Description
The Words of the Apostle Paul by Copy from the personal library of Dr. Cyril J. Barber / Printed by Klock & Klock in the U. S. A. 1985 Reprint
UPC: 0865241910
- Publisher : Klock & Klock Christian Pub (January 1, 1985)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 453 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0865241910
- ISBN-13 : 9780865241916
- Item Weight : 1.74 pounds
Oliver Goldsmith, the British essayist, poet, and dramatist, passed some discerning remarks about the value of good books. He wrote: The first time I read an excellent book, it is to me as if I gained a new friend. When I read over a book I have perused before, it resembles the meeting of an old one. And that is the way it should be. Good books are timeless. Their value increases with the passing of time and they can always be consulted with profit. So it is with the work now before the reader.
John Eadie (1810-1876) was a prodigious learner. He lived at a time when books were highly valued and those who could afford them read and reread the works they owned. Having been born in his father's old age, and with his mother widowed soon after, Eadie had to strive to obtain an education. He possessed a quick mind and a lively temperament, and these made him a good student. Of the books available to him, one was Milton's Paradise Lost, and it was said of him that he had read if so often he knew it by heart.
Eadie studied in the University of Glasgow. Due to his mother's poverty he was compelled to support himself through this period of training-something to which the British system of education does not
easily lend itself. While taking formal studies in biblical literature, Eadie developed a liking for the kind of research and investigation into the etymology and usage of words found in Scripture. As time passed
this became one of the strengths of his teaching and is now to be found in his commentaries. Upon graduating from the university, Eadie was licensed to preach. His first sermon was delivered as his mother was dying and he had to hurry to her bedside. Mrs. Eadie's influence upon her son has been aluded to by one biographer who wrote: "The religious influence which she had already exercised on him was much deepened by her death. She was a strong-minded woman, well read in the popular theology of Scot- land, and deeply imbued with its spirit." This heritage she bequeathed to John and her influence upon his life never left him.
Eadie pastored only one church - a ministry which lasted for 41 years. First located on Cambridge Street, Glasgow, the congregation later moved to the outskirts of the city and became known as the Lands-
downe Church. The effect of Eadie's ministry upon this congregation was felt throughout Glasgow and, to a lesser extent, upon all of Scotland. Eadie began his teaching career part-time in 1838. By 1843 he had been appointed Professor of Semitics in the United Presbyterian Secession's Divinity Hall. In 1843, while only 33, he was honored with the Doctor of Laws degree by the University of Glasgow, and seven years later received the coveted Doctor of Divinity degree from the University of St. Andrews.
