Description
Black, John (Rev.) [1768-1849]. Church Fellowship. A Sermon, Preached at The Opening of The Synod of The Reformed Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, May 16, 1816 & The Everlasting Kingdom: A Discourse On The Meditorial Dominion of Jesus Christ (Two Volumes Bound in One). Pittsburgh: Printed by E. Pentland | William Allinder, 1819 & 1848. First printing. pp. 109; pp. 32. Small 8vo., measuring 21 cm tall. Quarter leather with gilt rules and lettering to spine over marbled paper boards. Rubbing, edgewear to extremities, front board nearly detached from leather spine, internal binding remains sound, light occasional foxing throughout. “The substance of the following Discourse was delivered before the Synod of the Reformed Presbytarian Church, better than two years ago. The Author, by synodical appointment, had been enjoined to preach upon the subject of Church fellowship.” Overall, good. OCLC # 1708337. Shaw no. 47367. Born in Northern Ireland on October 2, 1768, the Rev. John Black arrived in America in 1797. By 1799 he was licensed to preach by the Presbyterian Church and soon settled in what was then the small village of Pittsburgh. He preached in the same church for the remainder of his life until his death on October 25, 1849. It is said of him: “As a preacher, he was “distinct, plain, a fluent speaker, always interesting and often eloquent and powerful.” And time and again he proved himself as one who was always ready to preach, whenever called. Yet he never wrote out or memorized his sermons. “He was ready, because he had a full mental storehouse,—the power of abstraction, the gift of language, a great command of the resources of his own mind, and, above all, a strong, humble and unwavering dependence on the help of God’s Holy Spirit. He preached because he loved the work, and had found, by repeated trial, that he had from God the ready power to perform it.” Leather Bound. (#1059) $175.00
