Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Was Spurgeon a Calvinist?

Was Spurgeon a passionate, evangelistic, soul-winning, prayerful, witnessing Calvinist?

In 1873, an English evangelical church leader, R. W. Dale of Birmingham, claimed that all Calvinism was now obsolete. In response to this, Spurgeon replied to Dale:

"Those who labor to smother "Calvinism" will find that it dies hard, and, it may be, they will come, after many defeats, to perceive the certain fact that it will outlive its opponents. Its funeral oration has been pronounced many times before now, but the performance has been premature. It will live when the present phase of religious misbelief has gone down to eternal execration amid the groans of those whom it has undone. Today it may be sneered at; nevertheless, it was only yesterday that it numbered among its adherents the ablest men of the age [the same could be said today- MT], and tomorrow it may be, when once again there shall be giants in theology, it will come to the front and ask in vain for its adversaries." [Spurgeon's prophecy in the last sentence has come true- MT]

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