The Testimony of Spurgeon’s Brother
by Don Currin
Young Charles Spurgeon (age 17), who was already the pastor of a church of 450 congregants in Waterbeach, was in earnest prayer as to whether he should go to college to prepare for the ministry. Did he really need to obtain a formal education considering his insatiable appetite for study and his colossal spirituality embodied in a self – effacing humility? A footnote in Spurgeon’s autobiography by the editor is worth consideration:
Spurgeon’s devotion to study is an important factor in estimating his future influence. Charles Spurgeon’s brother’s testimony was that “he never did anything else but study. I kept to the rabbits, chickens, and pigs, and a horse; HE KEPT TO BOOKS. {emphasis mine} While I was busy here and there, meddling with anything and everything that a boy could touch, he kept to books, and could not keep away from study. But, though he had nothing to do with other things, he could have told you all about them because he used to read about everything with a memory as tenacious as a vice and as copious as a barn. … He made such progress in his studies that I am sure there were few young men that were his equals, and I do not know of any that were his superiors.”
For those who would be quick to judge Spurgeon in what seems to be an immoderate preoccupation with reading and study without any service, he was a diligent soul winner during these days. He was a faithful sower of gospel seed, distributing tracts as a lifestyle, while seeking to enter the most poor, uneducated and obstinate homes in his field of service.
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