Oswald Chambers

Oswald Chambers

Oswald Chambers (born July 24, 1874 in Aberdeen , Scotland , † November 15, 1917 in Cairo , Egypt ) was one of the most influential Baptist preachers in Great Britain . His work My Utmost For His Highest , published after his death (German mostly under the title Mein Äußerstes für seine Höchstes ), is one of the world's most widely read Christian writings.

Childhood and youth

Oswald Chambers was the son of Clarence and Hannah Chambers and the eighth of nine siblings. A few years before he was born, his parents joined the Christian faith under the influence of the preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon . His father Clarence held various posts in a Baptist association in the period that followed. As a teenager, Oswald was also baptized and from this point on he dealt more and more with the Christian faith. However, due to an early recognized artistic talent, he first studied art in London and Edinburgh .

Life as a preacher

In 1896, at the age of 22, his spiritual interest gained the upper hand; he felt himself called by God to be a preacher. After a first degree, he finished his art studies. Instead, he went to Dunoon to study theology .

From 1906 to 1910 Chambers was a Bible teacher and preacher in many countries. His travels took him to America, Japan and Ceylon , Africa and the Arab world .

On his second trip to America in 1908 he met Gertrude "Biddy" Hobbs, whom he married in 1910. In 1911 he founded a Bible school with her in Clapham near London . “Biddy,” an excellent typist , made notes of his lectures and sermons from now on. In 1913 their daughter Kathleen was born.

After the outbreak of World War I , Chambers closed the school and traveled to Zeitoun in Egypt in 1915 on behalf of the Christian Association of Young People . There he was responsible for the pastoral care of Australian and New Zealand troops. In December of the same year his wife "Biddy" traveled to see him with Kathleen. Before the end of the war, Chambers suffered a ruptured appendix in 1917 and was operated on in a Red Cross hospital in Cairo. Oswald Chambers died on November 15, 1917 as a result of a blood clot .

Significance and aftermath

On the basis of the many notes that "Biddy" Chambers had made during her marriage to Oswald, she worked in the years up to her death in 1966 as the director of the "Oswald Chambers Publications Association" to disseminate her husband's words and teachings.

Over thirty works were published in the name of Oswald Chambers. The most famous work, a collection of daily devotions under the title My Utmost For His Highest (German: Mein Äußerstes für seine Höchstes ), was published for the first time in 1923. From 1935 to the end of the 20th century the book was in print in the USA without interruption and has become a bestseller in religious literature with a print run of millions.

literature

• David McCasland: Oswald Chambers - A life full of devotion. SCM Hänssler-Verlag , Holzgerlingen 1994. ISBN 978-3-7751-2112-5

Fonts

• My utmost for His highest . 4th edition. Blaukreuz, Lüdenscheid, ISBN 978-3-941186-22-4 (Original title: My utmost for his highest . Translated by Marlies Stubenitzky).
• The moral foundations of life. St. Johannis , Lahr 1926
• Psychology of salvation. St. Johannis, Lahr 1936
• The school of suffering. St. Johannis, Lahr 1944
• Our glorious heritage. Berchtold Haller , Bern 1957
• The master’s standard. Berchtold Haller, Bern 1971
• Advice to God's Workers. Edel 1978 and Oekumenischer Verlag 2002. ISBN 978-3-87598-146-9 (4th edition)
• What you will ask. On the power of prayer. Francke bookstore publisher 1993
• We live from his love. Refreshment from the source of love. Verlag der Francke-Buchhandlung, Marburg 1995. ISBN 978-3-86122-219-4
• What glorifies him. Blaukreuz, Lüdenscheid 1996 ISBN 978-3-920106-31-1 (5th edition 2010. ISBN 978-3-941186-40-8 )
• I look in God's face. Short daily practice for prayer. Hänssler, Holzgerlingen 2000. ISBN 978-3-7751-3484-2
• Infinite gifts. Hänssler, Holzgerlingen 2000. ISBN 978-3-7751-3591-7
• Life from its fullness. Short devotions for the course of the year. Hänssler, Holzgerlingen 2001. ISBN 978-3-7751-3661-7
• Faith - a sacred way: trust God's direction. SCM Hänssler, Holzgerlingen 2002. ISBN 978-3-7751-3772-0
• Christ is my life. Oekumenischer Verlag 2004. ISBN 978-3-87598-303-6
• See with Jesus' eyes. SCM R. Brockhaus Verlag , Witten 2012. ISBN 978-3-417-26483-8

Web links

• Literature by and about Oswald Chambers in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ↑ [1] Biographical information about Chambers at www.derweg.org