Thread: Was Spurgeon Ep?

I know that no mechanical music was allowed in the church while he was pastor but was he exclusive psalmody? I'm trying to gather info on Baptists and the practice of psalmody. Any help from some of you EP folks would be greatly appreciated. God bless you on this Sabbath day.

No, he sang non-canonical hymns. This can be confirmed by examining his congregation's hymnbook.

Yes, Spurgeon was an Exceptional Preacher.

Elegant Pastor

Also worth adding that Spurgeon was not anti-instruments on principle either. He did not want an organ in the Tabernacle as he viewed it as a distraction, but he contributed to various chapels who required funds specifically for the purchase of organs. For him the instrument issue was one of preference rather than principle.

And no, he was definately NOT EP. He wrote several hymns himself, not his strongest suit by any means. The best well known these days is 'Amidst us our beloved stands'.

Originally Posted by JonathanHunt

Also worth adding that Spurgeon was not anti-instruments on principle either. He did not want an organ in the Tabernacle as he viewed it as a distraction, but he contributed to various chapels who required funds specifically for the purchase of organs. For him the instrument issue was one of preference rather than principle.

And no, he was definately NOT EP. He wrote several hymns himself, not his strongest suit by any means. The best well known these days is 'Amidst us our beloved stands'.

For more on CH Spurgeon's views on this issue see this post:

Charles Spurgeon Differs from Today’s Baptists on Church Music « Seeing God’s Breath

His opinions against organs seem to have varied.

I thought he was a Everymany's Preacher

Originally Posted by Daniel Ritchie

His opinions against organs seem to have varied.

Yep. He wrote fairly strongly against them but acted inconsistently in contributing to organ funds. I don't know if this was a shift in position over time. I'll ask him when I see him

Originally Posted by JonathanHunt

The best well known these days is 'Amidst us our beloved stands'.

#427, Revised Trinity Hymnal

Spurgeon's hymns are admittedly not great. But at least once he did attain to real poetry. Consider this, which appears in the Treasury of David on Psalm 8 (reflections suggested by wandering around in the Alps).

Yet in all these how great soe'er they be,
We see not Him. The glass is all too dense
And dark, or else our earthborn eyes too dim.
Yon Alps, that lift their heads above the clouds
And hold familiar converse with the stars,
Are dust, at which the balance trembleth not,
Compared with His divine immensity.
The snow-crown'd summits fail to set Him forth,
Who dwelleth in Eternity, and bears
Alone, the name of High and Lofty One.
Depths unfathomed are too shallow to express
The wisdom and the knowledge of the Lord.
The mirror of the creatures has no space
To bear the image of the Infinite.
'Tis true the Lord hath fairly writ his name,
And set his seal upon creation's brow.
But as the skilful potter much excels
The vessel which he fashions on the wheel,
E'en so, but in proportion greater far,
Jehovah's self transcends his noblest works.
Earth's ponderous wheels would break, her axles snap,
If freighted with the load of Deity.
Space is too narrow for the Eternal's rest,
And time too short a footstool for his throne.
E'en avalanche and thunder lack a voice,
To utter the full volume of his praise.
How then can I declare him? Where are words
With which my glowing tongue may speak his name?
Silent I bow, and humbly I adore.

Originally Posted by KMK

Yes, Spurgeon was an Exceptional Preacher.

But was he an Expository Preacher?