A guy in college shared a quote - or at least an illustration on the subject of sin that he attributed to Charles Spurgeon. I have never forgotten this great word picture & have shared it often, but have yet to find it in any of his writings (my search has consisted of googling the web & googling Phil Johnson's fine site).Here's the illustration, when speaking of sin and the total depravity of man:
If sin were the color blue, then everything we do or say or see here on this earth would be some shade of blue.
Pretty good image, huh?
The closest I've come to finding anything like this is this sermon, but I don't think it's the same illustration. I've googled "sin + color + blue + spurgeon + etc." and other various combinations.
Nothing yet.
Boy, if I could only get spotted by the Pyro gents & then their readers would catch wind of my search. I'd be certain to get an answer! It'd be kinda like Dan Phillips' "Mystery Quote"!
Or, I could just ask Phil in person when I see him in October.
If any of you have any idea, please let me know.
I'll be the blue guy over in the corner...
... holding my breath.
(For all I know, BLUE might not have even been the color Spurgeon used.)
Chief, here are my findings.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like this might be a quote that is only attributed to Spurgeon. I googled "if sin were the color" and found it referenced in a book called "Romans: Righteousness from Heaven" (ISBN 0891075240). Here, on page 75, Kent Hughes attributes the quote to Dr. Addison Leitch. You can find this by going to books.google.com, entering the ISBN, and then doing a search inside the book for the word "blue".
Googling {"Addison Leitch" blue sin} seems to confirm him as the source of the quote.