The G. Campbell Morgan Archive

MORGAN'S THEOLOGICAL DISPOSITION
n general, Morgan's own theological positions can be described in three words: fundamentalism, dispensationalism, and premillenialism. The title "Fundamentalist" causes a variety of connotations. Morgan ought to be understood as such in terms of its earlier connotations. Whereas contemporary usage refers to a rigid dogmatic attitude characterized by narrow-mindedness, it originally referred to one who "believed and actively defended the Fundamentals of the faith" (Elwell, p. 433), that is the conservative theological positions of orthodox Protestantism from the challenges of radical higher criticism and liberal theology. Morgan lived and preached through the "Fundamentalist-modernist" controversies. He decried being categorized as either but his theological positions placed him within the fundamentalist camp. He wrote the following in 1921:
s to my theology. In the sense in which the words 'liberal' and 'conservative’ are used in that connection, I certainly am conservative. About that there is no question, as any man who call himself a "liberal" would tell you if he were talking about me (J. Morgan, p. 271)
n 1910, when a series of small books entitled "The Fundamentals” appeared to defend certain teachings against modernist attack, Morgan contributed an article on the incarnation. Frederick Webber refers to Morgan as "a thorough Fundamentalist” and states that “his preaching missions did much to strengthen the cause of the Fundamentalist group” (p. 528). Jill Morgan writes, “His every written and spoken word bears testimony to his belief in the infallibility of the Sacred Writings, and his teaching is rooted and grounded upon the fundamental facts of the Faith” (p. 271). During his ministry at Westminster, it became known as the “rallying place for conservative Protestantism” (Webber, p. 686) and Morgan became known as “the rising hope” of conservatives (as opposed to R. J. Campbell, “the idol of the theological liberals”) (Jeffs, p. 169). Morgan was enough his own man, however, that at times he incurred the wrath of both extremes of the fundamentalist-modernist controversy, leading Wiersbe to remark that “Morgan was too liberal for the conservatives and too conservative for the liberals (Walking, p. 134). His resignation from B.I.O.L.A. was prompted by a clash with an extreme fundamentalist faction within the school; and Mildred Cable, a friend, has told of a fainting incident while in the pulpit in New York which she attributed to personal anxiety over vicious rumors maligning him in relationship to "modernistic tendencies" (J. Morgan, p. 357-58).
ike many others who have been connected with the work of D.L. Moody and his Bible institute, Morgan was a dispensationalist. That is, he held that God unfolds his work in different "stages", "economies" (this was a favorite term of Morgan's), or "dispensations" which are distinguishable and discontinous units of the total program of God. Two major tenets of dispensationalism find expression in his sermons and books: 1) that the Church is distinct from Israel (God has two separate peoples) and 2) that promises made to Israel in the Old Testament are not yet fulfilled (i.e., they are not figuratively fulfilled in the church but will yet be fulfilled literally). In "The Spirit of God" this comes out very clearly; he uses the phrase "the coming of the Spirit" to refer to "His advent on the Day of Pentecost to usher in a dispensation" (p. 108); he also refers to Matthew 7.11 as a "purely dispensational and Jewish statement" (p. 109). In a message on the book of Hosea he states: "The present dispensation was ushered in by the crisis of the first Advent and a new dispensation will be ushered in by the crisis of the second Advent." (Living Messages, p. 126). In relationship to Joel 2.28ff he says it does not give "the final things" but "the ushering in of the last dispensation of' God …. The Kingdom of' the Son which lies beyond the millenium is not in view here". This age he referred to as the "age of' the Spirit" (Living Messages, p. 129-31). Later I will point out how this affects his dealing with the Church as a theme.
s might be surmised from Morgan's statement about Joel 2.28ff, a particular expression of' his dispensational position was a premillenial eschatology. In "The Teaching of Christ" he says:
irst our Lord taught with great distinctness that the processes towards the Kingdom will culminate in a crisis; that the crisis will be created by His own coming again; that it will be as distinct, as definite as was his first coming, and no more wonderful and no more unbelievable; that the activities of His personal coming will be those of judgment….. Judgment is separation, restoration, administration, government…. The day of grace has lasted two millenniums. How long may God's day of judgment last? It is quite certain by Biblical prophecy it will last a thousand years, for all the millenium is the day of judgment; and there are hints and gleams in these prophetic writings of' a period beyond the millennium. In the book of Revelation the story of the millennium is dismissed in a few verses; beyond the brief picture of the millennium it is declared that there will be the recrudescence of evil, for during the millennium it is but held in check …. beyond it is eradicated …. therefore there will be a preliminary process necessary, the winnowing of the floor in order to establish the Kingdom" (p. 306-07).
n preaching, Morgan usually sought to avoid quarreling over millennial views. But he never attempted to hide his own position as can be seen in "The Purpose of the Advent: To Prepare for a Second Advent." (Westminster Pulpit, vol. I, p. 341):
here may be diversities of interpretations as to how He will come and when He will come. We may part company as to whether He will come to usher in a millennium or to crown it. I think it is important, but I am not careful now to argue it....
and
am not dealing with the different phases of the Advent, with the fact that He will first gather His Church to Himself and then establish the Kingdom on earth. I am viewing the whole in general outline, recognizing the different phases (p. 346).
nother sermon containing allusions to premillennialism is "Men Looking for Their Lord." (Westminster Pulpit, vol. VII, p. 155). To his credit, Morgan emphasized the present duty of men in light of the return more than "star-gazing" :
he real thought is that of men who are eagerly expecting to receive, to receive a guest, men who are expecting to give hospitality. Not men who have abandoned duty in order to look for portents and signs, and presently for the Lord; but men who in fulfillment of duty are forevermore prepared for the King Himself, and in that sense looking for the coming of the Lord" (p. 161-62).
n interesting development in his premillenial views took place over the years, however, that ought to prevent us from judging Morgan to be a "pure" premillenialist. Paul Jackson, in a 1959 article in "Christianity Today" recalled an interview:
dozen or more years before that date, during a Boston pastorate, I was privileged to attend a course of lectures given by Dr. Morgan at Gordon College. At the end of one session I ventured to ask: "After your long study and extensive exposition of the Bible, Dr. Morgan, do you find any scriptural warrant for the distinction which many Bible teachers draw between the second coming of our Lord for his own (the rapture), and the coming of the Lord with his own (the revelation) with a time period of 3 ½ or 7 years between these two events?" "Emphatically not!" Dr. Morgan replied. "I know that view well, for in the earlier years of my ministry I taught it, and incorporated it in one of my own books entitled God's Method with Man. But further study so convinced me of the 'error of this teaching that I actually went to the personal expense of buying the plates of that book from my own publisher and destroying them. The idea of a separate and secret coming of Christ to remove the church prior to his coming in power and glory, is a vagary of prophetic interpretation without any Biblical basis whatsoever."
he development of ideas which began as early as the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries laid a foundation for the development of certain world views and theologies that affected both Morgan and his listeners. As naturalism and existentialism were applied to theology and Biblical studies, the stage was set for theological controversy that allowed no preacher to ride the fence. To appreciate the significance of Morgan's preaching one must understand that in relationship to the theological positions of his day he was a fundamentalist, a dispensationalist and a premillenialist. This may account for a degree of his popularity since these positions would have placed him in the same "camp" as many other influential writers and preachers of his day. Yet fundamentalism was a broad theological category in Morgan's day and he was not as extreme and rigid as some of the others. And eschatology does not receive a place of prominence in his preaching. Dispensationalism, however, affects one's hermeneutic as well as his eschatology. Therefore, though I am familiar with no other evaluation of Morgan's preaching which does this, any such evaluation should include some critique of dispensational hermeneutics. The next chapter will include this as it deals with his process of sermon preparation.