G. Campbell Morgan Explained

Reverend Doctor George Campbell Morgan D.D. (9 December 1863  - 16 May 1945) was a British evangelist, preacher, a leading Bible teacher, and a prolific author.

A contemporary of Rodney "Gipsy" Smith, Morgan preached his first sermon at age 13. He was the pastor of Westminster Chapel in London from 1904 to 1919, pausing for 14 years to teach at Biola in Los Angeles, and returning to the Chapel from 1933 to 1943 when he handed over the pastorate to the renowned Martyn Lloyd-Jones, after having shared it with him and mentored him since 1939. From 1911 to 1914 he was the president of Cheshunt College, Cambridge.[1]

Biography

Morgan was born on a farm in Tetbury, England, the son of Welshman George Morgan and Elizabeth Fawn Brittan. His father was a member of the strict Plymouth Brethren but resigned and became a Baptist minister. He was very sickly as a child, could not attend school, and so was tutored at home.[2]

When Campbell was 10 years old, D. L. Moody came to England for the first time. His ministry, combined with the dedication of his parents, made such an impression on young Morgan that at the age of 13 he preached his first sermon. Two years later he was preaching regularly in country chapels during his Sundays and holidays.

By 1883 he was teaching in Birmingham. However, in 1886, at the age of 23, he left the teaching profession and devoted himself to preaching and Bible exposition. In the same year he married his cousin Nancy.[3] He was ordained to the Congregational ministry in 1890. He had no formal training for the ministry, but his devotion to studying the Bible made him one of the leading Bible teachers of his day. His reputation as preacher and Bible expositor grew throughout Britain and spread to the United States.

In 1896 Moody invited him to lecture to the students at the Moody Bible Institute. This was the first of 54 visits to America to preach and teach. After the death of Moody in 1899 Morgan assumed the position of director of the Northfield Bible Conference. He was given a Doctor of Divinity degree by the Chicago Theological Seminary in 1902.[2] After five successful years in this capacity, he returned to England in 1904 and became pastor of Westminster Chapel in London. During two years of this ministry he was President of Cheshunt College in Cambridge.[4] His preaching and weekly Friday night Bible classes were attended by thousands. In 1910 Morgan contributed an essay entitled The Purposes of the Incarnation to the first volume of The Fundamentals, 90 essays which are widely considered to be the foundation of the modern Fundamentalist movement.

Leaving Westminster Chapel in 1919, he once again returned to the United States, where he conducted an itinerant preaching and teaching ministry for 14 years. He returned to England in 1933, where he again became pastor of Westminster Chapel and remained there until his retirement in 1943. He was instrumental in bringing Martyn Lloyd-Jones to Westminster in 1939 to share the pulpit and become his successor. Morgan was a friend of F. B. Meyer, Charles Spurgeon, and many other great preachers of his day.[2]

Morgan died on 16 May 1945, at the age of 81.

Covenant Theology

For most of his life Campbell Morgan taught the dispensational view on Israel and the Jews, but towards the end of his life he changed his views to Covenant Theology.

He wrote this in a letter in 1943: "I am quite convinced that all the promises made to Israel are found, are finding and will find their perfect fulfillment in the church. It is true that in time past, in my expositions, I gave a definite place to Israel in the purposes of God. I have now come to the conviction, as I have just said, that it is the new and spiritual Israel that is intended." (Letter to Rev. H. F. Wright, New Brunswick, Victoria)[5]

Publications

Morgan was a prolific author, writing about 80 works in his lifetime. This number does not include the 10-volume set of sermons, "The Westminster Pulpit," his messages from the "Mundesley" conference, his sermons that were published independently as booklets and pamphlets, nor the posthumous works. He wrote commentaries on the entire Bible, and on many devotional topics related to the Christian life and ministry.

His essay entitled "The Purposes of the Incarnation" was included in a famous and historic collection called The Fundamentals, a set of 90 essays edited by the famous R. A. Torrey, who himself was successor to D. L. Moody both as an evangelist and pastor. The Fundamentals is widely considered to be the foundation of the modern Fundamentalist movement.

His most important works include:

Posthumous:

Contributions to other titles:

Biographies:

Resources

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Welch . Edwin . Archives of Cheshunt College, Cambridge . 1979 . Swift Printers (Sales) . 9 August 2018 . en.
  2. Web site: Biography of G. Campbell Morgan . Pleasantplaces.biz . 16 May 1945 . 30 October 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110824132719/http://www.pleasantplaces.biz/authors/morgan_gc.php . 24 August 2011 . dead .
  3. Web site: A Study on the Life and Major Theological Thought of George Campbell Morgan . 11 May 2022.
  4. Web site: 'George Campbell Morgan, 1863-1945, Bible Teacher' on Believers Web . Believersweb.org . 13 March 2003. 30 October 2011.
  5. Book: Hughes. Archibald. A New Heaven and a New Earth. 1958. Presbyterian and Reformed Press. Nutley, N.J..

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