The Suffering Saviour, by F W Krummacher, published by the Banner of Truth Trust, hardback, 464 pages, £15.95.1
Friedrich Wilhelm Krummacher (1796-1868) held several preaching or pastoral charges in the German Reformed Church, including a period as royal chaplain. In his youth he was affected by what he calls “the cold, hard Rationalism which then, from almost every pulpit in the land, cast down the chopped straw and chaff of its poor ideas to scanty and spiritually-famished congregations”. He was educated in theological classes where he “saw the Lord of glory stripped of His supernatural majesty, shrivelled into the rank of a mere rabbi, noble indeed, and highly gifted, but yet always entangled by the prejudices of His time”. He confessed that, when he began his ministry, his “whole Christianity consisted, as yet, more in undefined sentimentality than in firm conviction; more in the hazy vision of the imagination than in the possession of truth won as a result of warfare against error or as gained from experience”.
While his words apply generally, he is no doubt drawing on his own experience when he writes: “In the days of our blindness we had also divested the Lord Jesus of the glory of His inherent splendour, while presuming to deny one or other particular concerning Him, so as to leave Him little more than the title of Jewish Rabbi, or the Sage of Nazareth. But how did we afterward alter our course, when the Lord stripped us of the garments of our imaginary righteousness, and in the mirror of His law exhibited to us our real form! How hastily did we then put upon Immanuel His own raiment!” (pp 307,308). His testimony to “the divine inspiration of the Holy Scriptures” (p 6) and his call to “place a firm reliance on the Word of truth” (p 7) are more commendable in view of the rationalistic environment in which he ministered. Awareness of this ecclesiastical background helps us appreciate the significance of his occasional pointed criticisms of views destructive of Scripture and of the Person and work of Christ – criticisms as appropriate and needful in Scotland today as in mid-nineteenth century Germany.
Krummacher considers the history of the final sufferings of Christ as the approach of the Lamb of God to the altar of burnt offering in the tabernacle and divides his study into three sections: (1) “The Outer Court”, which traces the Lord’s progress from His plain announcement of His approaching death to His disciples, on the way to Jerusalem, until He reached Gethsemane, taking in the various judicial trials to which He was subjected; (2) “The Holy Place”, which takes us from the Lord’s experience in Gethsemane until He came to Calvary; and (3) “The Most Holy Place”, which contemplates the crucifixion and burial of our Lord. The principle on which he proceeds is that “there is no feature in the history of the passion which is devoid of significance. Throughout there is a manifestation of superior arrangement and divine depth of purpose” (p 212). The Lord being taken prisoner, His various trials and His condemnation “are only symbolical representations of infinitely more exalted events, which were behind the veil, in the relations of the Mediator to God” (p 119).
Advertised as a “series of devotional meditations”, these 53 studies focus the attention of mind and soul upon Christ as the Lamb of God in readable language which reveals the warmth of the writer’s attachment to the Saviour and should help promote appropriate attitudes in gracious readers. At times Krummacher engages in somewhat fanciful interpretations and may be inclined to forget that sanctified imagination should function as a help to enter into what has been revealed rather than to add to it. The extended treatment of Judas Iscariot provides the most obvious and questionable example of this tendency. The underlying theology breaks through from time to time, though not as prominently as in the works of our Scottish theologians and preachers, such as Hugh Martin’s The Shadow of Calvary, which covers some of the same ground as The Suffering Saviour and was described by Martin as “an attempt to view the history of Christ’s sufferings in the light of the doctrine and the fruits thereof”.
There are expressions to which one demurs, but it is evident from this volume that Krummacher has a high view of Scripture, holds firmly to the divine glory of the Redeemer even in the depths of His humiliation and regards His work on Calvary as that of vicarious atonement. “All the doctrinal systems which seek to neutralise or evade the view of Christ’s sufferings as an atonement proceed from a conscious or unconscious effort to weaken and lessen the enormity of sin” (p 265). Such “devotional” literature is useful when used as a priming of the pump – illustrating how we should respond to the doctrines of the Word of God rather than acting as a substitute for personal contact with the Word and reflection and meditation on it.
Practical application is scattered throughout, as in the comment on Peter’s sad fall: “The love of Christ constrains us to venture everything for Him; but it is only the belief in Christ’s love for us, and the trusting to His gracious power and strength, that enables us to overcome. He who trembles at himself, as being capable of denying the Master, will gain greater victories than he who deems himself sufficiently strong to be able to say, ‘Though all men forsake thee, yet will not I.’ ‘Thou standest by faith,’ writes Paul in Romans. ‘Be not high-minded, but fear.’”
(Rev) Hugh M Cartwright
Dying Thoughts, by Richard Baxter, published by the Banner of Truth Trust, paperback, 144 pages, £4.50.
Dying Thoughts, as explained on the rear cover of the book, is an abridged version of Richard Baxter’s exposition of Paul’s words in Philippians 1:23: “For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ, which is far better.”
The Introduction, by Edward Donnelly, was first published under the title “A Corrective for Reformed Preachers” in The Banner of Truth magazine for July-August 1997. In it he asks the question: “In looking for help from the Puritan giants, are there not other and safer preaching models?” This is a relevant question, for, as the writer reminds us, “Baxter’s theology was flawed. His desire to promote Church unity sometimes betrayed him into seeking common cause with those who were far removed from biblical faith, and . . . although an able controversialist, he confesses: ‘I am too much inclined to such words in controversial writings which are too keen, and apt to provoke the person whom I write against.'”
The answer suggested is that three characteristics of Baxter’s preaching are often lacking in preaching today: his preaching was devoted to a simple exposition of basic truths; it had a passionate evangelical appeal; and it was shaped and enforced by systematic pastoral counselling. All of this comes out in those “thoughts”. His five points are: (1.) What is desirable in the present life. (2.) The souls of the godly are with Christ. (3.) Departing to be with Christ. (4.) Why it is far better to be with Christ, and (5.) God makes us willing to depart.
Addressing his own heart and practice, Baxter takes us through all these points. After dealing with how much more desirable the future state of the believer is to the present, he comes to the doubts and fears which often assail believers as they face eternity. He is especially helpful here, dealing with these matters firmly and honestly. For example: “Were I on the top of a castle or steeple, fastened by the strongest chains, or guarded by the surest battlements, I could not possibly look down without fear; and so it is with our prospect in the life to come. If, therefore, my soul sees undeniable evidence of immortality, and is able by irrefragable arguments to prove a future blessedness; if I am convinced that divine promises are true, and trust my soul, and all my hope, upon them; then neither my averseness to dying nor my irrational fear of entering upon eternity can invalidate the reasons of my hope or prove the unsoundness of my faith, but only the weakness of it. ‘Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?’ was Christ’s reproof to His disciples. A timorous heart needs to be chided, by saying, ‘Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope in God: for I shall
yet praise Him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God” (p 36).
This book, because of the language style, is not the easiest to read, but the trembling believer who takes pains to read it will be amply rewarded.
(Rev) W A Weale