Clarence Larkin

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Clarence Larkin
Illustration The Church versus The Kingdom

Clarence Larkin (born October 28, 1850 in Chester , Pennsylvania , † January 24, 1924 ) was an American Baptist pastor and Bible teacher. His graphically illustrated works on biblical prophecy in the sense of dispensationalism had a great influence on the spread of this biblical interpretation.

Life

Clarence Larkin was born on October 28, 1850 in Chester, Delaware County, Pennsylvania .

At the age of 19 he was converted to the Christian faith. He worked temporarily as a bank clerk, but then went to the Polytechnic College of Philadelphia at the age of 21 , where he graduated as a mechanical engineer in 1873, then worked in a shipyard and finally accepted a job at the Pennsylvania Institute for the Blind .

Up to this point he was a member of an Episcopal Church , but in 1882 he moved to a Baptist congregation due to his understanding of baptism . He laid out the theological justification for this in his work Why I Am a Baptist , published in 1902. Although he had no theological training whatsoever, he was ordained a Baptist pastor in 1884 and took up his new position in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. This was followed by twenty years of service in the Bethany Baptist Church in Fox Chase, Pennsylvania. At that time he did not yet advocate premillenarianism , whose teaching he later adopted by reading relevant literature. For his field service, Larkins made large picture panels to visually clarify the dispensationalist view of human history and its chronology for his audience. His training, in which he had learned to make graphic drawings, helped him here. This led to his being invited to Bible schools, where his blackboards were henceforth used for illustration. Clarence Larkin began to publish his tablets, known as the Prophetic Truth , which were widely used in evangelical circles. His work has been featured and featured in major Christian magazines such as Moody Monthly, The Sunday School Times and The King's Business . In 1915 Clarence Larkin began to summarize and detail his view of the seven church ages in a book that was published in 1918 under the title Dispensational Truth, Or God's Plan and Purpose in the Ages . The book was u. a. provided with the already known illustrations. Larkin's works had a great influence on Baptists and the later Pentecostal movement in the United States. According to Larkin, the Old Testament prophets had a narrow perspective on their prophecies and only saw outstanding historical events without having an overview. Larkin also illustrated this with the help of graphic diagrams. His work made a significant contribution to promoting dispensationalism within Christian denominations. After the success of the book, he devoted himself exclusively to writing and biblical exegesis .

Private

Clarence Larkin was married to Emma Hinkson (born February 1, 1851 - April 23, 1931). He died in Chester on January 24, 1924 and was buried in the Chester Rural Cemetery. The inscription was engraved on his tombstone: “Here lieth the body of / Clarence Larkin / awaiting / the First Resurrection / 1.Thess. 4: 13-18 "

Teaching

Clarence Larkin was a representative of dispensationalism .

  • He divided human history into six ages enclosed by eternity: Age of Creation , Age of Conscience ( Fall of Man to Flood ), Age of Law ( Legislation to Christ ), Age of Church / Congregation (Christ to Rapture ), Age of Kings ( Rapture of the church to the last judgment ) and the Perfect Age.
  • Based on the statement in 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 8 that for God a day is like 1000 years, Larkin transferred the seven days of creation to human history, which he divided into 7000 years: earth year 0 to 1000 (creation until Enoch's rapture ) , Year 1000 to 2000 (Enoch to Abraham ), year 2000 to 3000 (Abraham to Solomon ), year 3000 to 4000 (Solomon to Christ), year 4000 to 5000 (Christ to Dark Age), year 5000 to 6000 (Dark Age to to the Antichrist ), year 6000 to 7000 (Antichrist to victory over Satan).
  • Historical classification of the seven church ages ( Revelation chapters 2–3) according to Clarence Larkin:
    • Church Age Ephesus: AD 70–170
    • Smyrna Church Age: 170-312
    • Pergamon Church Age: 312–606
    • Thyatira Church Age: 606–1520
    • Sardis Church Age: 1520–1750
    • Philadelphia Church Age: 1750–1900
    • Laodicean Church Age: 1900 – Present
  • Larkin interpreted the seven stars or the seven angels of Revelation as seven divine messengers (messengers): Referring to the 1st chapter of Revelation, he said: “We are told in verse 20 that the Seven Stars stood for the Angels of the Seven Churches . These Angels are not angelic beings but Messengers of the churches. "

Works (selection)

  • Why I Am a Baptist. 1902
  • Dispensational Truth, Or God's Plan and Purpose in the Ages. Philadelphia, PA 1918
  • The Second Coming of Christ. 1918
  • The Book of Revelation: A Study of the Last Prophetic Book of Holy Scripture. Philadelphia 1919
  • The Greatest Book on Dispensational Truth in the World. 1920
  • Rightly dividing the word. Philadelphia 1921
  • The Spirit World. 1921
  • The Book of Daniel. 1929
  • The Jews, the Gentiles and the Church.
  • Satan, Antichrist and the Satanic Trinity.
  • A Medicine Chest for Christian Practitioners.

literature

  • Clarence B. Bass: Backgrounds to Dispensationalism: Its Historical Genesis and Ecclesiastical Implications. 1960, Wipf & Stock Publishers, Eugene, Oregon 2005
  • Craig A. Blaising: Dispensationalism, Israel and the Church: The Search for Definition. Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan 1992
  • Andrew T. Coates: What is Protestant Art? Koninklijke Brill, Leiden, Netherlands 2018
  • Mal Couch: Dictionary of Premillennial Theology. Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, Michigan 1996
  • Crawford Gribben: Evangelical Millennialism in the Trans-Atlantic World 1500-2000. Palgrave Macmillan Publishers 2011
  • Bill J. Leonard: Encyclopedia of Religious Controversies in the United States. Volume 1: A-L. ABC-Clio, Santa Barbara CA, 2nd edition, 2013
  • C. Matthew McMahon: Historical Theology Made Easy. Puritan Publications 2012

Web links

Commons : Clarence Larkin  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Bill J. Leonard: Encyclopedia of Religious Controversies in the United States. Volume 1: A-L. ABC-Clio, Santa Barbara CA, 2nd edition, 2013, 250
  2. ↑ a b Mal Couch: Dictionary of Premillennial Theology. Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, Michigan 1996, 239
  3. ↑ a b c Preface by Clarence Larkins to the third edition of Dispensational Truth from March 25, 1920
  4. ↑ Clarence Larkin, Foreword to Why I Am a Baptist. 1902
  5. ^ Web site for the Bethany Baptist Church in Fox Chase, Pennsylvania
  6. ^ Clarence B. Bass: Backgrounds to Dispensationalism: Its Historical Genesis and Ecclesiastical Implications. 1960, Wipf & Stock Publishers, Eugene, Oregon 2005, 42
  7. ^ Andrew T. Coates: What is Protestant Art? Koninklijke Brill, Leiden 2018, page 111
  8. ↑ Craig A. Blaising: Dispensationalism, Israel and the Church: The Search for Definition. Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan 1992, 10
  9. ^ Andrew T. Coates: What is Protestant Art? Koninklijke Brill, Leiden 2018, page 118
  10. ^ C. Matthew McMahon: Historical Theology Made Easy. Puritan Publications, 2012, 334
  11. ^ Andrew T. Coates: What is Protestant Art? Koninklijke Brill, Leiden 2018, page 117
  12. ↑ Crawford Gribben: Evangelical Millennialism in the Trans-Atlantic World 1500-2000. Palgrave Macmillan Publishers (2011), 98
  13. ↑ Clarence Larkins tombstone, Chester Rural Cemetery, Chester, Pennsylvania
  14. ↑ Clarence Larkin (1918), plate 1
  15. ↑ Clarence Larkin (1918), 2010, p. 16
  16. ↑ Clarence Larkin: Dispensational Truth, or God's Plan and Purpose in the Ages. Philadelphia, PA, 1918, pp. 128-131
  17. ↑ Clarence Larkin: The Book of Revelation. 2nd edition, 1919, page 12
personal data
SURNAME Larkin, Clarence
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American Baptist pastor and Bible teacher
DATE OF BIRTH October 28, 1850
PLACE OF BIRTH Chester , Pennsylvania
DATE OF DEATH January 24, 1924