George Henry Lang (20 November 1874 – 20 October 1958) was an English

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

teacher, author, and

biblical scholar Biblical studies is the academic application of a set of diverse disciplines to the study of the Bible (the Old Testament and New Testament).''Introduction to Biblical Studies, Second Edition'' by Steve Moyise (Oct 27, 2004) pages 11–12 Fo ...

. Of his

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

contemporaries, Lang was influenced by the writings of G.H. Pember,

C.H. Spurgeon Charles Haddon Spurgeon (19 June 1834 – 31 January 1892) was an English Particular Baptist preacher. Spurgeon remains highly influential among Christians of various denominations, among whom he is known as the "Prince of Preachers". He wa ...

Arthur Tappan Pierson Arthur Tappan Pierson (March 6, 1837 – June 3, 1911) was an American Presbyterian pastor, Christian leader, missionary and writer who preached over 13,000 sermons, wrote over fifty books, and gave Bible lectures as part of a transatlantic p ...

, and

George Müller George Müller (born Johann Georg Ferdinand Müller, 27 September 1805 – 10 March 1898) was a Christian evangelist and the director of the Ashley Down orphanage in Bristol, England. He was one of the founders of the Plymouth Brethren mov ...

Life and Belief

Lang was born in

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. His mother died shortly after Lang's birth, and he was raised under the influence of his Christian father. Lang made a profession of the

Christian faith Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global populat ...

and dedicated his life to

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

at 7 years old. His family belonged to the

Exclusive Brethren The Exclusive Brethren are a subset of the Christian evangelical movement generally described as the Plymouth Brethren. They are distinguished from the Open Brethren from whom they separated in 1848. The Exclusive Brethren are now divided int ...

; but later in life, he affiliated himself with the

Open Brethren The Open Brethren, sometimes called Christian Brethren, are a group of Evangelical Christian churches that arose in the late 1820s as part of the Assembly Movement within the Plymouth Brethren tradition. They originated in Ireland before spreadi ...

. Lang held the belief that the only qualification for a believer was having made a sincere profession of faith. For this one belief, Lang is considered by some

Plymouth Brethren The Plymouth Brethren or Assemblies of Brethren are a low church and non-conformist Christian movement whose history can be traced back to Dublin, Ireland, in the mid to late 1820s, where they originated from Anglicanism. The group emphasizes ...

as the most controversial figure since Darby regarding the administration of the

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

affairs.Douglas W. Brealey, "The Witness," December 1958 Later in Lang's life and teachings, he challenged Darby's "federation view" of the church and stressed the local fellowship's autonomy and independence.G. H. Lang, ''The Churches of God – Their Constitution, Government, Discipline and Ministry'', London: The Paternoster Press, 1959.

Ministry and Work

Lang upheld a principle that he "did not look to man for the means of his subsistence, but only to God", and Lang's faith grew with its exercise. In Lang's words,

"''Praying is working, and not merely an adjunct to working. It is a form of working, and not simply a somewhat properly added to our efforts out of reverence to the Almighty; nor is it only an appeal for His blessing to prosper our labours. When a righteous man prays he works. For prayer in the spirit is one agency by which the Spirit of God effects through the believer His will, and is, indeed, a putting forth of His energy.''"

Lang was a very close student of the

Holy Scriptures Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They differ from literature by being a compilation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual prac ...

and an independent thinker. He was not prepared to take traditional interpretations unless he was personally convinced that they were right. Lang was also an active

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

preacher and from time to time he was found in countries from the

Arabia The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate. ...

n deserts to the

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

n steppes preaching. Lang almost traveled and preached in the entire world in his missionary career. Lang once said,Schoettle Publishing Company, ''A Short Biography of George Henry Lang''

"''No man should write a book until he is 40. He needs to prove his theories in practice before publishing.''"

Most of Lang's books were published after he was 50 years old.

Death

Lang died at age 83, in

Wimborne Wimborne Minster (often referred to as Wimborne, ) is a market town in Dorset in South West England, and the name of the Church of England church in that town. It lies at the confluence of the River Stour and the River Allen, north of Poole ...

Dorset, England Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , Dor ...

Books

Lang's writings include fourteen major books and many other booklets. Some of his works are noted below. *''Anthony Norris Groves'' - Biography of A.N. Groves *''Praying is Working'' *''Atoning Blood'' *''The Unequal Yoke'' *''Firstfruits and Harvest'' *''Firstborn Sons -Their Rights and Risk'' *''The New Birth'' *''The Clean Heart'' *''Balanced Christianity'' *''Coming Events, An Outline of Bible Prophecy'' *''The Earlier Years of the Modern Tongues Movement'' *''Departure - An Appeal Addressed by one of Themselves Mainly to Christians Known as Open Brethren'' *''Divine Guidance - Its Reality, Methods, Conditions'' *''The First Resurrection'' *''God's Plan - Christ's Suffering and the Spirit's Power'' *''The History and Diaries of an Indian Christian - J.C. Aroolappen'' *''The Local Assembly'' *''The Histories and Prophecies of Daniel'' *''The Epistle to the Hebrews'' *''The Revelation of Jesus Christ'' *''An Ordered Life - The Autobiography of G.H. Lang''

Translations

Translated by Lang from the German language of Erich Sauer: * ''The Dawn of World Redemption'' * ''The Triumph of the Crucified'' * ''From Eternity to Eternity'' * ''In the Arena of Faith''

References

External links

Concerning the Ground of the Church
Bible expositors, those who over the past century and a half, have seen the ground of the church

- Books by G. H. Lang {{DEFAULTSORT:Lang, George H. 1874 births 1958 deaths English evangelicals British Plymouth Brethren British Christian theologians