The Ministry of the Spirit

Adoniram Judson Gordon (A. J.) (1836-1895) was born in New Hampshire. He was a pastor in Boston, an author, and the founder of Gordon College, a nondenominational Christian college in Wenham, Massachusetts. In 1856, he attended Brown University and in 1860 entered Newton Theological Seminary. Gordon edited two hymn books himself in order to enrich congregational singing at Clarendon Street church. He wrote the hymn tunes for at least fifteen hymns, including My Jesus, I Love Thee, a hymn that has been included in nearly every evangelical hymnal published from 1876 to the present time. In his book The Ministry of the Spirit (foreword written by F. B. Meyer), Dr. Gordon wrote, "It seems clear from the Scriptures that it is still the duty and privilege of believers to receive the Holy Spirit by a conscious, definite act of appropriating faith, just as they received Jesus Christ. " Probably his most remembered work is The Ministry of Healing, a highly revered book on divine healing-physical, mental, and spiritual.