MIDWESTERN BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

FINAL PAPER
CHARLES HADDON SPURGEON

SUBMITTED TO DR. MCMULLEN

IN PARTIAL FULLFILMENT
OF BAPTIST HISTORY AND PRACTICE

BY
STEPHEN SPRAGUE

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI

DECEMBER 6, 2011

When asked to write about the subject that impacted me the

most throughout the course of Baptist History this semester, I
could only think about the person of Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
It seems that over the last few years of my life I have gone
from just merely being introduced to the person of Spurgeon to
becoming not only inspired by, but also challenged by, his
lifes pursuit of Godliness.

Most of what I have learned about

Spurgeon has happened throughout this course in the last few

months as I have been inspired to look much further into
Spurgeons character through my own personal study of his life,
his beliefs, and the controversies he faced.

For me, the most

inspiring aspect of Spurgeons life was his commitment to the

Holy Scriptures and to Christ, which he found to be far more
important than modern beliefs and historical theologians.1 It is
this commitment that gave him courage to stand strong during
rough spells such as the Down Grade Controversy that shook the
1

J. C. Carlile, Charles Spurgeon: An Interpretative Biography (London: The

Religious Tract Society and The Kingsgate Press, 1933), 133.

Baptist Union of Great Britain.

The purpose of this paper is to

provide an overview of Spurgeons theological and doctrinal

beliefs, and to look at how Spurgeon responded to the Down Grade
Controversy which occurred in the latter part of his life.
Spurgeon was a man who valued his relationship with Jesus
Christ far more than anything in this life.

He believed that

above everything else he was a Christian first and foremost.

It

was below his identity as a Christ Follower that he also

identified himself as a Calvinist and a Baptist.

Spurgeons

beliefs on his personal identity as a believer are summed up

well in his first sermon preached at the newly built
Metropolitan Temple where he exhorted, I am not ashamed to avow
myself a Calvinist, although I claim to be rather a Calvinist
according to Calvin than after the modern debased fashion.

I do

not hesitate to take the name of Baptist But if I am asked to

say what is my creed, I think I must reply, It is Jesus
Christ.2

Spurgeon, in his commitment to the teachings of

Christ, believed in preaching the gospel.

It is because of this

that his beliefs as a Calvinist were much different than the

common school of thought in Calvinist circles during his day and
age.

Many of the Calvinists around him were hyper-Calvinistic

in nature and did not believe in evangelism.

2

While this hyper-

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), 117.

Calvinistic theology came only from a portion of John Calvins

teachings, Spurgeons Calvinistic beliefs seemed to better
represent Calvins teachings as a whole.

Also, unlike the

hyper-Calvinistic preachers of his day, Spurgeon did not hold

himself just to the teachings of Calvin, but rather looked
always to the scriptures first for truth.

Spurgeon believed

that eternal life was from Christ alone, and that having
Calvinistic beliefs was not a necessary part of understanding
the Gospel and being a Christian.

Far from it actually,

Spurgeon disagreed with the theologians of his day and their

desire to have a clearly defined definition of every aspect of
God.

From Spurgeons perspective, the study of God was full of

problems too perplexing for men to solve in this life, thus he

believed that it was good for men to recognize their own
limitations in the study of Gods word.3
Spurgeon also was greatly convicted of the need to
communicate to the people the Gospel in such a way that they
could not only understand it, but also be deeply moved to their
own repentance and the accepting of Gods grace in their lives.
Spurgeon loved his theological studies, but was practical in
recognizing that it was far more important to preach on the
mercy of God rather than the minor doctrinal matters at hand in
3

Carlile, Charles Spurgeon: An Interpretative Biography, 132-143.

the universities of his day.

For in preaching on the mercy of

God, he believed he was ministering to those who most required

his care.

It was far more important to Spurgeon that he

communicate the grace of God in the gospel, above and beyond

anything else.

In a lecture to his students, Spurgeon

reiterated this when he said, Our great master theme is the

good news of heaven; the tidings of mercy through the atoning
death of Jesus, mercy to the chief of sinners upon their
believing in Jesus.4
Throughout the ministry of Spurgeon, he consistently
maintained a high view of scriptures and defended the faith
militantly against opposition within the church.

Spurgeon, like

most Baptists of his day, believed that the bible was Gods
inerrant word.

During the 1860s however, higher criticism

began to work its way through the prominent theological

universities.

This new wave of thought brought about an

undermining of the inerrancy of scripture.

Higher criticism of

the Bible sought to revolutionize the study of Gods word by

throwing out the historical accuracy of the bible and giving way
to new dates and identities of the authors of certain books.

In

doing so it also sought to provide evidence outside of the

supernatural for how the miracles of the Bible might have
4

Charles Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students: Complete and Unabridged (Grand

Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1954), 70-80.

occurred, thus taking away the very deity of Christ.

By the

1870s this higher criticism had made its way into many of the
pulpits throughout Great Britain.

By the 1880s higher

criticism had gained a foothold in the beliefs of some of the

leaders of the Baptist Union of Great Britain that Spurgeon was
a part of.

Spurgeons reaction was both bold and fierce,

demanding that the Union create a statement of faith of the

fundamentals of Christian Evangelicalism, and make acceptance of
this statement of faith a necessary part of a church continuing
membership in the Baptist Union.

Spurgeon believed that the

remaining churches that did not hold to the new theology needed
to band together against this uprising in the Union.

He argued

that it was impossible for true believers to maintain fellowship

with those that held to such false teachings.

Spurgeon

ultimately predicted the downfall of Evangelicalism in Great

Britain when he wrote an article titled Another Word Concerning
the Down-Grade in his paper, The Sword and the Trowel.

It

reads, When the old faith is gone, and enthusiasm for the
gospel is extinct, it is no wonder that people seek something
else in the way of delight.5

It was because of this article and

more that the theological battle received its title, The

Downgrade Controversy.

It was shortly after the publication of

this article that Spurgeon, seeing only opposition and no

5

Charles Spurgeon, Another Word Concerning the Down-Grade, The Sword and
the Trowel, August 1887.

change, came to the heart wrenching conclusion that it was

necessary for him to break ties with the Baptist Union, once and
for all.6

This was not easy for Spurgeon to do and although, he

left the union immediately, the Controversy seemed to follow him

for the rest of his life.

It is believed that the emotional and

physical stress that burdened Spurgeon because of the

Controversy led to bouts of depression and illness for the
remainder of his life.

Spurgeon himself said to a dear friend,

The fight is killing me, in reference to the Controversy.

Although Spurgeon may have given his life for this cause, he
never for a moment thought of backing down.7
Charles Spurgeon was undoubtedly one of the preeminent
leaders in the Baptist denomination.

He set forth a great

example as a preacher and as a leader in his day and age.

Spurgeon was devoted to the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus
Christ above and beyond all else.

He found it necessary for the

Church and its leaders to hold to an inerrant view of the Holy

Scriptures and was willing to put his reputation and health on
the line to stand firm against the heretical wave of new
theology that was sweeping throughout the evangelical church in
Great Britain.

To many, Spurgeon was considered a prophet of

Arnold A. Dallimore, Spurgeon: A New Biography (Carlisle, Pennsylvania:

Banner of Truth, 1985), 203-8.
7
W. Y. Fullerton, C. H. Spurgeon: A Biography (London: Williams and Norgate,
1920), 314-16.

his time, and a man sent from God.8

To me Spurgeon has become

a great example of a man who sought to live his life for the
Glory of God and the salvation of men.

My life will never be

the same.

W. Y. Fullerton, Charles H. Spurgeon: London's Most Popular

Preacher (Chicago: Moody Press, 1982), 67.

Bibliograpy

Carlile, J. C. Charles Spurgeon: An Interpretative Biography.

London: The Religious Tract Society and The Kingsgate
Press, 1933.

Shindler, Robert. 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.

Spurgeon, Charles. Lectures to My Students: Complete and

Unabridged. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1954.

Spurgeon, Charles. Another Word Concerning the Down-Grade, The

Sword and the Trowel. August 1887.

Dallimore, Arnold A. Spurgeon: A New Biography. Carlisle,

Pennsylvania: Banner of Truth, 1985.

Fullerton, W. Y. C. H. Spurgeon: A Biography. London: Williams

and Norgate, 1920.

Fullerton, W. Y. Charles H. Spurgeon: London's Most Popular

Preacher. Chicago: Moody Press, 1982.