James Philip, 1922-2009

James Philip, minister of Holyrood Abbey Church, Edinburgh (from 1958 to 1997), had probably the most searing intellect of his generation in the Church of Scotland. He was a humble man, warm in his pastoral concern, and much loved in the CUs.

His output was prolific; many of his sermons and Bible reading notes (covering the whole Bible) are on the web (http://www.proctrust.org.uk, http://www.thetron.org). He loved the arts, classics and music, drawing on their grand themes to illustrate Scripture. There was something of the Apostle Paul’s burden upon him as he climbed the pulpit steps; he yearned to present everyone mature in Christ.

In the Calvinist tradition, he taught the whole Bible to build the whole Christian. His preaching reflected his sheer hard work in preparation. Bibles open in front of us, we engaged with him as he expounded the text. It was a thrilling experience, and we were stretched intellectually, and in our grasp of spiritual truth.

Truth has its own attraction, and the gallery was full of students and fifth and sixth formers from across the city, morning and evening. On summer evenings, modern-day ‘Athenians’, who had been swapping ideas at The Mound (speakers’ corner), would often drift down to Holyrood out of interest. Week by week people would become Christians.

Jim Philip knew the triune God in an intimate way, and his pastoral prayers drew us to the throne of grace with him. He prayed with a sense of deep dependence and awe. The Sunday services had been commended to God at the Saturday evening prayer meeting. Ripples from the Lord’s answers to those prayers may now be seen across the world.

When William Philip (Minister of St. George’s-Tron Church in Glasgow) wrote to let friends know that his father had died, he described how, on hearing the news, he had taken his mother to the hospital, and they had read together from his father’s Bible. ‘I instinctively opened it at the beginning of Romans, his gospel, where I found three lines highlighted in bright orange marker: ‘I am a debtor; I am ready (to preach the gospel); I am not ashamed (of the gospel of Christ)’. He was compelled by his love for Christ, and Christ’s love for him.

In 1970 just 23 invitations were sent out to the new Crieff Fellowship, drawing together evangelicals in the Church of Scotland. Now over 500 are invited. Only the Lord knows the extent of James Philip’s influence, through the model of his preaching and not least through his praying.

His beautiful and perceptive handling of the meaning of the death of Christ in 36 pages, The Glory of the Cross (Lausanne/EN, 2008), has already been translated into other major languages.

James Philip died on March 12. He will surely shine like a star (Daniel 12.3).

Obituary

Julia Cameron