Charles
Haddon (C.H.) Spurgeon ( 1834 – 1892) was a British
Particular Baptist preacher. Spurgeon remains
highly influential among Christians of different denominations, among whom he
is known as the "Prince of Preachers". He was a strong figure
in the Reformed Baptist tradition, defending the Church in agreement with the
1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith understanding, and opposing the liberal
and pragmatic theological tendencies in the Church of his day.
In his lifetime, Spurgeon preached to
around 10,000,000 people, often up to 10 times each week at different places. Spurgeon was the pastor of
the congregation of the New Park Street Chapel (later the Metropolitan
Tabernacle) in London for 38 years. He was part of several controversies with
the Baptist Union of Great Britain and later had to leave the denomination. In
1857, he started a charity organization which is now called Spurgeon's and works globally. He
also founded Spurgeon's College,
which was named after him posthumously.
Spurgeon was
a prolific author of many types of works including sermons, an autobiography,
commentaries, books on prayer, devotionals, magazines, poetry, hymns and more.
Many sermons were transcribed as he spoke and were translated into many
languages during his lifetime. Spurgeon produced
powerful sermons of penetrating thought and precise exposition. His oratory
skills held throngs of listeners spellbound in the Metropolitan Tabernacle and
many Christians have discovered Spurgeon's messages
to be among the best in Christian literature.
A controversy among the
Baptists flared in 1887 with Spurgeon's first
"Down-grade" article, published in The Sword & the Trowel. In the
ensuing "Downgrade Controversy," the Metropolitan Tabernacle became
disaffiliated from the Baptist Union, effectuating Spurgeon's congregation as the
world's largest self-standing church. Contextually the Downgrade Controversy
was British Baptists' equivalent of hermeneutic tensions which were starting to
divide Protestant fellowships in general.
The Controversy took its
name from Spurgeon's use of
the term "Downgrade" to describe certain other Baptists' outlook
toward the Bible (i.e., they had "downgraded" the Bible and the
principle of sola
scriptura[1]). Spurgeon alleged that an
incremental creeping of the Graf-Wellhausen hypothesis,
Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, and other concepts was weakening the
Baptist Union and reciprocally explaining the success of his own evangelistic
efforts. The standoff even split his pupils trained at the College, each side
accused the other of raising issues which did not need to be raised.
[1] Sola scriptura (Latin ablative, "by scripture alone") is
the doctrine that the Bible contains all knowledge necessary for salvation and
holiness. Consequently, sola scriptura demands only those doctrines are to be
admitted or confessed that are found directly within or indirectly by using
valid logical deduction or valid deductive reasoning from scripture. However, sola scriptura is not a denial of other
authorities governing Christian life and devotion. Rather, it simply demands
that all other authorities are subordinate to, and are to be corrected by, the
written word of God. Sola
scriptura was a foundational doctrinal principle of the
Protestant Reformation held by the Reformers and is a formal principle of
Protestantism today ([2])
[2]The Five solae are five Latin phrases
that emerged during the Protestant Reformation and summarize the Reformers'
basic theological beliefs in contradistinction to the teaching of the Roman
Catholic Church of the day. The Latin word sola means "alone" or
"only" in
English. The five solae
articulated five fundamental beliefs of the Protestant Reformation, pillars
which the Reformers believed to be essentials of the Christian life and
practice. All five implicitly rejected or countered the teachings of the
then-dominant Catholic Church, which the Reformers claimed had usurped divine
attributes or qualities for the Church and its hierarchy, especially its head,
the Pope.).
True Prayer—True Power! Delivered on Sabbath Morning, August 12th, 1860, by
the REV. C. H. Spurgeon at Exeter
Hall, Strand. This sermon should illustrate
clearly enough why Charles Spurgeon is considered 'The Prince of Preachers'. This was preached half way through the 19th
century: and yet, the message still gets across, loud and cloud, when it is
read out the way it was originally preached! Preachers: please notice the
excellent structure. A good structure is present in all his sermons. Also,
notice how half of the sermon is taken up with actually looking at what the
text says. Yet, Spurgeon has a way of doing this without it being really
boring! It is so practical and descriptive and real. Spurgeon has a clear purpose and goal in mind: to help us be
better at prayer. One of the best messages ever heard from him. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0p-mRMR8m4
 |
| Caricature of Spurgeon from Vanity fair (1870) |
Not merely believe that "ye
shall" but "ye do" receive them—count them as if they were
received, reckon them as if you had them already, and act as if you had
them—act as if you were sure you should have them—believe that ye receive them,
and ye shall have them. Isn’t
that exactly what Neville Goddard taught some 90 years later?
