What Happened to Martin Lloyd-Jones? Theologies in Contrast, Part 1
Martin Lloyd-Jones has been called the greatest preacher of Reformed Calvinist theology of the twentieth century. His story, starting from a career as a physician, then preacher in South Wales and London, is told by Iain Murray in a two-volume biography, Life of Lloyd-Jones (Edinburgh, Banner of Truth, 2013).
Pastor John’s interest in Lloyd-Jones began when reading sermons Lloyd-Jones preached on “Power and Renewal in the Holy Spirit,” published in the book, Joy Unspeakable (Wheaton, Harold Shaw Publishers, 2000). In the introduction by Christopher Catherwood (Lloyd-Jones’s grandson), readers are invited to see for themselves whether Lloyd-Jones had become a pentecostal, promoting the idea of a post-conversion experience of a “baptism of the Spirit.” This led to reading Murray’s biography to understand how and why Lloyd-Jones made such a radical departure (in the mind of this blogger) from his commitment to Reformed theology.
In this series, Pastor John traces Lloyd-Jones’s story from the onset of a serious illness which compelled a six-month absence from his pulpit but enabled Lloyd-Jones to visit the London churches. What he found deeply disturbed him, seeing no evidence of the joy and power of the Spirit. Pastor John shares his thoughts about how and why this radical change occurred, contrasting it with the theology and preaching of James Denney.