Friday, August 4, 2023

It is the 4th of August, 2023. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org. I’m Dan van Voorhis.

There is a subset of popular preachers, charismatic in all senses of the word, whose lives follow a certain template—a tragic one at that- from obscurity to fame to scandal and disgrace. I could count a dozen off the top of my head. But this was a 20th-century American phenomenon, right? Well, not if we know the remarkable story of Edward Irving- a 19th-century Scottish Presbyterian who predated the Pentecostal movement by some 75 years.

Edward was born on this the 4th of August in 1792 in Annandale in the south of Scotland. A tall and handsome young man he went off to the University of Edinburgh at the age of 13 to train for the ministry. As a young man, he attended the seceder church outside of his village but would eventually submit to the Church of Scotland. After graduating, he took teaching jobs until he received his preacher's license. In 1819 Thomas Chalmers, the pastor at St. John’s in Glasgow, called the 27-year-old Irving to be his assistant. He found success in ministry amongst the city's poorest but soon looked for his own church. He turned down calls to both New York and Jamaica to become the preacher at the Caledonian (Scottish) church in London. The church had an average attendance of about 50, but Irving’s preaching became a favorite of a member of Parliament and future Prime Minister George Canning. Canning praised Irving from parliament, calling him “the greatest orator of our times.”  After this, the church that held 500 would be bursting at the seams with the likes of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Wordsworth, and Sir Walter Scott all attending to hear him preach.

In 1824 he became fascinated with the topic of Biblical prophecy. He became convinced that lukewarm Christianity would be the death of Christian Great Britain and that times would become worse before the coming millennium. He preached a series of sermons on the books of Daniel and Revelation. This alienated many in his congregation, and it began to dwindle in size. But one man, Henry Drummond, a wealthy businessman who headed a missionary society, supported Irving and invited him to speak. These tracks would become his “Babylon and Infidelity Foredoomed” and the forward and translation of a book on the end times purportedly by a converted Jew (it was a Spanish Jesuit writing under an assumed name). By now, many in the church were uncomfortable with his teachings, but it wasn’t until he claimed that Jesus took on sin by being human that he was brought up on charges by the London Presbytery. But he was licensed through the General Assembly in Scotland, and thus he could not be removed. This attention brought new people to the church- intrigued by his peculiar teaching. Meanwhile, stories in his native Scotland of people speaking in tongues caught his attention as he had come to believe that the gifts of the spirit never ceased but rather had not occurred on account of the coldness of the church and her lack of faith.

When people began speaking in tongues in the church, it caused new controversy. Some preferred this not occur during the service, but Irving would not, in his words, quench the spirit. A few angry parishioners brought this up with the General Assembly in Scotland. He was brought up on charges of allowing nonlicensed people to teach or preach in the service. This would be the end of him in the Church of Scotland. He was locked out of the church, but some 800 followers soon followed him to a new building, a church that would take the name “the Catholic Apostolic Church.” Irving claimed that God was calling 12 new apostles to usher in the end times. He was not one of them but a messenger of the things to come. 12 Apostles would be called by the leadership team at the church- the church would split numerous times over the next decades, some claiming an apostolic succession and others claiming that they were in a time of silence. The Catholic Apostolic Church, at its height, had millions of adherents throughout Europe and America.

Irving also began teaching that sickness was of the devil and that a true Christian could overcome it with faith. All the while he was being denounced as a charlatan by some and praised as a prophet by others. In 1833 he began to lose weight and grow pale. Despite his prayers, he would die in December of 1834 of tuberculosis. Born on this day in 1729, Edward Irving was only 42 years old.

The last word for today comes from the daily lectionary and Isaiah 41:

So do not fear, for I am with you;
    do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;

    I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 4th of August 2023, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man who at his church is currently in a 30-week preaching cycle through Daniel and Revelation- all end times all the time- he is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who was beaten, battered, and built up just to be let down by the game of baseball. I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.