An Examination of the Views of Edward Irving Concerning the Person and I7ork of Jesus Christ
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
An Examination of the Views of Edward Irving concerning The Person and I7ork of Jesus Christ. Thesis submitted for the Degree of Ph. D. Paul Ewing Davies, A.B..B.D. Fellow of MoCormiok Theological Seminary Chicago, Illinois U.S.A. i T ER12FAOE This study of the views of Edward Irving on the person and work of Jesus Christ has "been long delayed in its preparation. It is to be hoped that the time which has elapsed since its inception has served a beneficent purpose. It v/as Charles Darwin who wrote of one of his "books, long postponed: "The delay in this case, as with all my other "books, has "been a great advantage to me; for a man after a long interval can criticise his own work, almost as well as if it were that of another~person. n The material on v/hioh this study is "based takes in the full range from the coarse venom of the London pamphleteer to the strong words of Thomas Carlyle. Irving himself wrote volume after volume, and the student is almost embarrassed by the material from the pen of this eccentric preacher. '/Thole sections of this first-hand material dealing with subjects prophetical were passed by as irrelevant to the theme. The "Life" by Mrs. Oliphant is most readable and gives on attractive picture of the hero. But the sentimentslism of the book oasts a shade upon its historical value, and the student is thrown back on accounts of the life v/hioh, though less complete, v/ere written shortly after his time. ii The form which this examination has taken may appear too logical and analytical for the transient utterances of this v/ielder of words. The general scheme follows the life of Irving with chapters given to a consideration of his general religious "background, the delineation of his particular views on the person and work of Jesus Christ and finally a critical summary of his contribution. The viev/s on theology have been pictured in the setting of the life. The lack of arrangement in the writings of Irving forces upon the student the formulation of some logical order. Moreover, the writer is conscious again and again of an over-critical spirit tov/ard the ideas of Irving. It has been hard to describe withoxit criticising, for the peculiarities are so glaring. Comments of criticism have been inserted into paragraphs of description, instead of being reserved for a later critical summary. But the constant criticism has served at least one purpose in the formulation of the writer f s ideas on some of these subjects. If these studies are intended to develop the student's own thinking, this examination of the views of iii Sdward Irving has served its purpose. ?or the pendulum of theological belief has in many lines swung to the opposite extreme from that of Irving« I owe a debt of gratitude to my faculty advisers. Professor H. R. Mackintosh and Principal Hughes, for their help and advice in launching this thesis. The task was greatly simplified by the splendid collection of books on the subject in the library of New College, and I want to express my appreciation of the librarian there who granted me many privileges. March 1, 1928 30 Oakland Court Springfield, Ohio, U.S.A. Table of Contents Preface Pages i - iii Chapter I "Edward Irving" Pages 1-44 Chapter II "General Background of Theology"- ----- Pages 45 - 76 Chapter III "HeresyJ" Pages 77 - 97 Chapter IV "Christ, Our Brother" - - Pages 98 - 142 Chapter V "A Moral Christ" - - - - Pages 143 - 184 Chapter VI "Christ and the Holy Spirit" - - - Pages 185 - 223 Chapter VII "Theological Summary and Criticism" - - Pages 224 - 235 Chapter VIII "Conclusion" Pages 236 - 265 Chapter I. Edward Irving Introduction -------- Page 2 The Reasons for His Obscurity The Value of the Study l.Iife until 1827 ------ Page 7 Early Life Eduoa tion Teaching Experience Ministry at St.John's, Glasgow Ministry at National Scotch Church, London 2.Personality - ------ Page 19 His Sincerity His Self-Consciousness His Energy His Desire to "be Loved 3.Mental Characteristics - - - Page 22 Naiveness Lack of Critical Judgment Imaginative Quality Expansive Quality Lack of a Sense of Humor Extreme Quality of Mind 4.Influences from Without - - - Page 30 Chapter I. Edward Irving The memory of Edward Irving, minister of the National Scotch Church, London, has faded too soon. Within a century after his death the religious world has forgotten him, except as the founder of the Catholic Apostolic Church and the propounder of a misunderstood doctrine of our Lord's human Nature ? It must be confessed that even to his contemporaries the position which he occupied seemed to be a doubt- :ful one; his earliest biographer writing a year after Irving 1 s death said,"Irving was a meteor in the moral and religious world, a nine days wonder." And Thomas Carlyle, at one time Irving 1 s closest friend, looked upon him as upon one who had "vanished tragically,and fled into oblivion and darkness, like (2) a bright dream!" Pew young ministers have come to their work v/ith higher hopes; Irving sought to bring in a better type of Christianity, "as broad as thought (3) and experience." And seldom has the public accorded a minister a more immediate and startling sign of approval. But although London flocked in crowds to hear him, this strange wonder from Scotland, he reigned (1) The Catholic Apostolic Church refuses to be called the "Irvingite Church", probably because Its universal claims are not compatible v/ith the idea oT sectarianism. It is clear however that there would be no such church today if Irving ! s genius had not exerted its power. (2) Carlyle's Reminiscences Vol.11 edited by C.E.Norton - London 1887 Chapter on "Edward Irving". (3)Farewell Address to tho Congregation of St.John's Glasgow. June 1822 page 22. ' as the popular idol for only a day, and his voice was drowned in a "babel of tongues. A number of elements contributed to the obscurity in which his memory now rests. His style of utterance was not the natural one of his day, and it is a trial of the modern reader's patience to find the path of thought through the wilderness of words. Sterling said,"His unceasing vehemence makes me dizzy," "n*is polemical violence repels." It is but fair to say that in his early years he could write in a natural, smooth-flowing manner, as, for example, in his little tale,"The Loss of the Abeona." Nevertheless when his genius had ripened somewhat, his language became that of the King James 1 translation of the Bible, and his general style came to be consciously modelled after (2) that of Hooker and Jeremy Taylor. He is verbose and his wordy reasoning leads one back and forth over the same ground, although because it is in an ever-changing verbal dress the reader is not always aware of this repetition of thought. Garlyle charac terized his sermons as "those grand forest-avenues of his, v/ith their multifarious outlooks to right (1) Sterling's Life xlvi (2) The Orations - preface to third edition Dec.1,1823. (I) and loft". Preacher-like, Irving ia so "busy going into these digressions that he does not carry us very far into the hasy depths of his subject. He is so occupied with making sure through infinite repetition the ground he has taken that he seldom goes deep. But whether he makes any real progress or not, he generally goes with the same dignified, ponderous step through every subject, light or abstruse. If some of his writings remind one of an organ, it is pertinent to observe that he uses the full organ with its sonorous stateliness all of the time. All of which is to say that Irving f s style warns the reader off at the first approach. But if we may ignore this superficial obstruction, it still remains true that what good is contained in the many volumes from his hand is cast into the shadow by the extravagances into which he fell. His wordy utterances seem to lose what weight they may have v/hen it is found that the same writer speaks with perfect confidence of the vials and trumpets of the Apocalypse and stands up to defend the wild gibberish of modern gifts of tongues. Can any sound good come from a mind so devoid of common sense? Then, to cap the climax of obscurity, we lose the thread of the true and the valuable in Irving T s writings (l) Carlyle f s Reminiscences. when we see the blind maze of millenialism and mirac- :ulous gifts in the church that is associated with his name. Others, leaders in the Catholic Apostolic Church, have built upon the foundation which he laid, and the dwarfed structure of their pretentious hopes has given the lie to the greatness of the founder. With these obstacles to his true appreciation cleared away, the real values in the work of Edward Irving come to light. On the very lowest basis Irving is valuable as a study in theological thinking. A heretic may not be able to tell us new truths, but what he does tell us of error may lead us to a surer grasp of the truth. What led to his heresy may be a truth half-under- :stood or only dimly appreciated by the orthodox of his day. And so, even if we put the label of "heresy" on all that he wrote, Irving may warrant some consideration and study as an example to others of wrong emphases and faulty logic.