A Year With Whitefield: Scott's Snapshot

Since late April 2011, I started on volume 1 of Dallimore's Whitefield, and finished the appendices in volume 2 a week ago. It was an emotional 50 week ride. I've read barely any biographies at book length, this one knocked it out of the park. Even with the the occasional fallback in confusing the chronology from my slower pace, I learned so much about this forgotten man of God. Some say he was the Billy Graham of the 18th century. It's sad that the recounting of his life and times are not conversationally in vogue. In going upstream, I'd like to share with you a bio sketch of George Whitefield's life and preaching ministry that I comprised for a portion of my final term paper in Homiletics. There is also a portion specifically on his work in the summer of 1742 in Cambuslang, Scotland.

GEORGE WHITEFIELD

George Whitefield (1714-1770) is one of the greatest preachers in the history of the church. Dr. Squintum, as some ridiculed him, was the founder of Methodism. He was the first of the Holy Club at Oxford to be converted and to preach the gospel as a Christian. He stormed the fields of England, Whales, Ireland and America with the gospel of Jesus Christ. He was not a perfect man, but a godly one. And in God’s hands was used mightily.

Memoirs and Ministries

George Whitefield was born December 1714 in Gloucester, England at his parents work, the Bell Inn. George was the youngest of seven children. As an infant he contracted measles; this seems to be the reason for his squint/cross-eye that would follow him in future portraits. George’s father died when he was two and his mother would not remarry until he was almost eight. As a boy he attended St. Mary de Crypt school where he learned his grammar and loved to perform plays; sometimes even mimicking girls in their clothing. He read many plays and by sixteen was reading the Greek New Testament. At eighteen he would attend Oxford College as a book boy for a senior student. Around September 1733 he joined the Holy Club where he would first meet his lifelong companions: John and Charles Wesley. In this group, George recounts practicing extreme spiritual discipline but never actually knowing Christ.

Whitefield’s conversion came when he was twenty in 1735. It appears that a book by the Scotsman Henry Scougal led Whitefield to Christ when it confronted him of his spiritual emptiness. During this time Whitefield became bed-ridden after fasting for six or seven weeks with the Holy Club. He had gotten so weak and sick that he could no longer walk up a flight of stairs. While recovering he cried to God: “I thirst! I thirst!” and then he came to trust Christ as Saviour.

Whitefield within the next year would be ordained as a deacon into the ministry of the Anglican Church. He would stress the same kind of conversion he now knew to all: one of the heart and the mind. His preaching of the new birth would be central to his ministry. To begin his ministry, Whitefield returned and preached his first sermon in Gloucester, at St Mary de Crypt; the same town he was born in and where he grew up and went to school. Whitefield continued to preach but the Anglican clergy in England did not like his stress on the new birth. He would soon be ousted from many parishes where he itinerantly preached. During this time Whitefield was soaking himself in Puritan literature. One of which was Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the whole Bible; which he would keep close by into his old age. His mind was being transformed from an early conversion through the use of his puritan forefathers and their depth of spirituality.

Before he was ordained as an Anglican priest, Whitefield would make his first trip to America in February-December in 1738. Whitefield would make twelve more journeys to America; cumulating in 732 days traveling about 70,000 miles at sea.

Whitefield wanted to get married originally to Elizabeth Delamotte from England, but she denied his proposal of marriage. This broke Whitefield and it took him years to get over her. He instead married Elizabeth James on November 14, 1741. Their only son, John, would die at four months. She would go on to have four miscarriages and nearly die herself in 1746. Elizabeth would die August 8, 1768, two years before Whitefield. Dallimore states that their marriage was “tolerably happy”, and that Whitefield did appear to miss her months later. It was not nearly as bad as John Wesley’s marriage, but unfortunately not as kindled as Charles’.

Much of his labours were towards his Orphan House, named Bethesda, in Georgia. The Orphan House would be a constant battle for Whitefield his whole life. From first founding it in 1740, to collecting money on his evangelistic journeys, to the constant debt of its maintenance, to staffing dilemmas, to communication delays. Whitefield was stressed and in a consistent sweat over the Orphan House being out of reach across the Atlantic. Yet it speaks to many the necessity he saw in providing for orphans.

Just five miles south-east of Glasgow sits the town of Cambuslang in Scotland. When Whitefield went there in the summer of 1742 he preached in a natural amphitheater to over 30,000 people; 3,000 who took the communion. Cambuslang, at that time, was known for the affect the communion services had had on God’s people. The pastors in the local towns before Whitefield’s arrival were preaching on regeneration. He came alongside the Scottish ministers and assisted them. One Monday, Pastor Alexander Webster and he preached and there was a great commotion of the people. Whitefield in his Letters writes on August 27: “Though it rained much, there was a great awakening… A very great and serious concern was visible throughout the whole solemnity. The Lord’s people went home much refreshed”. Whitefield after the meeting at Cambuslang on Monday August 16, preached from thursday August 19 to thursday August 26 in seven towns twenty six times: “I never preached with so much apparent success before”.

Yet Webster goes more in depth commenting on the day in his diary:
"During the time of divine worship, solemn, profound reverence overspread every countenance. They hear as for eternity, and not knowing but the next moment they must account to their great Judge. Thousands melt into tears. Many cry out in the bitterness of their soul."

During the last five years of his ministry, just before Elizabeth died, Whitefield took on Cornelius Winter as his personal assistant. Winter gives an excellent summary of what was typical of Whitefield’s sermon preparation in the last years of his ministry. He states:
"I never knew him engaged in the composition of a sermon…I never met with anything like the form of a skeleton of a sermon among his papers… nor did he ever give me any idea of the importance of being habituated to the planning of a sermon… I believe he knew nothing about such a kind of exercise… [h]e was accustomed to have Clarke’s Bible, Matthew Henry’s Comment, and Cruden’s Concordance within reach…"

One wonders if this extempore and excessive reading approach was typical of Whitefield. And if so, was it this manner of sermon preparation that the later C. H. Spurgeon sought to emulate from one of his favourite preachers? Whitefield would continue ministry in England, Ireland, Whales, and New England until his death. In 1770, he went to New England on his last missionary journey. His strength had been dwindling from his overexertion since 1761. Although he started to regain momentum while there, preaching upwards of three times a week again, it was short lived. He died September 30, 1770 in the middle of the night in Newburyport, Massachusetts.


Resources consulted, including Dallimore:
Dallimore, Arnold A. George Whitefield: The Life and Times of the Great Evangelist of the 

  Eighteenth-Century Revival. Vol. 1. Illinois: Cornerstone Books, 1970. 

________________. George Whitefield: The Life and Times of the Great Evangelist of the 

  Eighteenth-Century Revival. Vol. 2. Illinois: Cornerstone Books, 1979. 

Haykin, Michael A. G., ed. The Revived Puritan: The Spirituality of George Whitefield. Dundas, 

 Ontario: Joshua Press, 2000. 

Macfarlan, D. The Revivals of the Eighteenth Century: Particularly at Cambuslang. 

 Edinburgh: John Johnstone, n.d. 

Tyerman, L. The Life of the Rev. George Whitefield. 2 Vols. 2nd ed. London: 

 Hodder and Stroughton, 1890. 

Whitefield, George. George Whitefield’s Journals. 1756. Reprint with additions, London: 

 Banner of Truth, 1965. 

Whitefield, George. Letters of George Whitefield: For the Period 1734-1742. 2 Vols. 1771. 

 Reprint, Carlisle, Pennsylvania: Banner of Truth Trust, 1976. 

The Church by E. P. Clowney: A Review

“If [the church] is to stand against the gates of hell, it must know its own divine charter, its bond to Jesus Christ, and the ‘Holy Spiritual’ power of its calling”. In 1942, twenty-five year-old Edmund Prosper Clowney was ordained in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. Ten years later, he came to serve on staff at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia for the next thirty-two years; eighteen of them as its president. In 1995, for the series Contours of Christian Theology, Clowney contributed this work, entitled The Church. Going with the series’ theme to introduce foundational Christian doctrine, he supplies his own take on the doctrine of the Christian church. He writes to a culture that considers the God of the Bible to have “died long ago with orthodox theology” and sees the local church as God’s tomb. This work seeks to restore the doctrine of the church as represented from the Bible.

Clowney was a life-long affiliate of Westminster Theological Seminary. Each of the major points throughout the book - whether male eldership, Christian nurture, or witnessing to the world - are driven heavily from the Scriptures. Clowney is clear as he walks the reader through his convictions and how they bear upon the Christian. His covenantal theology and praise of the Westminster Catechism are present in the text, and subsequently his disposition to paedobaptism. Yet his positions do not curtail his overall evangelical position of the church. He could have extended his position on women in the church and gone deeper into the corporate service structure; dedicating only one page to preaching. As well, his view on prophecy for today is not adequately presented, rather he only points out Grudem’s misappropriation of 1 Thess 5:19-21. The wisdom from chapter ten on the nurture of the church should be prized the highest out of all eighteen chapters. The Church, is an excellent twentieth-century take on the doctrine of the church. His dependence on the apostolic accounts of the Scriptures in formulating his doctrine of the people of God is comforting. The work gives a deeper understanding of the form and function that Evangelical Churches must retain in their life and practice.

Lectures to My Students by Charles Spurgeon: A Review

Lectures to My Students is a collection of lectures delivered to the students of The Pastor’s College in London, England by the “Master Pulpiteer”, Charles Haddon Spurgeon. Lectures has become an essential collection of practical advice for the pastorate. God has continued to use Spurgeon mightily for the spread of the gospel long after his forty-year ministry; as exemplified in this compendium. These twenty-eight lectures cover a range of disciplines within the pastorate. Spurgeon is not bland nor imprecise, he speaks with personableness and brevity. The pastor who has little formal training will receive stimulant from Spurgeon’s admonitions on preaching, prayer, sermonizing, and one’s self-conduct. I am surprised that there is little said about the minister’s family life concerning his children and wife. As well, a couple arguments could be brought up to speed. Such as "on the voice", since the invention of microphones, and his comments on the pastor’s library, since the all-pervasive online libraries. His speech occasionally contains archaisms and uncommon colloquialisms common to the KJV but is to be expected in the 1800s; it then being the primary translation of English speakers. If a pastor doesn’t mind checking his dictionary and Bible translation on occasion for clarity, he will benefit from the use of the Lectures within his own ministrations. Spurgeon’s wisdom from the pastorate is worth the divulgence.

Deliberate Church by Mark Dever and Paul Alexander: A Review

The purpose of The Deliberate Church is to get churches centered back on the Bible; primarily the Gospel. God’s Word needs to be the central authoritative standard by which all actions of the local church are conducted. Mark Dever, Senior Pastor at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington DC. and executive director of the 9Marks Organization, is credited to much of the content of this work. Paul Alexander, who interned under Dever in 2003 and currently serves as an editor for 9Marks, here put his and Dever’s conversations about the church into print. Though slender in size, the role for members and elders in the local church in this work is above all clear. They look at the foundation stones of the church and then move to what constitutes the actual services. The second part focusses on the elders of the church and the elders meetings.

Assessing the member’s roll is a great chapter on how the pastor should seek out individual interviews with each church member. Chapter five, on church discipline, is an excellent reminder of how the leaders should be treating unChrist-like members. There is an admonition for corporate times of music to be just that: corporate. The pastor’s goal for the members should be for them to sing and hear truths about God from each other, instead of their memory falling to one individual or “the band”. The only skimmer chapter is on church paid-staff who aren't elders. This chapter is the least relevant to many churches outside of the slim American mega-church percentage. By far, the primary appeal in this book is for biblical eldership. It is the most helpful advice that any pastor will glean from this book. With much confusion over leadership and church membership this work is an invaluable guide to casting out the false and diluted views of the local church and reverting back to those developed from the Bible. 

Still Hour or Communion With God by Austin Phelps: A Review

Often does monotony in prayer steal its zeal. Thanklessness bring a joyless heart. Forgetfulness in our access to the Father solely through Jesus' blood bring ingratitude and dishonour. When the wisdom from this 14 chapter prayer purifier is practiced one's low prayer-life can be instead revitalized. The objective look Phelps has in his evaluations throughout each chapter refines the naive and brings illumination; particularly his chapter on idolatry in prayer. Phelps directs his admonitions to Christians with an universal appeal. This past summer I had the pleasure to go back to this favourite of mine; it led me to seek forgiveness in my lacking. No matter where your relationship is with Christ, the pump needs continual priming. Although a percentage of his language in its distinguished caliber can be diverting, his writing is penetrating nonetheless. He helps in pealing off our anti-Christian prayer methods by giving biblical tips and resolutions for approaching the King of Kings.

Phelps, Austin. The Still Hour or Communion With God. Boston: Gould and Lincoln, 1860. 

*Since it's Public Domain you can access the book online here for free. 

On Recommending Books

A great blog entry by Fred Sanders on recommending books.
Enjoyed reading this.

What is the Gospel? By Gregg Gilbert

The essence of Christianity is the life, death, and resurrection account of the Lord Jesus Christ. Relativism, however, has brought the "gospel" to mean just about anything; existing now as a byword within the christianese lexicon. Enter Gregg Gilbert's little black book. A graduate from Yale and Southern and recently pastoring under Mark Dever, Gilbert brings orthodoxy back into the limelight.  He presents God's love in Christ for sinners against a backdrop of his wrath and judgement. The chapter Jesus Christ the Saviour reverently presents the substitutionary atonement from the Scriptures revealing the heartbeat of the Good News. Simplistic in style and clear in presentation, Gilbert removes the fog and presents Christ's evangel without dulling down its harder points. Read and then re-read this book. 

Sick of Porn

Pornography is a lingering virus in our age. And for the Christian man, a constant battleground. To think that any man has not been bombarded with these temptations regularly, even daily, is ludicrous. Thankfully, God has given Tim Challies discernment in walking men of young and old through these issues of masturbation, porn, and sex. The chapters end with some reflective questions that will bring the heart out for surgery before God. This kind of book needs to be read and shared. Between friends, this is the first book that I recommend with a trust that they will be informed of the biblical view for living sexually pure before the Lord Jesus. 

Read Cruciform Press' debut book for strength over man's paramount struggle.

Sexual Detox: A Guide For Guys Who Are Sick of Porn

Wisdom Has No Age...

Concise and dense, this little book is practical in wisdom, biblical in focus, and Christ-honouring in content. Thoughts for Young Men has been reissued several times since its 19th century release by the right-rev John Charles Ryle. He brings to light many easy sayings that run deep in spirituality. He begins by assessing the nature of young men in their aptness to be lukewarm, even denying God. Following he sends a warning on the dangers that young men are prone to be naively ensnared by. Ryle gives fundamental Christian helps and attitudes for men that if taken root now, fruit should bloom in perseverance. Specifically, resolves to break off sin, no matter how small. Heartily embraced is his section on prayer, Ryle states: "No matter who you are if you are without prayer you are "but dead in the sight of God". This book's weighty statements bring a refining tool to any man.
Worth a read again. 

Thoughts For Young Men: From Many Points of View by John Charles Ryle - 1886.

The Next Spurgeon eh?

To my young brethren who are called of God to preach "JESUS CHRIST AND HIM CRUCIFIED", this little volume is affectionately inscribed. 

Being in no position of elder in my local church, I still found this book fascinating from this seasoned American Presbyterian minister. Theodore Cuyler (1822-1909), a contemporary of Charles Spurgeon and Horatius Bonar, wrote The Young Preacher with the intention to fuel the young men who were considering or had just entered office. Cuyler starts his book, which was bound at the request of many of his public journal readers, with the question "Why should I be a minister?". He works through some necessary skills and gifts for the pastorate office, and what being a pastor will really entail; aka not just preaching. Cuyler covers sermon preparation to the reality of visitation to daily godly living. With a wealth of biblical knowledge and picking up from the wisdom of McCheyne, Spurgeon, Baxter, Finney, and Austin Phelps, this blast from two-centuries-past will bring a breath of comfort and a back hand of exhortment to the leaders of Christ's bride in the 21st Century.

The Young Preacher by Theodore L. Cuyler - 1893.

Answering the tough questions on God...

"That's ok, you can believe whatever you want...” seems like a valid saying in the 21st century, but Dr. Keller gives the Christian, agnostic, and atheist no room to sit tight with this conclusion. He concisely walks with the skeptic through their philosophy and theology, revealing the thin ice on which they so proudly stand. He rightly sums up the thoughts of this generation and how Christ’s message is not only exclusive, it’s offensive. Wrestling with the issues of evolution, pluralism, suffering, and faith - Keller brings a firm defense for Christianity. His conclusive truth is that humanity first offended God and our only solution is to submit to the offended, wrath-taking, sinner-saving, Lord Jesus. A reminiscent page-turner like that of C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity, Reason for God will answer the questions your friends have been, are, and will be asking you. 4.5 stars

The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism by Tim Keller (New York: Dutton, 2008).