Geoffrey Grogan (1925-2011)
October 8, 2011
First of all, apologies for my absence from this blog for the past few months. You seem to have managed without me.
Second, apologies for not realising until today that Geoffrey Grogan, former lecturer in London Bible College (now London School of Theology) and latterly Principal of the Bible Training Institute in Glasgow (the predecessor of the current International Christian College in Glasgow), passed away at the end of August.
The obituary which appears in today's Scottish press describes Geoff Grogan in the following way: 'He remained steadfast as a conservative evangelical theologian throughout his long life; he was one of the most robust defenders of the historic biblical faith'.
That much is evident from his last book, published when its author was 85, 'The Faith Once Entrusted to the Saints?' (IVP 2010). Grogan's breadth of interest is evident in this last volum (following on from some excellent publications including commentaries and theological writings) in which Grogan assesses and engages with different trends in evangelicalism. Whereas it was once a given that evangelicals believed certain definitive things about God, the Scriptures, the atonement and the church, Grogan is of the view in this book that things have become rather elastic of late. Cultural influences, he feels, have led to experience-based, rather than truth-based, positions. This, Grogan feels, is not good, if for no other reason than that 'doctrinal vagueness is not conducive to sound spiritual growth'.
If that lesson is one of the legacies of Grogan's life, it will not have been spent in vain.
