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P. T. Forsyth: The Prophet of Judgment
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 February 2009
Extract
In the recent revival of interest in the teaching of Dr P. T. Forsyth as “The Theologian of the Cross”, due attention has scarcely been given to the many implications of his message among which his doctrine of Judgment occupies so prominent a place. Indeed, one can say that it is impossible to grasp his doctrine of Redemption apart from the persistent stress he lays, in practically all his works, on Judgment. It was his contention, against the Liberal Christian theology of his day, with its emphasis on the latent divinity of man and the benevolence to the neglect of the severity of God, that it tended to produce pulpiteers rather than preachers and a soft rather than a stalwart faith. He drew a hard and fast line between the orator and the preacher. “Preaching”, he declares, “is the most distinctive institution in Christianity. It is quite different from oratory. The pulpit is another place, and another kind of place, from the platform. Many succeed in the one and yet are failures in the other. The Christian preacher is not the successor of the Greek orator, but of the Hebrew prophet.rdquo; 1 The Hebrew prophet with his “Thus saith the Lord” was invariably the prophet of judgment. When God speaks He speaks as Judge, and the prophet, speaking in His name, claims the right to pronounce judgment. So with Jeremiah, Amos and Hosea. John the Baptist was the herald of judgment, and our Lord, while he cautioned people against judging one another, considering their own faults, exercised the right equally with his heavenly Father to determine the merit and demerit of men.
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- Research Article
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- Copyright © Scottish Journal of Theology Ltd 1951
References
page 148 note 1 Positive Preaching and the Modern Mind, p. 1.
page 148 note 2 John 9.39.
page 149 note 1 Positive Preaching and the Modern Mind, p. 10.
page 149 note 2 ibid., p. 3.
page 149 note 3 The Church and the Sacraments, p. 123.
page 149 note 4 Positive Preaching and the Modern Mind, p. 28.
page 150 note 1 ibid., p. 30.
page 151 note 1 The Work of Christ, p. 127.
page 151 note 2 ibid., p. 85.
page 152 note 1 The Cruciality of the Cross, p. 127.
page 152 note 2 ibid.
page 152 note 3 The Justification of God, p. 11.
page 152 note 4 The Person and Place of Jesus Christ, p. 5.
page 152 note 5 Positive Preaching and the Moden Mind, p. 103.
page 152 note 6 Faith, Freedom and the Future, p. xiii.
page 153 note 1 The Person and Place of Jesus Christ, p. 52.
page 153 note 2 ibid., p. 222.
page 153 note 3 The Meaning of History (1936).
page 153 note 4 The Justification of God, p. 79.
page 153 note 5 The Work of Christ, p. 132.
page 153 note 6 The Justification of God, p. 176.
page 153 note 7 The Work of Christ, p. 136.
page 153 note 8 The Justification of God, p. 201.
page 154 note 1 ibid., p. 216.
page 154 note 2 The Justification of God, p. 194.
page 154 note 3 ibid., p. 197.
page 154 note 4 ibid., p. 199.
page 154 note 5 Missions in Church and State, p. 72.
page 154 note 6 Positive Preaching and the Modern Mind, p. 153.
page 154 note 7 Missions in Church and State, p. 73.
page 155 note 1 Positive Preaching and the Modern Mind, p. 316.
page 155 note 2 The Work of Christ, p. 133.
page 155 note 3 Missions in Church and State, p. 316.
page 155 note 4 ibid., p. 74.
page 156 note 1 The Person and Place of Jesus Christ, p. 197.