A lot of ink has already been spilled about Mother Teresa, and another flood will pour forth when her book of letters is officially published next week. The commentary has ranged from the Catholic reverential to the atheistic scornful.

But here’s a valuable perspective, from a Protestant, who concludes by suggesting that the saint of the gutters was a more complicated, nuanced and interesting figure:

In real life, faith is not a matter of achieving a pure heart, and total and constant communion with God: it is an endless struggle. We are constantly besieged by doubts and by selfish impulses. The idea that “good Christians” are pure and holy is a lie that devalues the ordinary experience of the Christian.

Unless further letters emerge in which Mother Teresa attacks the papacy and rubbishes the doctrine of transubstantiation, her imminent canonisation looks certain. And these letters suggest that she will be more interesting than most saints. On one level she will be a classic Catholic paragon of selfless charity and total loyalty to the institutional church. But on another level, she will be seen as a more nuanced paragon who has waged an existential struggle with doubt and depression.

From a Protestant perspective, it is the latter that makes her an exemplary Christian. Few of us are called to work in the slums of Calcutta; all are called to struggle with the darkness within, with the slums of our hearts.

Personally, I’m looking forward to reading Mother Teresa’s letters myself, and drawing my own conclusions. But from what I’ve seen and read so far, these are provocative and powerful testaments to a singular and astonishing life — and they will be read, studied and prayed over for generations to come.