Charles Bridges, MA (1794 - 1869^[1][2]), was a preacher and theologian in the Church of England, and a leader of that denomination's Evangelical Party.^[1] As a preacher he was well regarded by his contemporaries, but is remembered today for his literary contributions.^[3]

Education and ministry [edit]

Educated at Queens' College, Cambridge,^[4] he was ordained in 1817 and served from 1823 to 1849 as vicar of Old Newton, Suffolk.^[1][3] Thomas Chalmers wrote,

'My excellent friend, the Rev. Charles Bridges, of Old Newton, Suffolk, finds, I am sure, most ample occupation among those six hundred people whom he may be said to have domesticated into one parochial family; and, were it not for his still more important services to the Christian church at large, would show, by his incessant labours, how possible it were to make out a most beneficial expenditure of all his strength and all his time amongst them.'^[5]

In 1849, he became vicar of Weymouth, Dorset, later serving as vicar of Hinton Martell, Dorset (c. 1857).^[2][6] Bridges participated (with J. C. Ryle) in the Clerical Conference at Weston-super-Mare of 1858, and also participated in the consecration of the Bishop of Carlisle in York Minster in 1860.^[3]

Personal life [edit]

Bridges was married to Harriet Torlesse, with whom he had at least two sons, the second of whom was physician John Henry Bridges, BA BM Oxon FRCP (1832–1906).^[7]

Quotes [edit]

• Daily progress in the heavenly walk is not maintained by yesterday's grace. Humble and dependent prayer must fetch in a fresh supply continually.
  • Exposition of Psalm 119, comment on v.10

• Spiritual wisdom is as important for the building up of the Church of God, as was the wisdom imparted to Bezaleel and Aholiab for the raising of the Levitical tabernacle.
  • The Christian Ministry, Chapter 6 on The Qualifications of the Christian Ministry

• But pride will lift up the head, stiff and unbending: many a stroke does it require to bring it down.
  • A Commentary on Proverbs, comment on Proverbs 3:11-12

• A neglected Bible is the melancholy proof of a heart "alienated from God".
  • A Commentary on Proverbs, comment on Proverbs 4:20-22

• The godly union of souls in mutual forebearance with each other's infirmities, and mutual stimulating each other's graces--this surely is a fragment of true happiness that has survived the Fall.
  • Charles Bridges, An Exposition of Ecclesiastes, comment on Ecclesiastes 4:7-9.

Literary works [edit]

At least twenty-four editions of Bridges' Exposition of Psalm 119 (1827) were published in his lifetime.^[2] C. H. Spurgeon considered the commentary to be 'worth its weight in gold'.^[2] Spurgeon also pronounced Bridges' Exposition of Proverbs (1840) 'The best work on the Proverbs'.^[8]

Bibliography [edit]

Exposition of Psalm 119 (1827)
The Christian Ministry (1829)
Memoir of Mary Jane Graham (c. 1834)
Forty-eight Scriptural Studies (1837)
Exposition of Proverbs (1840)
A Manual for the Young (1849)
Exposition of Ecclesiastes (1860)
Correspondence (posthumous, 1870)

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• Exposition of Psalm 119
• The Christian Ministry
• A Memoir of Miss Mary Jane Graham
• Forty-eight Scriptural Studies
• Exposition of Proverbs
• Exposition of the Book of Ecclesiastes