Charles Spurgeon

Charles Haddon Spurgeon ( born June 19, 1834 in Kelvedon ( Essex, England); † January 31, 1892 in Menton, France ) was an English Baptist pastor. He is considered one of the most famous preachers of the 19th century.

Life

The Spurgeon parents were members of a free church. His decisive impulse to turn to the Christian faith, Spurgeon was the age of 15 in a Methodist church in Colchester. He researched later in the Bible and came to the conclusion that baptism is the personal faith is not going ahead according to the New Testament, but must follow faith. Therefore He was baptized in a Baptist church on May 3, 1850. Just a year later he was appointed Baptist pastor. In 1854 he was appointed to a preacher in London. Seven years later, his church, the New Park Street Baptist Church, grown so much that a new church, the Metropolitan Tabernacle, had to be built with more than 5000 seats. His sermons were shorthand, sold weekly, and later translated into many languages. From 1855 on, his sermons were circulated in magazines, tracts and books worldwide. Weekly published new Spurgeon sermons. 1856 Spurgeon began with the systematic training of pastors on which he founded Pastors ' College. From 1866 to 1879 he built up the Stockwell Orphanage, a care facility for orphans.

On January 8, 1856 married Susannah Spurgeon, daughter of Robert Thompson. The marriage produced two sons (twins ), Charles and Thomas ( born September 20, 1856).

Work

" Spurgeon's preaching is characterized by uniqueness of the content and richness in the form"

His age creed was: " My whole theology has shrunk to four words: Jesus died for me! " Although he was through and through missionary, he held fast to the Calvinist doctrine of predestination. He was also a deep conviction that the entire Bible is verbally inspired.

Of his numerous writings are particularly worthy of mention:

• Advice to preachers (1856, new edition 1975)
• Bible and Newspaper ( German 1881)
• The Treasury of David. Commentary on the Psalms in 7 volumes ( German 1894)
• The Art of Illustration ( German 1905)
• Gems of divine promises - a devotional book for everyday use

Also in Germany Spurgeon's influence on ecclesiastical and Free Church circles is sustainable even today; his sermons, devotions and biblical comments are popular tools for home devotion, lay preaching and homiletic for the training of future pastors.

Between Spurgeon and the founder of the German Johann Gerhard Oncken Baptist churches was a close link. Over many decades, Spurgeon's sermons and writings appeared in the publishing house founded by Oncken, today Oncken Verlag.

Remembrance

31 January for the Protestant calendar name.

Filming

On the occasion of the 175th birthday of the People's preacher Spurgeon's life was filmed as a documentary drama. The production was a joint project of the British Christian Television Association, the Christian History Institute ( USA ) and the media transmitter ERF Medien ( Germany ) from Wetzlar.