300 years
on this date, 22 June 1714, one of my favorite theologians, Matthew Henry died.
To honor and remember him for his works, I will post the Quote of the Week from
him.
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Matthew
Henry
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QUOTE: Extraordinary afflictions are not always the punishment of
extraordinary sins, but sometimes the trial of extraordinary graces. [Quotes reported in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert,
Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895).]
AUTHOR: Matthew Henry (18 October 1662 – 22 June 1714) was an English
commentator on the Bible and Presbyterian minister. He was born at Broad Oak,a
farmhouse on the borders of Flintshire and Shropshire. His father, Philip
Henry, had just been ejected under the Act of Uniformity 1662. Unlike most of
his fellow-sufferers, Philip possessed some private means, and was thus able to
give his son a good education. Matthew went first to a school at Islington, and
then to Gray's Inn. He soon gave up his legal studies for theology, and in 1687
became minister of a Presbyterian congregation at Chester. He moved again in
1712 to Mare Street, Hackney. Two years later (22 June 1714), he died suddenly
of apoplexy at the Queen's Aid House (41 High Street) in Nantwich while on a
journey from Chester to London.
Matthew Henry's
well-known six-volume Exposition of the Old and New Testaments
(1708–1710) or Complete Commentary, provides an exhaustive verse by
verse study of the Bible. covering the whole of the Old Testament, and the
Gospels and Acts in the New Testament. After the author's death, the work was
finished (Romans through Revelation) by thirteen other nonconformist ministers,
partly based upon notes taken by Henry's hearers, and edited by George Burder
and John Hughes in 1811.
Henry's commentaries
are primarily exegetical, dealing with the scripture text as presented, with
his prime intention being explanation, for practical and devotional purposes.
While not being a work of textual research, for which Henry recommended Matthew
Poole's Synopsis Criticorum, Henry's Exposition gives the result
of a critical account of the original as of his time, with practical
application. It was considered sensible and stylish, a commentary for
devotional purposes.
Famous
evangelical Protestant preachers such as George Whitefield and Charles Spurgeon
used and heartily commended the work, with Whitefield reading it through four
times - the last time on his knees. Spurgeon stated, "Every minister ought
to read it entirely and carefully through once at least."
Henry's Miscellaneous
Writings, including a Life of Mr. Philip Henry, The Communicant's Companion,
Directions for Daily Communion with God, A Method for Prayer, A Scriptural
Catechism, and numerous sermons, the life of his father, tracts, and biography
of eminent Christians, together with the sermon on the author's death by
William Tong were edited in 1809; and in 1830 a new edition included sermons
not previously included and Philip Henry's "What Christ is made to
believers". The collection was issued several times by different
publishers.
Several abbreviated
editions of the Commentary were published in the twentieth century; more
recently the Christian linguist and author of reference books, Martin H.
Manser, edited a version in modern English: The New Matthew Henry Commentary:
The Classic Work with Updated Language (Zondervan 2010).
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