Baptist History, Heritage & Distinctives – Christmas Evans – The Life and Times of the One-Eyed Preacher
PART SEVEN

From humble beginnings, and with everything seemingly set against a life of holiness and usefulness, God was pleased to make Christmas Evans a pulpit giant. Many exceeded him for understanding and balance but few surpassed or even matched the extent of his labours, and his pulpit eloquence was unparalleled. None of this is to say that Evans’ was an ignoramus: his thirst for knowledge was insatiable, but his mind – which, fired by his imagination, had its own way of working! – appears not to have moulded the knowledge he gained into a fully worked-out system.

That said, he did wrestle long and hard with matters of Baptist church polity, though it seems rarely to have been appreciated. Neither was he slow to engage in controversy where he felt the cause of Christ demanded it.

Evans comes across as a man of childlike faith, imagination and enthusiasm, and a vigorous passion; these same traits occasionally betrayed him into error. His ready enthusiasm sometimes led to him being caught up in the work or issue of the moment, and robbed him of a broader and more balanced perspective. Nevertheless, he was a man of prayer and humility, rarely slow to acknowledge the faults into which his character occasionally led him. Sandemanianism and hyper-Calvinism, paralysing and largely heartless approaches to faith and life, both exercised some sort of grip on him at various stages of his ministry.

Nevertheless, the same passion and devotion to the cause of Christ which led him into these difficulties helped to lead him out, and the Lord God provided him with friends and guides who helped to provide straight tracks on which his imagination could run its course.

Thomas E. Kresal – Evangelical Press Book Review of “Christmas Evans: The Life and Times of the One-Eyed Preacher” by Tim Shenton