 Edward Irving
Apostolic Pioneer
 Edward
Irving was invited to be minister of Caledonian Chapel in London, July 1822, when he was almost thirty. He
had recently completed all the stringent
requirements to obtain a "License to Preach" in the Scottish Church and was
ready for service. Most
people, however, in Scotland did not like his flamboyant style, but in London it was
different. Within nine months, the congregation grew from fifty to
more than one thousand. Because of the vast crowds, a ticket system for
attending was introduced, because the building
was only designed to hold five hundred. People from all walks of life flocked
to hear Irving denounce the evils of his day. In 1824 the congregation moved to a new
church in Regent Square, then the largest in London.
Later that year Irving was invited to
be the speaker at the annual meeting of the London Missionary Society.
Irving regularly preached long sermons but this was longer than usual,
the service lasted three and a half hours. They expected an inspiring account
of their work which would encourage liberal future support. However, Irving,
gave a detailed exposition of missionary work in the New Testament showing
how the disciples were sent out by Jesus, in the power of the Spirit, without
any money. He argued that these methods should still be used today. His
hosts were annoyed, further, when Irving later published an even more detailed
account of his views entitled, "Missionaries after the Apostolic School."
It is interesting to note, as
a result of the outpouring of the Spirit at the start of this century,
many missionaries went out as Irving advocated. Most of them found, however, they
needed the backing of an organization to survive. Edward Irving's fundamental
approach to the Bible was very different from the liberal view of many
who embraced the teaching of Schleiermacher, a Calvinist
theologian,
regarded as the father of modern
Protestant thought.
As a result of studying the
Bible, Edward Irving was convinced that Jesus Christ was able to resist temptation
because the Holy Spirit dwelt in Him. This was contrary to the generally
accepted view at the time that taught that Jesus did not sin because He
was divine. Most of Edward Irving's congregation agreed with his interpretation
of scripture because it showed them that they could resist sin, just as Jesus did.
On earth, Edward Irving taught, Jesus was exactly as they were.
RELIGIOUS ESTABLISHMENT
The religious establishment
disagreed strongly with Edward Irving who aggravated the situation even more by his actions.
The result was, in 1830, Irving was found guilty on four charges of heresy
by the London Presbytery and declared to be no longer a member. At this
time, Edward Irving still had the support of and oversight of his church.
Edward Irving's study of the Bible had
also convinced him that all Christians should be baptized in the Holy Spirit, and,
as evidence, they would speak in other tongues. Further, there should also be prophecies and
healings. (The general view was that these outward signs of power had ceased
after the death of the apostles and the baptism was now limited to the inward
gift of sanctification and fruitfulness.) During 1830 there were claims that
people in the west of Scotland were manifesting these signs that Irving taught. After careful
investigation, Edward Irving was convinced they were genuine and this was the
start of the final outpouring of the Holy Spirit before the return of Jesus
Christ.
Prayer meetings were held in
London for God to pour out His Spirit. Soon, speaking in tongues and interpretations
were a regular occurrence. To maintain some order, Edward Irving insisted people
should only speak in tongues during two specified periods, in the prayer
meeting but never in the Sunday services. In the morning service, Sunday,
30 October 1831, a lady felt an irresistible urge to speak in tongues.
Trying to observe the restrictions of the minister, she ran into the vestry.
Then another lady feeling the same urge, ran out into the street. After
careful consideration, Edward Irving decided to allow tongues and interpretation
in the Sunday services.
This was too much for the trustees
and so they took legal advice against Edward Irving. Two eminent lawyers advised them to remove Irving by complaining to the London Presbytery as required by
their trust deed. This raised several problems, but the result was that,
on 26 April 1832, the London Presbytery found Irving guilty of deviations
from the doctrine and discipline of the Church of Scotland. Those who gathered
at the church for the early morning prayer meeting on, Friday 4 May, found
the doors locked against them. On Sunday about 800 people, mainly from
Regent Square, joined Edward Irving for communion in a hired hall nearby. After
some months they moved to Newman Street and the organization that developed
became known as, The Catholic Apostolic Church, nicknamed, Irvingites.
Edward Irving was particularly interested
in prophecy. He predicted there would be a widespread outpouring of the
Holy Spirit and that the Jews would return to their own land. These
both happened in the first half of the twentieth century. Edward Irving thought,
however, it would
be much sooner. He believed the Millennium would commence in 1867. For
many people, his prophecies convinced them he was a crank.
Irving claimed he came under
the jurisdiction of the Presbytery in, Annan, Scotland, from which he received
his ordination to the Church of Scotland. The annual assembly in 1832 commissioned
the Annan Presbytery to try Irving as soon as possible. On 13 March 1833
he was found guilty of maintaining the sinfulness of the Savior in His
human nature and was deposed from the ministry. (Although Irving referred to
the human nature of Christ as, "That sinful substance" he also affirmed
that Christ never sinned.)
Edward Irving, not only believed in divine healing, but also that sickness came as a consequence of sin.
Sadly, three
of his four children died at an early age. Edward Irving believed that God would
heal them, when they died he said it was God judging him for his sin.
Later Edward Irving discovered
that he had consumption. When his illness became worse he concluded God was
again judging him, although there was no apparent justification for it.
Irving died, 7 December 1834, at the age of forty two and was buried in a
crypt at Glasgow Cathedral. Edward Irving clearly anticipated many
of the Pentecostal beliefs although no one has been able to trace any direct
connection. He made many mistakes and Pentecostals could learn from
them. Hopefully we will not follow the observation of Hegel, "History teaches
that people never learn anything from history."
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by Jonas Clark, Spirit of Life Ministries, 27 Hallandale Beach Blvd. Hallandale
Beach, Florida 33009 (954) 456-4420 |
