Spurgeon: A New Biography [Paperback]

Arnold A. Dallimore (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1985

It is no easy task to depict 'so tremendous a personality' as that of Spurgeon in a brief volume, but in 250 pages it is here accomplished, and with a large measure of success. It will meet the need of those completely ignorant of Spurgeon and his vast achievements, but will stir also the interest of all who value a unique ministry, yielding 62 volumes of 'deathless' sermons and many other highly valuable publicatons.

Product Details

• Paperback: 252 pages
• Publisher: Banner of Truth (September 1, 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0851514510
• ISBN-13: 978-0851514512
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.7 x 8.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #133,150 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 42 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Place To Start September 22, 2004

By Tim Challies TOP 500 REVIEWER

There are more biographies devoted to Charles Spurgeon than to just about any other Christian figure. The first were written before his death (including his own autobiography) and hundreds have been written since. In the two years following his death, new biographies were published at the rate of one per month! One would be justified in asking, then, why we need another one. Arnold Dallimore answers this question in the preface, saying that in his studies he discovered no definitive volume. He found, for example, that no other biography gave a satisfactory account of Spurgeon's ability as a theologian or the methods he used in leading souls to Christ. Also, his character was often made to appear weaker than it really was. And so Dallimore sought to remedy these faults in his volume which was first published in 1984.

I quote again from the preface: "I trust that, at least to some extent, this book provides a more satisfactory account of the great Spurgeon...I have endeavored to understand and present something of the inner man - Spurgeon in his praying, his sufferings and depressions, his weaknesses and strengths, in his triumphs, his humor, his joys, and his incredible accomplishments."

Dallimore succeeds admirably. He presents Spurgeon as more than a great and powerful preacher. He presents him as a man who was the product of a long line of believers, a man whose life was filled with struggles and a man who emerged victorious. Above all, we see a man who was specially gifted by God and used those gifts to the fullest. Spurgeon's legacy is nearly immeasurable in souls won, in faith strengthened and in his influence over other preachers. He truly earned his title as the Prince of Preachers.

While not a definitive treatment of Spurgeon's life (it weighs in at a mere 244 pages while other biographies have been many times that length), this book is a wonderful starting place to learn to appreciate one of God's most humble servants. As with any good Christian biography, this book will serve to strengthen your faith and will turn your thoughts not to the man, but to the God to whom the man dedicated his life. I give it my wholehearted recommendation.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars The best introduction to Spurgeon for the general reader February 25, 2005

By Anson Cassel Mills

Arnold Dallimore (1911-1998), a Baptist clergyman who pastored three Ontario churches, also wrote biographies of Whitefield, Wesley, and Edward Irving. Like those biographies, this one of Spurgeon is intended to be both inspirational and historically accurate. The difficulties of simultaneously attempting to promote the faith while providing a "warts-and-all" biography are obvious, but Dallimore handles the challenge well.

Dallimore, the Baptist pastor, emphasizes a Spurgeon who was a whirlwind of pastoral commitments, a hearty Calvinist who supervised a magnificent range of church-oriented social service activities. (To an agnostic he once retorted, "The God who answereth by Orphanages, Let Him Be God.") No wonder that after spending nearly forty years in the pulpit, Spurgeon died before he was sixty.

Dallimore also properly stresses Spurgeon's principled withdrawal from the Baptist Union, with all the hurtful criticism that that decision engendered--as well as its prophetic anticipation of religious decline in the twentieth century. Yet it is also heartening to read of Spurgeon's warm relationship with those other evangelical giants of the late nineteenth century, D. L. Moody and Hudson Taylor, who didn't always cross their "t's" the same way as the London Baptist.

I would have preferred a bit more on Spurgeon's theology, the historic setting in which his ministry developed, and the contrast between his periods of deep depression and his reputation as a "bubbling fountain of humor." Nevertheless, for the modern general reader, this life of Charles Haddon Spurgeon is perhaps the best introduction to the greatest of all nineteenth-century evangelical preachers .

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Its amazing how many books have been written about this man November 5, 2003

By Monica Van Horn

I've read portions of almost all the biographies written on Spurgeon. This one seems to take the some of the best bits and pieces and combine them into one book. This book used much of the quotes left by Spurgeon's wife, and this gave it a first person kind of feel.

If you really want to dive into Spurgeon's life and see the trials and victories that this man faced, this is a wonderful book. Enjoy it.