Letters from the Late Rev. William Romaine

These letters, collected and published posthumously, preserve the pastoral correspondence of William Romaine, one of the leading evangelical voices within the Church of England during the eighteenth century. Romaine served for decades at St. Anne's Blackfriars in London, where his preaching drew both devoted followers and fierce opposition from those who found his emphasis on justification by faith alone too radical for Anglican sensibilities. The letters emerge from his ministry to parishioners, fellow clergy, and correspondents across England who sought his counsel on matters of spiritual life and evangelical doctrine.

The correspondence reveals Romaine's central theological convictions in their practical application. He consistently directs readers away from any reliance on their own works or spiritual progress toward complete dependence on Christ's finished work. The letters demonstrate his skill at diagnosing the subtle ways that self-righteousness infiltrates even sincere Christian devotion, whether through pride in spiritual disciplines, confidence in moral improvement, or anxiety about the genuineness of one's faith. Romaine repeatedly counsels correspondents to look outside themselves to Christ crucified, arguing that the gospel promises are to be received by faith alone without reference to one's spiritual state or performance. His pastoral method involves stripping away false comforts while directing troubled souls to find their peace in Christ's righteousness imputed to them.

These letters have endured because they represent evangelical pastoral care at its most psychologically acute and theologically rigorous. Romaine's ability to identify and address the religious anxieties that plague earnest believers has made his counsel valuable across denominational lines and historical periods. Who should read this: Christians struggling with assurance of salvation, pastors learning to apply gospel truth to specific spiritual problems, and those interested in how eighteenth-century evangelicalism addressed the relationship between faith and works. This is not for readers seeking practical spiritual disciplines or moral guidance.