Written at a time when the Church of England was in a great theological battle, Knots Untied is J.C. Ryle's definitive practical ecclesiology. "This is no time for smooth words," he says, as he systematically proves the case for historic evangelical Christianity.
Knots Untied is exactly as the subtitle reads: Being Plain Statements on Disputed Points in Religion From the Standpoint of an Evangelical Churchman—"plain" as in candid, honest, and forceful. So "plain," in fact, that twenty years after the book was written, Ryle said, "I frankly admit, after careful examination of Knots Untied, that I observe in its pages occasional sharp and strong expressions which perhaps I should not use if I wrote the book over again in the present year."
"Sharp expressions" or not, his point still stands—"there is one thing which is even worse than controversy, and that is false doctrine tolerated, allowed, and permitted without protest or molestation." And in protesting against doctrinal corruption, his love for the truth is evident on every single page— that is the beauty of this work.
Knots Untied is Ryle at his best. Writing "as a minister of Christ, a father of a family, and a lover of my country," he calls upon all Christians to "have clear systematic views of the gospel of the grace of God. Nothing else will do good in the hour of sickness, in the day of trial, on the bed of death, and in the swellings of Jordan." And that cannot be too plainly stated.
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