KANSAS CITY, MO (BP) – A website expected to hold the largest digitized collection on the internet of writings by famed British pastor Charles H. Spurgeon is now available. Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, in partnership with B&H Academic, launched the website on June 21.
Also known as "The Spurgeon Archive," Midwestern Seminary's original Spurgeon Center website has been combined with www.spurgeon.org, which was founded and donated by Phil Johnson, the executive director of "Grace to You." The Spurgeon site will consist of accessible sermons, writings, links, and a number of other Spurgeon-related documents. The site invites readers to check back weekly for additional sermons and other resources. "We view this website as a resource available to the local church that makes visible the life, legacy and library of Charles Spurgeon," Midwestern President Jason Allen said. "Our ultimate goal is to make Spurgeon's works accessible to the world in a way that has never been done before. This site does just that."
In addition to facsimiles of sermons that visitors can search through, the site will also feature a regularly scheduled blog by Spurgeon Library curator Christian George. There are also links highlighting Spurgeon's Daily Meditations, where guests can access his morning and evening readings for each day of the year, as well as Spurgeon's commentary on Psalms, "The Treasury of David," the Sword and Trowel magazine, and artifacts from the library. "The heartbeat of this website is to make Jesus Christ shine through Spurgeon," George said. "We are uploading a treasure chest of sermons, commentaries, Puritan writings, and preaching helps designed to encourage pastors and edify the church. My prayer is that God will use the same books that shaped Spurgeon to shape new generations of Christians throughout the world."
George, who is in the process of publishing the 12-volume Lost Sermons of C.H. Spurgeon series, noted that there are plans to add a discussion/interactive element to the site, which he hopes will bring scholars together. "Spurgeon scholarship is a growing field," George said. "There's so much we are still learning. Our desire is to create a hub for pastors, doctoral students, Spurgeon enthusiasts, and anyone interested in contributing to the field. Collaboration will be key to constructing a three-dimensional portrait of the pastor." Midwestern Seminary purchased C.H. Spurgeon's personal library from William Jewel College in 2006. The collection consists of more than 6,000 books, and hundreds of artifacts, letters, and assorted materials.
In 2014, Midwestern established the Charles Spurgeon Center for Biblical Preaching, which includes the Spurgeon Scholars initiative that offers a limited number of scholarships to exceptional, full-time residential students called to pastoral ministry. Additionally, each fall semester the Center hosts The Spurgeon Lectures. Notable evangelical leaders such as John MacArthur, R. Albert Mohler Jr., Mark Dever and Alistair Begg have delivered the lectures. A $2.5 million gift from Bill and Connie Jenkins of Paoli, Ind., enabled Midwestern to remodel its former chapel into the Spurgeon Library, which consolidated and showcased the collection appropriately. The library was dedicated in October 2015.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
T. Patrick Hudson is executive assistant to the president of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.