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Arthur John Gossip
Arthur John Gossip, born 1873, died 1954, was a Scottish preacher and professor whose eloquent sermons and profound faith made him one of the most celebrated ministers of the Free Church of Scotland in the early 20th century. Born on January 20, 1873, in Glasgow, Scotland, to Robert Gossip and Agnes McFarlane, he graduated with an M.A. from the University of Edinburgh, where he was shaped by the preaching of Alexander Whyte at St. George’s Church. Licensed as a Free Church minister in 1898, he served several congregations—Forfar (1898–1907), St. Matthew’s in Glasgow (1910–1918), and Beechgrove Church in Aberdeen (1918–1928)—before becoming Professor of Christian Ethics and Practical Theology at the University of Glasgow from 1939 to 1945. His World War I service as a chaplain in Belgium and France further deepened his pastoral perspective. Gossip’s preaching gained lasting fame through his sermon “But When Life Tumbles In, What Then?” delivered in 1927 at Beechgrove Church, days after the sudden death of his wife, Annie Morton, whom he married in 1907 and with whom he had one daughter. This sermon, blending raw grief with unshakable hope, is often cited as one of the 20th century’s greatest, published in his book The Hero in Thy Soul (1928). His other works, like From the Edge of the Crowd (1924) and The Galilean Accent (1926), showcase his literary flair, drawing from poetry, fiction, and scripture with a rare dramatic intensity.
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Arthur John Gossip emphasizes the importance of gratitude and respect for the sacrifices of those who came before us, highlighting the tendency of some to be pessimistic and constantly look back with disdain, which can lead to a sense of hopelessness and disrespect for the hard work of our predecessors. He also addresses the arrogance of the youth in dismissing the efforts and wisdom of previous generations, urging them to recognize the value of their inheritance and the sacrifices made for it, prompting a sense of humility and reverence towards God and those who paved the way.
Dangerous Mindsets
"But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men...wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy" (Ezra 3:12). I don't think these weeping folk helped very much. The mood was natural enough, perhaps, but certainly not over-manly and little likely to do anything except dishearten those around them. And a mind that is perpetually looking back, and talking scornfully of all things present as a sad decadence, that is gloomy and pessimistic, that knows the reins have broken in God's hands, and that all things are hurtling hideously down to ruin, that keeps clutching the seat nervously, ready to jump when the disaster it is always forseeing comes--well, it's a rather miserable role to fill, and surely not a little blasphemous. But what about you who are young? Ah, well, you can be trying and exasperating too. That airy assumption of yours that all who went before you were incompetent bunglers, that you are the people and wisdom will die with you, or at least that suddenly the slow, dour thing has blossomed into full flower in your day, is less than just by far to that innumerable company of valiant souls who, with hard breathing, toil and pain and sheer dare-devil heroism, won for you with their bare hands nearly all you have inherited. Look again at your possessions, at the simplest of them; and, like David, with that water from the well at Bethlehem which valiant men had risked their lives to bring, you too will feel, in an awed and even ashamed way that these are vastly too valuable, have cost far too much, to make it seemly you should use them as if they were common nothings; will make you want rather to pour them out before God, who alone is worthy to receive them--these things how wonderful when you look at them closer, for has it not taken human blood and brains and lives to win each one of them? Don't forget that.
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Arthur John Gossip, born 1873, died 1954, was a Scottish preacher and professor whose eloquent sermons and profound faith made him one of the most celebrated ministers of the Free Church of Scotland in the early 20th century. Born on January 20, 1873, in Glasgow, Scotland, to Robert Gossip and Agnes McFarlane, he graduated with an M.A. from the University of Edinburgh, where he was shaped by the preaching of Alexander Whyte at St. George’s Church. Licensed as a Free Church minister in 1898, he served several congregations—Forfar (1898–1907), St. Matthew’s in Glasgow (1910–1918), and Beechgrove Church in Aberdeen (1918–1928)—before becoming Professor of Christian Ethics and Practical Theology at the University of Glasgow from 1939 to 1945. His World War I service as a chaplain in Belgium and France further deepened his pastoral perspective. Gossip’s preaching gained lasting fame through his sermon “But When Life Tumbles In, What Then?” delivered in 1927 at Beechgrove Church, days after the sudden death of his wife, Annie Morton, whom he married in 1907 and with whom he had one daughter. This sermon, blending raw grief with unshakable hope, is often cited as one of the 20th century’s greatest, published in his book The Hero in Thy Soul (1928). His other works, like From the Edge of the Crowd (1924) and The Galilean Accent (1926), showcase his literary flair, drawing from poetry, fiction, and scripture with a rare dramatic intensity.