Christian George Phd Thesis

JESUS CHRIST, THE 'PRINCE OF PILGRIMS': A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE ONTOLOGICAL, FUNCTIONAL, AND EXEGETICAL CHRISTOLOGIES IN THE SERMONS, WRITINGS, AND LECTURES OF CHARLES HADDON SPURGEON (1834-1892) Christian T. George A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of St. Andrews 2012 Full metadata for this item is available in Research@StAndrews:FullText at: http://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/ Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10023/3211 This item is protected by original copyright JESUS CHRIST, THE ‘PRINCE OF PILGRIMS’: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE ONTOLOGICAL, FUNCTIONAL, AND EXEGETICAL CHRISTOLOGIES IN THE SERMONS, WRITINGS, AND LECTURES OF CHARLES HADDON SPURGEON (1834-1892) A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Divinity of the University of St. Andrews In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Christian T. George August 2011 1. Candidate’s declarations: I, Christian T. George, hereby certify that this thesis, which is approximately 80,000 words in length, has been written by me, that it is the record of work carried out by me and that it has not been submitted in any previous application for a higher degree. I was admitted as a research student in August, 2008 and as a candidate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Theology in May, 2009; the higher study for which this is a record was carried out in the University of St Andrews between 2008 and 2011. Date Nov. 13. 2011 Signature of candidate 2. Supervisor’s declaration: I hereby certify that the candidate has fulfilled the conditions of the Resolution and Regulations appropriate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the University of St Andrews and that the candidate is qualified to submit this thesis in application for that degree. Date 17/11/11 Signature of supervisor 3. Permission for electronic publication: In submitting this thesis to the University of St Andrews we understand that we are giving permission for it to be made available for use in accordance with the regulations of the University Library for the time being in force, subject to any copyright vested in the work not being affected thereby. We also understand that the title and the abstract will be published, and that a copy of the work may be made and supplied to any bona fide library or research worker, that my thesis will be electronically accessible for personal or research use unless exempt by award of an embargo as requested below, and that the library has the right to migrate my thesis into new electronic forms as required to ensure continued access to the thesis. We have obtained any third-party copyright permissions that may be required in order to allow such access and migration, or have requested the appropriate embargo below. The following is an agreed request by candidate and supervisor regarding the electronic publication of this thesis: Access to printed copy and electronic publication of thesis through the University of St Andrews. Date Nov. 13. 2011 Signature of candidate Signature of supervisor For Rebecca . sine qua non. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The research, writing, and completion of this thesis are a testimony to many individuals who offered me invaluable guidance and support during my time in St Andrews. To my thesis supervisor, Stephen Holmes, I owe much more than a prefatory acknowledgement can convey, for it was he, who through constant availability and careful attention to my progress, showed me the merits of historical/theological scholarship and equipped me to enter into it with greater clarity. I am grateful to Mark Eliot, Ian Randall, and N. T. Wright for serving on my viva voce committee; to David Bebbington, who with unwavering encouragement helped me navigate the deep waters of nineteenth-century research; to Timothy Larsen, Mark Hopkins, John Briggs, and Michael Haykin, whose manifold correspondences served as timely spring-boards to my thoughts; and to Peter Morden—a fellow Spurgeonite—whose perceptive feedback has been professionally and personally invaluable. In the course of my work, I have benefitted from hospitality offered me at various universities and seminaries. I am pleased to acknowledge the graciousness of Nigel Wright at Spurgeon’s College, who arranged for my prolonged visit; the expertise of Judy Powles, the most capable librarian I have thus far encountered; and the selfless service of Mary Fugill, who made my stay as pleasant as it was productive. I am indebted to Gail Barton and B. Coyne of Samford University, who painstakingly located and photocopied resources for me, along with Taylor Rutland, Pam Cole, and Amanda Denton of the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary for manifold helpful contributions. Additionally, I would like to acknowledge Jeff Griffin, Eric Benoy, and Kyara St. Amant, who provided me with a library carrel and access to the special collections of the John T. Christian Library. Finally, the completion of this project would not have been possible without the prayers and encouragement of my family and friends: to my father, who continually shows me that evangelicalism and scholasticism are not mutually exclusive; to my mother, who always remembers me in her prayers; and to my in- laws, whose generosity is surpassed only by their kindness. Best of all and most of all, I wish to acknowledge the contribution of my wife, Rebecca George, who with extraordinary dedication supported this project from conception to conclusion. iv CONTENTS ABBREVIATIONS ABSTRACT Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION. 1 Overview of the Intended Theological Survey Statement of the Problem and Purpose of the Study Sources Scope and Delimitations Scholarship to Date Spurgeon as Theologian Theological Rhetoric Centrality of Christology 2. THE BEING OF CHRIST: ONTOLOGICAL CHRISTOLOGY . .53 The Person of Christ The Divinity of Christ The Humanity of Christ The Hypostatic Union Charles Spurgeon and The Alexandrian School Christ as Pilgrim 3. THE WORK OF CHRIST: FUNCTIONAL CHRISTOLOGY . 123 Toward an Organized Doctrine of Christ’s Threefold Office v Spurgeon and the Threefold Office of Christ Christ as Prophet Christ as Priest Christ as King 4. THE LIFE OF CHRIST: EXEGETICAL CHRISTOLOGY . 170 Old Testament Eternal Election Christophanies New Testament Birth Miracles Transfiguration Crucifixion Resurrection and Ascension 5. CONCLUSION . 253 Theological Consistency and Variation Spurgeon and the Pilgrim Motif Summary and Contribution to Scholarship APPENDIX Sermons Representative of the Christological Pilgrimage Motif . 278 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY. .282 vi ABBREVIATIONS MTP Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit NPSP New Park Street Pulpit Commenting Commenting and Commentaries Lectures Lectures to My Students ST The Sword and the Trowel ME Morning & Evening vii ABSTRACT This thesis centers on the doctrine of Christ in the theology of Charles Haddon Spurgeon through the lens of Spurgeon’s highly developed metaphor, that of Jesus Christ, the “Prince of pilgrims.” That no scholarly work has thus analyzed or surveyed Spurgeon’s ontological, functional, and exegetical Christologies warrants continued contribution to the field of scholarship. Though not a systematician, Spurgeon stood in direct theological continuity with his Nonconformist Puritan predecessors and transmitted a highly developed Christology that was Chalcedonian in creed and Alexandrian in style. This thesis positions Spurgeon’s Christology against the backdrop of a complex Victorian religious context that, through the use of scientific enquiry, sought to recover the full humanity of Christ. Though reacting against modern conclusions concerning the person, natures, and work of Christ, Spurgeon also sought to recover Christ’s humanity, though his theological presuppositions stood in marked contradistinction to the spirit of the age. Particular attention is given to Spurgeon’s utilization of an allegorical hermeneutic to the end that his vernacular, at times, potentially deviates from traditional, orthodox Christological teachings. The scope of this research is a survey of Spurgeon’s Christology by way of his sermons, published writings, lectures, and letters. The purpose of this study is to analyze Spurgeon’s doctrine of Christ in the context of the wider theological tradition through an investigation of his allegorical and innovative rhetoric. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION If nineteenth-century Britain was indeed an “ocean of retreating horizons,”1 Lytton Strachey is correct in his observation that the task of the Victorian historian is to “row out over that great ocean of material, and lower down into it, here and there, a little bucket which will bring up to the light of day some characteristic specimen . to be examined with a careful curiosity.”2 To such an end, this present writer seeks to resurrect the most popular preacher in the nineteenth-century,3 Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the “Prince of Preachers.”4 1. Owen Chadwick, The Victorian Church: An Ecclesiastical History of England, vol. 1 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1966), 1. 2. Lytton Strachey, Eminent Victorians: Cardinal Manning-Florence Nightingale-Dr. Arnold- General Gordon (London: Chatto & Windus, 1918), vii. 3. David W. Bebbington, Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: The Age of Spurgeon and Moody (Leicester: InterVarsity Press, 2005), 145. Bebbington suggests that Spurgeon was the “most popular preacher of the day.” Furthermore, Robert Shindler suggests, “No man ever wielded so wide and mighty an influence in his own day by means of the pulpit and the press,” Robert Shindler, From the Usher’s Desk to the Tabernacle Pulpit: The Life and Labors of Charles Haddon Spurgeon (New York: A. C. Armstrong and Son, 1892), 239, and Archdeacon Sinclair labelled Spurgeon as the “greatest living preacher,” Robert H. Ellison, “Orality-Literacy Theory and the Victorian Sermon” (PhD diss, University of North Texas, 1995), 89. See also William Mathews, Hours with Men and Books (Chicago: S. C. Griggs and Company, 1895), 81 and 89. 4. The most recent popular use of the phrase “Prince of Preachers” is found in the title of Lewis Drummond’s biography of Spurgeon.

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