A Practical View of the Prevailing Religious System of Professed Christians, in the Higher and Middle Classes in this Country, Contrasted with Real Christianity
William Wilberforce1797
William Wilberforce’s book of 1797, written while he led the campaign against the slave trade in Parliament. It contrasts the religion of respectable society with what he calls real Christianity.
William Wilberforce published the book in 1797, describing himself on the title page as member of Parliament for the county of York. The introduction says he had wished for several years to address his countrymen on religion and wrote in the intervals of a busy public life.
The book is about belief and conduct, not about the slave trade. It is cited here as the statement, in his own words, of the convictions from which he acted.