charles haddon spurgeon - down-grade controversy

LIBERTY UNIVERSITY

“TO PURSUE UNION AT THE EXPENSE OF TRUTH IS TREASON TO THE LORD JESUS”

– THE DOWN-GRADE CONTROVERSY AND CHARLES HADDON SPURGEON

A PAPER SUBMITTED TO DR. A. J. SMITH

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR

THE COURSE CHHI 694

LIBERTY BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

BY

ELKE SPELIOPOULOS

DOWNINGTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA

SUNDAY, MARCH 11, 2012

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1

CHARLES HADDON SPURGEON...............................................................................................1

THEOLOGICAL MOVEMENT AROUND SPURGEON.............................................................4

SPURGEON’S REACTION TO HIGHER CRITICISM................................................................6

THE DOWN-GRADE CONTROVERSY IN THE SWORD AND TROWEL..............................9

THE IMPACT OF THE DOWN GRADE CONTROVERSY......................................................11

SPURGEON’S WITHDRAWAL FROM THE BAPTIST UNION.........................................12

REACTIONS FROM PEERS....................................................................................................13

BAPTIST UNION CENSORSHIP............................................................................................16

SPURGEON’S FINAL YEARS....................................................................................................17

TODAY’S DOWN-GRADE CONTROVERSIES........................................................................19

CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................20

BIBLIOGRAPHY..........................................................................................................................21

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1

INTRODUCTION

Charles Haddon Spurgeon, often referred to as the Prince of Preachers, serves as a role

model of a great defender of truth. As the inspiration and absolute reliability of Scripture came

under attack, in particular as Darwin’s theory of evolution began to take root, Spurgeon exhibited

a great hunger and thirst for the truth of God’s Word to remain untainted and took a valiant stand

for the truth of the Bible. Even though relatively few sided with him at the time, Spurgeon’s

courage in withdrawing from the Baptist Union over this issue sets him apart as a defender of

true biblical faith.

From Spurgeon’s experience, several lessons can be taken away for dealing with the

theological issues in today’s world. The struggle for preserving the Word of God and safe-

guarding truths such as the Trinity and biblical inerrancy are never far from the body of Christ.

The more believers can learn from the lessons of those who have gone before, the better

equipped they will be to stand up when it is time for them to be counted among the faithful

fighting for truth to be preserved.

CHARLES HADDON SPURGEON

In order to understand Spurgeon’s fervor in protecting the Gospel in later years, it is

important to understand how he arrived at that point. Spurgeon was born on June 19, 1834 as the

son of a Congregational minister, John Spurgeon, and his wife Eliza. While born into a

succession of Congregationalists, his ancestral line actually included other denominations:

Huguenots and Quakers.1 His unique middle name was given to him in appreciation of a friend

of his paternal grandfather, who had owned a country shop before becoming a pastor. This friend

had given Charles’ grandfather monies to buy cheese for his shop without interest, citing his

“Christian integrity” as sufficient reason to advance money for cheese purchases at a local cheese

1 P. Toon, “Spurgeon, Charles Haddon,” in Who's Who in Christian History, ed. J.D. Douglas and Philip W. Comfort (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 1992), 636.

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fair.0 Fourteen months after his birth, he was taken to his paternal grandparents’ home in a small,

remote village of Stambourne, where he spent the following five years. This may be due to the

fact that his mother was only nineteen years old when she gave birth to him, and another child

followed the very next year.0 His grandfather Reverend James Spurgeon, a Congregational

minister like his father, was the pastor of the Congregational church in Stambourne. Reverend

Spurgeon was educated in London and held a deep knowledge of both Bible and Puritan

writings, and young Charles got to spend much time with his grandfather.0 James Spurgeon

would even keep Charles with him when parishioners called for advice and prayer. He also

allowed the young boy to be part of meetings with other ministers in which theological topics

were discussed, which young Charles listened to intently.0 Dallimore writes, “Life in the

Spurgeon home was built around the Scriptures. The Bible was not only read, but it was also

believed with unquestioning assurance of its inerrancy. Likewise prayer was made in the full

realization that God heard and would answer according to His sovereign will.”0

Charles took an early interest in books, and his Aunt Ann taught him to read: “Even at six

years old, when some children have advanced no further in spelling than words of one syllable,

he could read out with a point and emphasis marvelous in one so young.”0 In the summer of

1844, the well-known preacher Richard Knill traveled through Spurgeon’s grandfather’s town.

Knill spent significant time with the young Spurgeon during this visit, and he eventually

pronounced a prophetic statement over Charles: “This child will one day preach the Gospel, and

0 Lewis A. Drummond, Spurgeon: Prince of Preachers (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1992), 75.

0 Arnold A. Dallimore, Spurgeon: A New Biography (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1985), 4.

0 Drummond, Spurgeon, 5.

0 Dallimore, Spurgeon: A New Biography, 5.

0 Ibid., 6.

0 Ibid.

3

he will preach it to great multitudes. I’m persuaded that he will preach in the chapel of Rowland

Hills where I am now the minister.”

Yet despite this promising upbringing, young Spurgeon experienced a crisis of faith at the

age of fifteen. He had rarely heard a blasphemy, yet suddenly his mind engaged in cursing of

God and man. He began to question his faith, even to the point of considering denying the

existence of God.0 Spurgeon’s conversion story is well-known: in the December of 1849, he

slipped into a Primitive Methodist Church in Colchester that he had never visited before. The

pastor was prevented from coming to his own service due to a significant snow fall, and instead a

layman was preaching – rather poorly, as Spurgeon would later write – to a small group of

parishioners from Isaiah 45:22, which reads “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the

earth.” (KJV) The words began to sink deeply into Spurgeon’s heart. At one point the lay

preacher looked directly at Spurgeon in the back pew and said to him, “Young man, you look

very miserable. And you will always be miserable – miserable in life and miserable in death – if

you don’t obey my text; but if you obey now, this moment, you will be saved.” It was in this

moment that Spurgeon saw the way of salvation and trusted Christ.0 A discussion with a Church

of England clergyman convinced Spurgeon of believer’s baptism, and so it was that on May 3,

1850, his mother’s birthday, at almost 16 years of age and despite his parents’ slowness in

consenting to his baptism, Charles Spurgeon was baptized by the nearest Baptist minister,

Reverend. W. W. Cantlow.0

Spurgeon very quickly proved to be a capable young preacher, and in the fall of 1851, he

was asked to pastor a church in Waterbeach, which he continued to pastor until he was 19.0 A

0 Ibid., 17.

0 Ibid., 18-19.

0 Ibid., 25-26.

0 Ibid., 34-36.

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series of events led to Spurgeon being called to pastor New Park Street Baptist Church in

London. Here he married Susannah on January 8, 1856, who had been at his first evening

service in London.0 One interesting observation about their relationship comes from Dallimore:

“Susannah and Charles were very well suited. Though Spurgeon was militant and fearless in his

stand for the truth of God, he was also a very tender and sensitive man, and he needed kindness

and understanding in a wife.”0 They had twin boys, Charles and Thomas, the following year. The

same year, Spurgeon began to preach at Surrey Gardens Music Hall, where his congregation

virtually exploded. Ultimately, the congregation built the Metropolitan Tabernacle, which would

seat 3,600 and offered overflow capacity for 2,000 more.0

THEOLOGICAL MOVEMENT AROUND SPURGEON

Patrick R. Leland summarizes the theological and ecclesiological landscape in England

well when he describes it with the words, “Nineteenth-century England was a caldron of

ideological disturbance.”0 New ideas had begun to infiltrate even the churches. These positions

were centered primarily on the concepts of evolution, which in its outworking denied a creation

of human life by God, and of higher criticism, which attempted to stab holes into the inerrancy of

Scripture via such approaches as Wellhausen’s documentary hypothesis. Religion was impacted

as these influences continued to grow and began being taught in schools and seminaries.

While Evangelicalism acted as a moral anchor of English society in the nineteenth

century, Drummond explains that “paradoxically, as the nineteenth century progressed, a rational

skepticism seemed to grow with it, at least in the more intellectual circles. This aggressive

0 Ibid., 59.

0 Ibid.

0 Ibid., 93.

0 Patrick R. Leland, “Anti-Creedalism in the Down Grade Controversy,” Baptist History And Heritage 31, no. 2 (April 1996): 33.

5

skepticism precipitated a serious challenge to the churches.”0 Drummond continues that the

writings of men like David Strauss and Julius Wellhausen “shook the faith of many.”0

In particular the English Baptists felt the strain introduced. Throughout a large part of

their history, Baptists had traditionally refused to compose and deploy creeds of faith and to use

them as tests of orthodoxy. One of the reasons for such a reluctance or unwillingness was the tie

to the congregational polity within Baptist churches, which affirmed the autonomy of each local

church. Baptists had been in a state of relative theological agreement, yet the influences of the

19th century on science and religion soon gave rise to new trends in theological thinking. While

before the arrival of these new teachings there had been a somewhat homogenous spectrum of

theological understanding, this was suddenly no longer true. The tensions created over a

reluctance to put theological understanding into creedal statement coupled with seeming

advances in scientific and religious thought, placed a great deal of stress in particular on English

Baptists. The Down-Grade controversy of 1887-1888 (and really lingering until the time of

Spurgeon’s death on January 31, 1892) was a direct outgrowth of this friction.0

SPURGEON’S REACTION TO HIGHER CRITICISM

Spurgeon had begun to preach in London in 1854 and experienced tremendous growth in

his congregation. In the decade leading up to the Down-Grade controversy, there had been a –

what can only be described as – period of theological decline, which David P. Kingdom

describes as happening in an organization made up of a “complex and confused ecclesiastical

situation.”0 The Baptist Union, of which Spurgeon was a member, was originally founded in

0 Drummond, Spurgeon: Prince of Preachers, 43.

0 Ibid.

0 Leland, Baptist History and Heritage.

0 David P. Kingdom, “C. H. Spurgeon and the Down Grade Controversy,” in The Good Fight of Faith: 1971 Westminster Conference Papers (London: Westminster Chapel, 1971), 35.

6

1813. At its reorganization in 1832, it was describing itself as a union made up of Baptist

ministers and churches agreeing on the principles, which were typically summarized as

evangelical in nature. However, by 1873, the Union no longer agreed on such a description, and

the only qualification for membership, adopted in a statement of purpose, was deemed to be

immersion of the believer as the only valid form of Christian baptism.0 At the 1873 meeting,

Spurgeon argued that there was a clear need for staying true to the moorings of the faith during

this contentious time and asked for the adoption of a doctrinal statement based on a declaration

published by the Evangelical Alliance. The leadership rejected his proposal in what was viewed

as an abandonment of the Baptist stance against creedal statements.0

It was at this juncture that Spurgeon for the first time raised a concern, as it was clear that

“the inroads of evolutionary thought and higher criticism were beginning to have an impact on

British evangelical theology”0. Spurgeon was especially concerned about the views of some

younger men. In particular, Samuel Cox’s views expressed in his book Salvator Mundi: Or, Is

Christ the Savior of All Men? Cox served as the influential pastor of Mansfield Road Baptist

Church in Nottingham. His book spoke of a “larger hope” and rejected eternal punishment. Cox

further advocated universalism (hence the Latin name of the book, which translates to “Savior of

the World”) and “post-mortem salvation”, a term which Spurgeon attached to it.0 Spurgeon

refused to review Cox’s book in The Sword and Trowel, even though Cox was the editor of a

theological magazine, The Expositor. By 1889, two years after the start of the Down-Grade

0 Dennis M. Swanson, “The Down Grade Controversy and Evangelical Boundaries: Some Lessons from Spurgeon’s Battle for Evangelical Orthodoxy,” Faith and Mission 20, no. 2 (2002): 18.

0 Ibid.

0 Ibid., 18.

0 Ibid., 19.

7

controversy, many of those who had originally rejected Cox’s book, published in 1877, had

reversed course and declared it a “remarkable book.”0

In 1881, Spurgeon had encountered doubts regarding his relationship to the Baptist Union

Assembly where he spoke and consequently warned the body assembled there sternly of the

departure of some churches from Christ in matters of doctrine.0 He saw the clear infiltration of

evolutionary thinking and higher criticism into the ranks of English evangelical Christianity. In

1883, a Unitarian minister, John Page-Hopps was allowed to speak at the annual Baptist Union

meeting. Spurgeon himself was not at the meeting, but received a report regarding the contents

of the speech from his friend, Archibald Brown. This was for Spurgeon the moment of

realization that he would have to break with the Baptist Union, and he made this known to his

brother-in-law, William Jackson. The Baptist Union Council received word on the impending

decision by Spurgeon and sent a party of four, among them J. P. Chown, the president of the

Baptist Union. This encounter, which Spurgeon would later describe as “painful” and “a pathetic

appeal”0 in a letter to The Baptist magazine, did not change his mind.

Another major incident leading up to Spurgeon’s resignation from the Baptist Union was

the Elm Road Church decision to keep an associate pastor on staff after it became clear that he

held a doctrinal position that was not aligned with the pastor’s understanding. The pastor was

Samuel Harris Booth, a friend of Spurgeon’s, and at the time the general secretary of the Baptist

Union. The associate pastor, W. E. Bloomfield, a graduate of Regent’s Park College, was

dismissed by Booth after preaching messages, which seemed to promote Universalism0.

However the church membership supported Bloomfield, and after an investigation by a “board

0 Ibid., 18.


0 Swanson, “The Down Grade Controversy and Evangelical Boundaries,” 19.


8

inquiry by three sympathetic pastors” who concluded that Bloomfield was “doctrinally sound,”0

the young associate pastor was reinstated. Booth in turn resigned shortly thereafter and warned

of dangerous theological shifts in his resignation letter: “We stand against the attempt to bring

into our churches what is known as the ‘New Theology’ which teaches that such phrases as the

Atonement, the Church or The Fall are only mental conceptions and not actual facts. As opposed

to such nebulous theology, I have preached not about Christ, but Christ Himself.”0

It was out of this incident that the Down-Grade controversy ultimately arose. In the

aftermath of Booth’s resignation, Spurgeon wrote to him to encourage him, and Booth in turn

shared what had happened in detail and added to it a litany of other serious theological issues and

problems throughout the Baptist Union. It appears that Booth at this point pleaded with Spurgeon

to not let this simply be glossed over, but to take a decisive stand. From what appears to have

taken place (based on a later letter by D. H. G. Wood), Booth supplied names and facts to

Spurgeon regarding those who he deemed to be teaching “heretical doctrine… deviating from

orthodox Christianity.”0 Spurgeon pledged in return not to reveal any names.

Drummond lists three critical pieces of communication leading the way toward the

Down-Grade controversy. The first, the letter from Spurgeon to Booth, the second, the letter

from Wood to historian Ernest Payne, and the third, a letter written by Pearce Carey to Seymour

Price in 1887 about theological teaching at Regent’s Park, which was not aligned with orthodoxy

and which confirmed to Spurgeon what he had suspected, that young men were graduating from

Baptist colleges, which had given up on the concept of eternal punishment. It is apparent from



0 Ibid., 671.

9

other writings from this time period that much more was on a theologically downward slope,

which was reason for grave concern for Spurgeon.0

In an undated sermon preached at Metropolitan Tabernacle Church, Spurgeon warned

solemnly of God’s judgment against an unfaithful church:

If we, as a church, prove unfaithful; if we leave our first love; if we do not plead in prayer, and seek the conversion of souls, God may take away His presence from us as He has done from churches that were once His, but which are not so now. The traveller tells you that as he journeys through Asia Minor, he sees the ruins of those cities which once were the seven golden candlesticks, wherein the light of truth shone brightly. What will he now say of Thyatira? Where will he find Laodicea? These have passed away, and why may not this church? Look at Rome, once the glory of the Christian Church, her ministers many, and her power over the world enormous for good; and now she is the place where Satan’s seat is, and her synagogue is a synagogue of hell. How is this? Because she departed from her integrity, she left her first love, and the Lord cast her away. Thus will He deal with us also if we sin against Him.0

As was apparent, the lines were drawn. Most aligned themselves with those following the

“New Theology”. Spurgeon’s followers were not as many as he would have hoped.

THE DOWN-GRADE CONTROVERSY IN THE SWORD AND TROWEL

The term, which coined the Down-Grade controversy, first appeared in an article in

Spurgeon’s journal, The Sword and Trowel, which was published monthly and widely

distributed. While the first two articles, written without a byline and firing a salvo against

heterodoxy, were indeed not written by him, but rather Robert Shindler, a close friend of

Spurgeon’s, Spurgeon apparently had approved them.0 Shindler, in his first article in the March

1887 edition, drew a historical foundation in the first article, outlining how nonconformist

churches had drifted away from scriptural truths after the Puritan era. He then concluded that “by

0 Ibid., 671-72.

0 Charles Haddon Spurgeon, C. H. Spurgeon's Autobiography (London: Fleming H Revell Company, 1898), 255.


10

some means or other, first the ministers and then the churches, got on ‘the down grade,’ and in

some cases the descent was rapid, and in all was very disastrous.”0

In a second article, Shindler highlighted what Baptist churches had lacked, e.g. that their

ministers had not warded off theological errors sufficiently, that they had given up on the divine

inspiration of the Bible, and that they had departed from Calvinistic doctrine. This last statement,

while in and of itself was not intended to be a promotion of one theological system over another,

was used to drive home the point of a need to abide by Christian orthodoxy, which Shindler felt

was best addressed in Calvinistic teaching. Shindler expressed his concern over the origin of

wrong teaching when he wrote,

In the case of every errant course there is always a first wrong step. If we can trace that wrong step, we may be able to avoid it and its results. Where, then, is the point of divergence from the "King's highway of truth"? What is the first step astray? Is it doubting this doctrine, or questioning that sentiment, or being sceptical as to the other article of orthodox belief? We think not. These doubts and this scepticism are the outcome of something going before.0

A third article, published in June 1887, addressed the heresy trials at Andover

Theological Seminary. Spurgeon himself wrote a first article entitled “Another Word Concerning

the Down-Grade Controversy” in August of 1887. Swanson writes that Spurgeon was “most

certainly concerned about the purity of essential biblical doctrines, but he was equally concerned

by what he saw as the immediate and practical result of the ‘New Theology’… Above all, he saw

the greatest danger in the fact that the gospel was being marginalized, ridiculed and obscured.0”

Starting with the second article penned by Spurgeon himself, he began to react to those

who were opposing his “Down-Grade” views, but also to those who supported him. While his

expectation seems to have been that the majority of English Baptists would support him as well

0 Ibid., 21.

0 Charles Hadden Spurgeon, The Down-Grade Controversy (Charleston, SC: BiblioLife, 2008), 35.


11

as possibly those from other denominations, it appears that he overestimated the support he

would find.0 The third article, written in October 1887 addressed the dangerous impact the ‘New

Theology’ was having. In it, Spurgeon also announced that he would resign from the Baptist

Union. Finally, Spurgeon hinted at the wavering stance of his friend Samuel Harris Booth.

Spurgeon had approached Booth to be allowed to disclose his source due to the increasing

pressure by the Baptist Union council to provide names if Spurgeon would keep making

accusations of heresy. Booth forbade Spurgeon from doing so, reminding Spurgeon of the

confidential nature of his disclosure. When members of the council directly asked Booth later

whether Spurgeon and he had ever had a conversation which included names, Booth denied that

this communication had taken place. Spurgeon’s brother, James Spurgeon, was at the meeting in

question and left it in anger, leaving an exasperated Spurgeon to write to his wife, “For Dr.

Booth to say I never complained, is amazing. God knows all about it, and He will see me

righted.”0

THE IMPACT OF THE DOWN GRADE CONTROVERSY

Spurgeon took the only step that could be taken if one is to uphold the orthodoxy of the

Christian faith: he parted ways with those who would not stand for Christ. In doing so, he spent

the following years of his life, which would prove to be his final ones, defending the truth and

inerrancy of Scripture and the sacredness of the Gospel. This resolve came at a high price as his

health deteriorated. Through it all, he continued to write prolifically and to preach to his

congregation. The first official step of separation and of taking an irrevocable and clear stance

came with his withdrawal from the Baptist Union.

0 Ibid.

0 Ibid., 26.

12

SPURGEON’S WITHDRAWAL FROM THE BAPTIST UNION

On October 28, 1887, Spurgeon sent a letter to the general secretary of the Baptist Union,

Samuel Booth, formally withdrawing from the Union:

Dear Friend,—I beg to intimate to you, as the secretary of the Baptist Union, that I must withdraw from that society. I do this with the utmost regret; but I have no choice. The reasons are set forth in The Sword and Trowel for November, and I trust you will excuse my repeating them here. I beg you not to send anyone to me to ask for reconsideration. I fear I have considered too long already; certainly every hour of the day impresses upon me the conviction that I am moving none too soon.0

Booth replied as if he had been caught off guard, expressing his pain over Spurgeon’s

step taken and sharing with him that he had “wounded the hearts of some – of many – who

honour and love you more than you have any idea of, and whose counsel would have led to a far

different result.”0 Spurgeon’s step to separate from the Baptist Union de-facto became the true

beginning of the Down-Grade controversy as now all of British Evangelicalism was discussing

the strange happening. Spurgeon’s church responded to the withdrawal with sympathy and

offered minutes by the deacons and elders, voicing their support of his action and commending

his “steadfast zeal.”0

REACTIONS FROM PEERS

The Rev. James Guinness Rogers, who for 35 years was a Congregational minister and

pastor of Clapham Congregational Church in Grafton Square, London0, was concerned with the

disruptions Spurgeon was causing and expressed them in his book Present-Day Religion and

Theology, published in London in 1888:


0 Ibid.

0 Ibid., 687.

0 W. H. Auden, Rev. James Guinness Rogers, http://www.stanford.edu/group/auden/cgi-bin/auden/individual.php?pid=I5208 (accessed March 5, 2012).

13

The impression which Mr. Spurgeon's procedure cannot fail to create, that there is some division of feeling between him and those who are spoken of as his "opponents," will do only harm to the common faith which, whatever Mr. Spurgeon's partisans may think, is as dear to his critics as to himself. There never was a time when Christianity could less afford such wrangles, the spoils of which will ultimately be divided between superstition and unbelief. 0

As can be seen in the further writings of Guinness Roberts, guilt was laid in Spurgeon’s

corner for advancing the convictions of those who would deny the faith:

The enemies of Dissent everywhere are jubilant, and so far as they care to notice the movements of the religious world at all, this feeling will be shared by the enemies of the gospel. Of course it was right that it should be done if there were evidence of such a falling away from the faith as is outlined in Mr. Spurgeon's terrible "down grade." But the proof ought to be very clear and convincing before statements so startling and so calculated to confirm the views and encourage the heart of aggressive unbelievers are given to the world. Unbelievers are continually telling us that Christianity is effete, that the intellect of the age has outgrown its superstitions, that its work is done, and that thinking men, while seeking to retain its moral and social influence, have quietly renounced its theology. Mr. Spurgeon can now be adduced a witness in support of their contention. He does not adopt their inference that the gospel is about to vanish away, but they could desire no stronger testimony as to the facts on which they rest their forecast than he supplies, and certainly they could not wish for a witness of more authority.0

In addition to voicing his concern over the impact of Spurgeon’s actions to those who

denied a saving faith in God, or for that matter, God Himself, Guinness Roberts was appalled at

the language being used in the discussions:

Mr. Spurgeon is sufficiently outspoken, and he must not be surprised if others imitate his frankness. It is a very light thing to say that there is here a breach of Christian charity. Truth itself is outraged in this representation which nothing but respect for him prevents us from characterizing in very strong terms.... Mr. Spurgeon's criticism leaves us at a loss to understand what manner of men he can conceive those to be of whom he writes in such strong terms.0

Guinness Roberts also saw the discussion framed in quite different terms, when he wrote,

“The question is not between liberty and loyalty to the Master, but between two modes of

0 J. Guinness Rogers, Present-Day Religion and Theology: Including a Review of the Down Grade Controversy (London: T.Fisher Unwin, 1888), 2, hdl.handle.net/2027/wu.89073388837 (accessed March 5, 2012).

0 Ibid., 8.

0 Ibid., 16.

14

showing that loyalty.”0 At the same time, he validated that the Baptist Union had not reacted

strongly enough in some cases, yet questioned whether Spurgeon’s response was not causing

more harm than good to the body of believers represented in the Baptist Union.

It is not suggested that the Baptist Union has taken any positive action by which its character is compromised. Its sin is a sin of omission. It has not excommunicated some who, in Mr. Spurgeon's view, are unfaithful to the gospel. It is true that they have not been convicted of the heresy, ... No doubt Mr. Spurgeon would be fully justified in saying that he cannot remain in a religious body which is so helpless in the matter of ex-communication; but he is not only exceeding his right, he is transgressing the laws both of justice and courtesy, when he brands the fellowship itself as a confederacy of evil. It is to-day what it was yesterday, when he was one of its most trusted leaders. He has left in it men with a Christian reputation as stainless as his own, and whose long and honoured lives ought to have guarded them against the suggestion that they could remain in a confederacy which could properly be so described. May there not be sins against Christian charity as grave even as any departures from orthodoxy?0

Guinness Roberts was clearly concerned with the tone the discussion had taken and how

this was perceived by an England already impacted by the influences of evolutionary teaching

and higher criticism.

Likewise, church publications, such as the Congregational Review and The National

Reformer printed letters from moderate and not-so-moderate readers. The Methodist Times

printed that “it can no longer be concealed that Mr. Spurgeon is out of touch with the new

democracy and the younger generation of devout evangelicals. He is standing still, but the

Church of God moves on…old-fashioned Puritan formulae are driving him into a reactionary and

vanquished camp.”0

Yet, Spurgeon also had backers, some of whom wrote into publications to let their

support be made known. Others, not wishing to make their sentiments known quite so publicly,

shared their support with Spurgeon more directly instead. He cited one example:

0 Ibid., 17.

0 Ibid., 19-20.

0 Iain H. Murray, The Forgotten Spurgeon (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 2009), 190.

15

A working-man, who is an intelligent deacon and preacher, giving us his name, and the name of the minister referred to, speaks of the old-fashioned orthodox teaching being held up to contempt from the pulpit. "The substitutionary sacrifice and the Trinity were quickly disposed of, and the penknife was set to work. Whole chapters were cut out of the Bible; we were told that certain books of it ought never to have been written. Verbal inspiration was utter rubbish, and ought never to be tolerated." As a consequence, the number of empty pews is appalling, and the people are told to console themselves with the fact that mere numbers are no test of prosperity. The prospect of the chapel being closed is by no means remote.0

The September 1887 edition of The Sword and Trowel included a nod to the editor of

Word and Work for his support of Spurgeon. He had published an editorial that read:

In The Sword and Trowel for the present month Mr. Spurgeon gives no uncertain sound concerning departures from the faith. His exposure of the dishonesty which, under the cover of orthodoxy, assails the very foundations of faith is opportune in the interests of truth. No doubt, like a faithful prophet in like evil times, he will be called a 'troubler of Israel,' and already we have noticed he has been spoken of as a pessimist; but any such attempts to lessen the weight of his testimony are only certain to make it more effective. When a strong sense of duty prompts public speech it will be no easy task to silence it.0

The 1887 annual volume of The Sword and Trowel exemplifies Spurgeon’s enragement

with the theological discussions highlighted by the Down-Grade controversy:

During the past year we have often had to look down from the royal road of the truth upon those craggy paths which others have chosen, which we fear will lead them to destruction. We have had enough of The Down-Grade for ourselves when we have looked down upon it. What havoc false doctrine is making no tongue can tell. Assuredly the New Theology can do no good towards God or man; it, has no adaptation for it. If it were preached for a thousand years by all the most earnest men of the school, it would never renew a soul, nor overcome pride in a single human heart. We look down into the abyss of error, and it almost makes our head swim to think of the perilous descent; but the road of the gospel, to which we hope to keep by divine grace, is a safe and happy way.0

Spurgeon himself, rather exasperatedly, responded in 1888 to fellow Baptist pastors who

had accused him that his main driver was the promotion of Calvinism: “I do not wish to impose

0 Charles Hadden Spurgeon, The Down-Grade Controversy, 101.

0 Ibid., 41-42.

0 Ibid., 9-10.

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any doctrine of my own, not even the grand old Calvinism; but it is not a question of Calvinism,

but rather of the divinity of Christ.”0

BAPTIST UNION CENSORSHIP

On January 18, 1888, the Baptist Union censored Spurgeon. On January 13, 1888, five

days prior, a meeting had taken place between Spurgeon and a deputation from the Baptist

Union. This deputation was made up of Samuel Harris Booth, the general secretary of the Union,

James Culross, its president, and John Clifford, the Union vice president. This tense meeting did

not resolve the issues, and Spurgeon refused to rescind his resignation. However, he asked that

the council would investigate and render an opinion whether the Union’s constitution allowed

the removal of heretics. He also asked them to revisit the adoption of an evangelical doctrinal

statement. The council refused both requests.0

In the following month’s edition of The Sword and Trowel, Spurgeon reacted to this act

of censorship with sharp words that seemed to hint at the anti-creedalism that he perceived:

The censure passed upon me by the Council of the Baptist Union will be weighed by the faithful, and estimated at its true value. "Afterwards they have no more that they can do." I brought no charges before the members of the Council, because they could only judge by their constitution, and that document lays down no doctrinal basis except the belief that "the immersion of believers is the only Christian baptism." Even the mention of evangelical sentiments has been cut out from their printed program. No one can be heterodox under this constitution, unless he should forswear his baptism.0

In the same issue of The Sword and Trowel, he voiced his frustration over the

misunderstanding on the side of the Baptist Union toward his desire for a stated form of belief:

Nevertheless, I would like all Christendom to know that all I asked of the Union is that it be formed on a Scriptural basis; and that I never sought to intrude upon it any Calvinistic or other personal creed, but only that form of belief which has been accepted for many years by the Evangelical Alliance, which includes members of well-nigh all Christian

0 Murray, The Forgotten Spurgeon, 189.



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communities. To this it was replied that there is an objection to any creed whatever…. To say that "a creed comes between a man and his God," is to suppose that it is not true; for truth, however definitely stated, does not divide the believer from his Lord…. I am unable to sympathize with a man who says he has no creed; because I believe him to be in the wrong by his own showing. He ought to have a creed. What is equally certain, he has a creed—he must have one, even though he repudiates the notion. His very unbelief is, in a sense, a creed.0

The Down-Grade controversy caused a clear rift between those who wanted to protect the

inerrant truth of God’s Word and those who had adopted the new theories behind evolution and

higher criticism. It was clear that there would be no winner, as the impact of this controversy

split those who had appeared to have professed one faith at one point in time, yet now showed to

be very deeply torn apart. Yet it was also abundantly apparent that without intervention false

teachings would continue to infiltrate the church.

SPURGEON’S FINAL YEARS

The Baptist Union council feared that Spurgeon would launch a new denomination after

his withdrawal, but instead he never encouraged others to follow him. Together with other like-

minded pastors he joined in a Fraternal Union. This group of men in 1891 published what

became known as “Mr. Spurgeon’s Confession of Faith” or “Manifesto”.0 It is copied below in

its entirety as it appears to be the closest Spurgeon came in his lifetime to a Baptist creedal

statement. It also serves as a plain summary of what the battle was that Spurgeon fought during

the latter years of his life.

We, the undersigned, banded together in Fraternal Union, observing with growing pain and sorrow the loosening hold of many upon the Truths of Revelation, are constrained to avow our firmest belief in the Verbal Inspiration of all Holy Scripture as originally given. To us, the Bible does not merely contain the Word of God, but is the Word of God. From beginning to end, we accept it, believe it, and continue to preach it. To us, the Old Testament is no less inspired than the New. The Book is an organic whole. Reverence for the NEW Testament accompanied by scepticism as to the OLD appears to us absurd. The two must stand or fall together. We accept Christ's own verdict concerning "Moses and

0 Ibid., 78-79.

0 Ibid., 149.

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all the prophets" in preference to any of the supposed discoveries of so-called higher criticism.We hold and maintain the truths generally known as "the doctrines of grace." The Electing Love of God the Father, the Propitiatory and Substitutionary Sacrifice of his Son, Jesus Christ, Regeneration by the Holy Ghost, the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness, the Justification of the sinner (once for all) by faith, his walk in newness of life and growth in grace by the active indwelling of the Holy Ghost, and the Priestly Intercession of our Lord Jesus, as also the hopeless perdition of all who reject the Savior, according to the words of the Lord in Matthew 25:46, "These shall go away into eternal punishment,"—are, in our judgment, revealed and fundamental truths. Our hope is the Personal Pre-millennial Return of the Lord Jesus in glory.0

This declaration was signed by thirty men; Spurgeon was one of the signers.

Spurgeon’s health continued to decline, and despite frequent visits to his beloved

Mentone on the French Riviera, there was no turning back of his progressively debilitation

illness. Rheumatism and gout plagued Spurgeon, as did Bright’s disease. He also had been

affected by the influenza epidemic. Yet even in his deteriorating state, he was not free from his

critics. The New Zealand Baptist in September 1891 had reported about a dispute in Sydney

regarding prayers offered on behalf of Spurgeon’s recovery. A reply received by one man was,

“How could they pray for this man, one who was living in a state of apostasy from the faith and

schism from the Church?”0

On January 31, 1892, after having been unconscious for some time, Charles Haddon

Spurgeon died. His secretary wired a telegram back to the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London,

which read, “Our beloved pastor entered Heaven 11:05 Sunday night.”0 No less than 60,000 paid

their last respect to Spurgeon at the Tabernacle, and 20,000 people attended his funeral service.

A plaque on Spurgeon’s coffin’s had St. Paul’s words on it: “I have fought the good fight, I have

finished my course, I have kept the faith.”0

0 Ibid., 149-50.


0 Ibid., 752.

0 Ibid., 753-54.

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TODAY’S DOWN-GRADE CONTROVERSIES

As a legacy of what was first seen in England in the late 1800s, Christians today fight

similar battles to protect the truth of the Gospel. Swanson lists just a few, such as the expansion

of higher criticism in evangelical scholarship into not just the Old Testament, but now the New

Testament as well. Discussions now center on a historical Adam, Pauline authorship of the

Pastorals, theistic evolution, the expanse of the world-wide flood (was it really world-wide?),

and creation as depicted in Genesis 1 in light of ostensible advances in evolutionary science.

The Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society in 1982 allowed an article to be

published which declared that “Spurgeon’s understanding of the nature and interpretation of the

Bible does not adequately serve this generation of evangelical Christians who have come to

accept the best of current Biblical scholarship while holding concurrently to the inspiration and

authority of Scripture.” As Swanson correctly points out, this opinion could very well have been

penned by one of Spurgeon’s opponents during the Down-Grade controversy. As Swanson

writes, “Vigilance is neither easy nor popular…. With the ‘core of belief’ of Evangelicalism now

open for discussion, one wonders if a book will be written in forty or so years which describes

the current state of American Evangelicalism.”0

CONCLUSION

The Down-Grade controversy shows that creeping shifts in how biblical truth is

perceived have to be identified, raised to an awareness level, and cannot be tolerated in the body

of Christ, if the message of the Gospel is to be protected and its holding to the inerrancy of

Scripture is to be upheld. Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the “Prince of Preachers”, had a lot to lose

when he stood up to protect the Word of God as the unalterable, infallible, and inerrant Word of

God. He died without vindication, yet in his firm acting on behalf of the truth of God’s Word, he


20

left a legacy of Christian faithfulness that is admired to this day. How right he was only became

truly evident years after his death.

The fight for biblical truth continues to this day, and many are the false teachers who

want to detract from the good news of Jesus Christ. For God’s people to defend Scripture as the

final and authoritative Word of God, it is critical that they are aware of theological errors

creeping into the body of Christ. When these misguidances are not corrected early, e.g. when

they are not caught at the educational level in the seminaries and Bible colleges, entire churches

can be led astray as the graduates of these schools perpetuate the errors into their local bodies.

For the truth to be made known, we need men and women who stand up when the key truths of

the Christian faith are in danger of being falsified and altered. May God raise up new Charles

Haddon Spurgeons in each generation to raise the banner high for His truth!

“We have built up the wall of the city, and we have tried to smite the King's enemies.

How could we help it? No loyal soldier could endure to see his Lord's cause so

grievously wronged by traitors.” - Charles Haddon Spurgeon0


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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Auden, W. H. Rev. James Guinness Rogers. http://www.stanford.edu/group/auden/cgi-bin/auden/individual.php?pid=I5208 (accessed March 5, 2012).

Dallimore, Arnold A. Spurgeon: A New Biography. Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1985.

Drummond, Lewis A. Spurgeon: Prince of Preachers. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1992.

Kingdom, David P. “C. H. Spurgeon and the Down Grade Controversy.” In The Good Fight of Faith: 1971 Westminster Conference Papers. London: Westminster Chapel, 1971.

Leland, Patrick R. “Anti-Creedalism in the Down Grade Controversy.” Baptist History And Heritage 31, no. 2 (April 1996).

Murray, Iain H. The Forgotten Spurgeon. Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 2009.

Rogers, J. Guinness. Present-Day Religion and Theology: Including a Review of the Down Grade Controversy. London: T.Fisher Unwin, 1888. http://hdl.handle.net/2027/wu.89073388837 (accessed March 5, 2012).

Spurgeon, Charles Haddon. The Down-Grade Controversy. Charleston, SC: BiblioLife, 2008.

Spurgeon, Charles Haddon. C. H. Spurgeon's Autobiography. London: Fleming H Revell Company, 1898.

Swanson, Dennis M. “The Down Grade Controversy and Evangelical Boundaries: Some Lessons from Spurgeon’s Battle for Evangelical Orthodoxy.” Faith and Mission 20, no. 2 (2002): 12-23.

Toon, P. “Spurgeon, Charles Haddon.” In Who's Who in Christian History, edited by J.D. Douglas and Philip W. Comfort. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 1992.

charles haddon spurgeon - down-grade controversy

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