Spurgeon’s Baptist Catholicity: Exploring Spurgeon’s Global Influence Among the Swedish Baptists

It has been observed within Spurgeon studies that Spurgeon was strategic in his partnership with Baptists in the UK and America. However, an overlooked aspect of Spurgeon studies has been his ongoing influence among Swedish Baptists in Sweden and in America. I will propose that Spurgeon had a unique contribution among the formation of the Swedish Baptist General Conference in America, particularly with his relationship with Anders Wiberg, and the development of the Swedish Baptist Church in Stockholm. This lacuna within Spurgeon studies has often been unnoticed, and warrants attention by serious Spurgeon scholars seeking to examine, not only Spurgeon’s missional involvement, but also the enduring effect of the Metropolitan Tabernacle among evangelical missions. Spurgeon emulated a global desire to see Baptists assisted in areas of religious liberty, theological education, church planting, and confessional partnership that emulates what a Baptist pastor-theologian should look like—one that is invested in the integrity of global evangelicalism. This paper will also look at the unique ramifications of Spurgeon’s support for the Swedish Baptists during religious persecution from the State Lutheran Church in the 19th century.