- Version: Abridged
- Release Date: 06/03/2021
- Publisher: Findaway Voices
- Genre: Religion & Spirituality, Christianity, Counseling & Inspirational
- ISBN13: 9.78E+12
As I settled into my favorite armchair with a cup of oolong tea, the opening strains of J.C. Ryle’s ‘Christ Is All’ filled my study through my noise-canceling headphones. The experience immediately transported me back to my graduate school days at Harvard, where I first encountered Ryle’s works in a seminar on Victorian religious literature. This audiobook version, narrated with remarkable clarity by Jason Belvill of Reigning Voices, offers a fresh encounter with Ryle’s timeless theology.
What fascines me most about this production is how Belvill’s narration bridges the 19th century text with contemporary listening sensibilities. His measured cadence captures Ryle’s rhetorical precision while avoiding the stodginess that sometimes plagues recordings of classical theological works. The audio quality is excellent throughout, with particular attention paid to the pacing of Ryle’s complex doctrinal arguments.
Through a cultural lens, this work represents an important artifact of Victorian evangelicalism. Ryle’s uncompromising Christocentrism emerges clearly in chapters like ‘The Cross’ and ‘The Empty Tomb,’ where Belvill’s voice takes on appropriate gravitas without becoming melodramatic. The narrator’s ability to highlight Ryle’s rhetorical devices – particularly his use of anaphora in passages about Christ’s supremacy – enhances the listening experience significantly.
This reminds me of when I taught a comparative literature course on spiritual autobiographies. We examined how different mediums affect theological expression, much like my Contemporary Fiction seminar at Berkeley where we compared formats of ‘Cloud Atlas.’ The audiobook format proves particularly effective for Ryle’s work, as the oral delivery mirrors the sermonic quality of his writing. Belvill’s performance captures what I’ve always told my students: that Victorian religious texts were meant to be heard as much as read.
The book’s central theme – Christ’s preeminence in all things – comes through with particular clarity in audio form. Ryle’s arguments about Christ’s eternal nature (a concept I first grappled with during my year in Tokyo while reading Endo’s ‘Silence’) gain new dimensionality when heard aloud. Belvill’s careful modulation helps navigate complex theological concepts that might otherwise feel dense on the page.
From an academic perspective, the production makes some interesting interpretive choices. The decision to present Ryle’s 19th century language without modernization creates an authentic period feel, though some listeners might find the archaic phrasing challenging. The narrator handles these potential stumbling blocks well, using slight pauses and emphasis to clarify meaning.
Compared to other Christian audiobooks in this genre, this production stands out for its balance of intellectual rigor and devotional warmth. It lacks the theatricality of some modern inspirational works, but gains credibility through its fidelity to Ryle’s original text. The recording would benefit from chapter markers for easier reference, though this is a minor quibble given the audiobook’s brief duration (just over an hour).
For potential listeners, I’d recommend this particularly to:
1. Students of Victorian religious literature
2. Those interested in historical evangelical theology
3. Listeners who appreciate clear, thoughtful narration of classical texts
4. Anyone seeking a concise presentation of Christological centrality
The audiobook’s greatest strength lies in its ability to make Ryle’s 19th century insights feel urgently contemporary. When Belvill delivers lines like ‘Christ is all in justification, all in sanctification, all in comfort, all in hope,’ the words resonate with the same power they must have held for Ryle’s original audience.
As someone who has spent years studying how form affects meaning, I’m particularly impressed by how this audio version illuminates aspects of Ryle’s work that I’d missed in print. The careful pacing reveals nuances in his argumentation, while the vocal delivery highlights the pastoral heart beneath the theological precision.
With scholarly appreciation and spiritual resonance,
Prof. Emily Chen
