📜 Post with us on Reddit
📝 Create a new article
🏭 Create a company page
🇬🇧 - in English
🇫🇷 - en Français (FR)
🇵🇹 - em Português (PT)
🇩🇪 - in Deutsch (DE)
🇯🇵 - 日本語で (JA)
Sponsored articles

You can edit almost every page by Creating an account. Otherwise, see the FAQ.

Liam Goligher

From EverybodyWiki Bios & Wiki








Liam Goligher
Man sitting on a wooden pulpit in a churchWilliam Goligher.jpg William Goligher.jpg
William Goligher at Tenth Presbyterian Church in 2011
Born (1951-01-15) January 15, 1951 (age 73)
Glasgow, Scotland
🏳️ NationalityBritish
Other namesWilliam Goligher
💼 Occupation
Senior Minister (Christian)
Known forEvangelism
🥚 TwitterTwitter=
label65 = 👍 Facebook

Liam Goligher also known as William W. Goligher, is the current Senior Minister of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia.[1] He is both a minister and theologian.[2] who was involved in various capacities with the Keswick Convention Trust, the Christian magazine, Evangelicals Now. He was a frequent speaker at the Keswick Convention's annual conferences. See "Publications" below. He also was on the board of Regions Beyond Missionary Union for Scotland, (now part of Latin Link)

Goligher became widely known in the United States when he challenged recent teachings on the Doctrine of the Trinity, as spelled out in the Nicene Creed of 381 CE.[3][4][5]

Biography[edit]

Early Life and Education[edit]

He was born near Glasgow on January 15, 1951, near where his parents lived after World War II. His calling to Christian ministry came during an event at his grandmother's small town church where he saw a black-and-white film of Billy Graham preaching.

He entered college at the University of Glasgow in 1967, before going to Belfast for seminary. He graduated from the Irish Baptist College, then a theological school, in 1973.

He later went to the University of Waterloo in Canada, studying Reformation Thought part time.[citation needed] Then went on to the Highland Theological College in Scotland, a school in the evangelical and Reformed tradition.[citation needed] He went to the United States for his advanced studies and, in 2004, he received his Doctor of Ministry degree at the Jackson MS campus.[6]

Preaching, Churches Served[edit]

Church with spire shown in black and white.
Liam Goligher is the current senior minister of the Tenth Presbyterian Church, shown here in this image from 1912.

Goligher has always been the senior minister of a church. His first church position was in Belfast.[7] He was went onto be a minister in Cambridge, Ontario.[citation needed] In both Airdrie[8] and Kirkintilloch[9] in Scotland. And in the Richmarchiveond-upon-Thames, England in Duke Street Church.[10][11]

He is now the senior minister at the Tenth Presbyterian Church. He succeeds such noted Christian ministers in Tenth's pulpit as Donald Barnhouse James Montgomery Boice and Philip Ryken who left to become President of the evangelical school, Wheaton College (Illinois)[12]

He preaches in the expository style. Exposition is defined as an essay or speech in which any topic is discussed in detail. For example, he preached about 100 sermons, typically 35-40 minutes long, on the Gospel of John.[13]

He has a special understanding of the Hebrew Scriptures having preached a lengthy series on the Book of Isaiah,[14] and on the two Books of Samuel, as well as Esther.[15] He also preached through Daniel, Jonah, parts of Genesis, and many of the Psalms in his first six years of ministry in Philadelphia.[16]

Christian writers in the United States have come to rely on his messages, particularly when writing about the Old Testament. For one example, Nancy Guthrie acknowledges Dr. Goligher's influence, among others, in her series called Seeing Jesus in the Old Testament.[17] His name is referenced frequently in key parts of the book.[18] Even those who strongly disagree with him regard him highly enough to cite him, as do the authors of the Humanitarian Jesus: Social Justice and the Cross[19] and of the Atonement Debate: Papers from the London Symposium on the Theology of Atonement.[20]

Service on Boards of Christian Organizations[edit]

While in Scotland, he served on Boards of Trustees of:

  • Scottish Evangelistic Council This closed in 1997. Some of its functions were picked up by the Colportage Society[24]
  • Rutherford House,[25] a theological study center which runs the Edinburgh Dogmatics Conference[26]

In England, he served as both Board Member and Trustee of:

  • Keswick Convention Trust,[27] which runs the Keswick Conventions / Conferences.[28]
  • Word Alive! an annual conference reaching university students at Easter every year.[citation needed]
  • Evangelicals Now! A British Christian news outlet.[29] He also wrote the occasional article for this publication, including one called "The DaVinci Con".[30][31][32]
  • He served on the council of reference (advisory council) for several charities:

Speaking roles[edit]

Goligher was a popular speaker for University Mission events in the UK and then went on to Eastern Europe, where he worked with many Christian students, many with little spiritual training during the Soviet era.[35][36]

Online biblical teaching courses are run by BibleMesh. He provides some of the short teaching clips which go with the other materials.[37][38]

Goligher has served on the Board of Directors of the Keswick Convention Trust which operates evangelical preaching and teaching events. He spoke there for a number of years. His messages are written up in the Keswick Yearbooks under Publications - Chapters below. He was invited to return from the United States to be primary speaker for their 140th anniversary year.[39][40][41] He has spoken at conferences being run or sponsored by the major Christian publishing house run by Banner of Truth Trust[42]. Including a 2016 event in Honolulu.[43][44] He has spoken at conferences internationally.[45] He has spoken at:

  • Keswick-connected conventions (conferences) in N. Ireland, Scotland and Hong Kong. which have been turned into a video set: (2015) Keswick 2015[46] containing five Messages. And (2015) The Whole of Life for Christ: Keswick Downloads 2015[47]
  • Banner of Truth conferences in the UK, Hawaii and on the US mainland.
  • Word Alive! for university students at Easter in London. It draws large gatherings of students.[48] Four Messages of which were recorded as: (2015) Word Alive! Jonah.[49]
  • Philadelphia Conference on Reformed Theology in Pennsylvania PA, USA (PCRT) 2013.[50] Recorded as (2013) In the Beginning: God, Adam and You: Philadelphia Conference on Reformed Theology (1 message of 7).[51]
  • Bible by the Beach in the UK[52] He returned to the UK from the United States to speak as recently as 2014.
  • The Welsh Aber Conference [53]
  • The Crieff (Scotland) Ministers’ Conference[54] His name is misspelled as Liam Gallacher 2008.
  • Lewis Christian Conference, 2013, Isle of Lewis Scotland[55]
  • The Evangelical Ministry Assembly (London) of the Proclamation Trust.[56]

He believes strongly in the spoken word. He has also taught homiletics.[57] He has given lectures, some at seminary level, sometimes extended courses, sometimes single lectures or short series.

  • Glasgow Bible College, now called the International Christian College.[58]
  • Cornhill Training Course in London, focused on encouraging Bible teaching by ministers. It operates under the Proclamation Trust[59]
  • Oak Hill Theological College, Southgate London on “Temptation from Augustine to (C. S.) Lewis”[60]
  • Preach the Word Conference, Westminster Chapel, London, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones church.
  • Beeson Divinity School on “Preaching the Trinity”[61] That school is associated with Samford University in Birmingham AL, USA.[62][63]
  • Reformed Theological Seminary – Jackson MS in the USA on “The Prophetic Impulse of Biblical Preaching” and other topics[64][65]

His Role in the Great Trinitarian Debate[edit]

An important part of a minister's work is defending what he preaches. This is called apologetics and is an integral part of his preaching. The more highly visible the church, the more likely such a challenge. He has a keen awareness of trends in church history. One example, is the way he defined the broad swath of Christianity in a book review he wrote called "Baptist Wisdom."[66][67]

Earlier Debate over the Doctrine of the Atonement[edit]

Dr. Goligher is no stranger to controversies requiring such a defense of the faith. In the UK, he came under attack for preaching the classic belief that Christ died as an atoning sacrifice for people's sin. In 2008, he wrote his apologetic work, based on that preaching. The Jesus Gospel (see Publications)[68] was considered important enough that it was cited by other writers who engaged in the swirling controversy. They are often seminary professors who have the time a minister does not. Just one example is Pierced for Our Transgressions: Rediscovering the Glory of Penal Substitution[69]. He submitted an articles to Evangelicals Now defending the classic understand of Christ's death. It was based on Isaiah 52-53.[70]

Later Debate over the Doctrine of the Trinity[edit]

Then again from September 2016 on, much of Dr. Goligher’s preaching focused on defending the classic understanding of the Doctrine of the Trinity, also called the Doctrine of God. With a comment at a meeting of ministers, Dr. Goligher inadvertently struck the match which ignited the Great Trinitarian Debate. See below.

But Dr. Goligher largely let the Debate swirl around him to focus on preaching the Doctrine of the Trinity from his own pulpit. He based his messages on the Book of Hebrews.[71] Dr. Goligher's archived messages go out through a radio ministry called No Falling Word.[7] The producer of those broadcasts and podcasts also produced bound sets of some of his messages from Hebrews.

  • (2017) TRINITY: The Eternally Divine Son. Lancaster PA: Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals.[8]
  • (2017) TRINITY: The Two Natures of Christ.[9] Lancaster PA: Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals.[8]

Background to the Trinitarian Debate[edit]

The Doctrine of the Trinity (also called the Doctrine of God) is spelled out in the Nicene Creed of 381 CE. The Early Church Fathers who wrote the Creed left behind a wealth of material defining what that their intent was. It is still used, unchanged, by Protestants of many denominations and by all Roman Catholics. Even many Protestants who do not use Creeds in their worship subscribe to its teaching.

The reason for this Trinitarian emphasis in his preaching lies outside his own church. He attended a meeting about recent teachings called the Eternal Subordination of the Son (ESS), which has a number of variations. He made a few comments about where he saw those teachings deviating from the intent of the Nicene Creed. Someone present asked him to write a couple blog posts, which he did.[4][5] When these 'went viral,' to use the internet term, the evangelical Christian public, those outside seminary walls, became involved in the Great Trinitarian Debate.

The widely-read evangelical magazine and website Christianity Today [3] featured Liam Goligher and the Debate in a lengthy article. This elevated the Debate to even higher levels. The Debate continues and is likely to impact evangelicalism far into the future.

A book by Kevin S Giles speaks to those early days. It is called The Rise and Fall of the Complementarian Doctrine of the Trinity.[1] While he does not always agree with Dr. Goligher, he notes that in response to those blogs, two strong opponents "...both make spirited replies and then the evangelical blogosphere exploded. More than 150 posts were put up on this topic in five weeks." On page 37, he quotes a seminary professor as saying, "I have never seen anything like it." [1] The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals has composed a list of close to 40 of the best of those blogs, representing both sides. Many of them appeared on their own multiple blog sites where it all began. [2] All six of Dr. Goligher's blogs for that time period are available there, most written in response to an opposition blog post directed specifically to him.

Seminary professors specializing in the Doctrine of the Trinity are rushing books, the work of years, into print. For example, Fred Sanders, a Trinitarian scholar and professor at Biola University, released his book The Triune God in 2016[4], and another coming at the issues from a less arcane direction, The Deep Things of God in 2017.[5] Also, important writings by Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Luther, and John Owen, the great Puritan theologian, have been reprinted.

Oddly, ESS arose from a debate over roles of women and men, but there is no necessary, logical or philosophical connection between the two. Kevin S Giles concurs with Dr. Goligher on that point although holding a more egalitarian view of gender.[72] However, Dr. Goligher does not ignore Kevin Giles concerns for women, fighting just as hard for justice as any egalitarian. This is seen in his denunciation of everything from sex trafficking to domestic abuse, based on the Book of Esther.[6] He was the only man to speak at a major women's convention / conference in London. The woman writing about it entitled her article "I Didn't Want the Day to End."[73]

Publications[edit]

Books[edit]

He has written six books which have been published by Christian publishing houses.

  • 2003. The Fellowship of the King: The Quest for Community and Purpose. Authentic Media.[75][76]
  • 2007. The Jesus Gospel. Authentic Media.[77]

Chapters[edit]

In addition, he has contributed chapters to 17 other books, [82] among them:

  • (2006) Preach the Word!: The Call and Challenge of Preaching Today (Greg Haslam, General Editor. At the time, he was pastor of Westminster Chapel). Lancaster, Ellel LA2 0HN UK: The Sovereign World Ltd. ISBN-10: 1852404434 and ISBN-13: 978-1852404437. There were twenty people invited to contribute to this book, including John Stott. (In 2005, Time magazine ranked Stott among the 100 most influential people in the world.[83]) Dr. Goligher's chapter was cited in a brief Korean language write-up about C. H. Spurgeon.[84]
  • (2015) God, Adam and You: Biblical Creation Defended and Applied, (Richard D Phillips, Editor and Contributing Author), Phillipsburg, NJ 08865: P & R Publishing. ISBN-10: 1629950661 and ISBN-13: 978-1629950662. Chapter 4 by Liam Goligher, "Adam, Lord of the Garden." 9950662
  • (2011) Rock Solid: 12 Gospel Truths to Live By (Editors Trevor Archer and Tim Thornborough). Purcellville VA, 20132: The Good Book Company. ISBN-10: 1906334684 and ISBN-13: 978-1906334680
  • (2015) The Whole of Life for Christ: Keswick Yearbook 2015. Downers Grove IL: Intervarsity Press. ISBN: 9781783594085 See matching audio collection below.
  • (2008) Creation, Chaos & Christ: Keswick Yearbook 2008. Fearn, Tain Ross-shire, Scotland, UK: Authentic Media. ISBN-10: 1850788367 and ISBN-13: 978-1850788362
  • (2007) Unshackled? Living in Outrageous Grace: Keswick Yearbook 2007. Fearn, Tain Ross-shire, Scotland, UK: Authentic Media. ISBN-10: 1850787557 and ISBN-13: 978-1850787556
  • (2006) The Church in the Power of the Spirit: Keswick Yearbook 2006. Fearn, Tain Ross-shire, Scotland, UK:Authentic Media. ISBN-10: 1850787204 and ISBN-13: 978-1850787204
  • (2005) The Glory of the Gospel: Keswick Yearbook 2005. Fearn, Tain Ross-shire, Scotland, UK: Authentic Media (1695) ASIN: B01K9343V4
  • (2002) Learning Together as God's Royal Family: Keswick Yearbook 2002. Fearn, Tain Ross-shire, Scotland, UK: Authentic Media. ISBN-10: 185078471X and ISBN-13: 978-1850784715

References[edit]

  1. ↑ "Dr. Liam Goligher - Tenth Presbyterian Church". www.tenth.org. Retrieved 2017-10-31.
  2. ↑ "Changing Lives Ministry". Changing Lives Ministry. Retrieved 2017-11-02.
  3. ↑ "Christianity Today Proxy War Civil War ESS". Christianity Today. Jun 16, 2016.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Is it Okay to Teach a Complementarianism Based on Eternal Subordination? | MOS - Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals". www.alliancenet.org. Retrieved 2017-11-02.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Liam's second blog Reinventing God". Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals Mortification of Spin. June 6, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Liam Goligher John Reed Miller Lectures, D.Min. earned at RTS". RTS School news. November 1, 2017.
  7. ↑ "Gospel Coalition". Archived from the original on November 1, 2017. Liam Goligher is senior minister of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. He previously pastored churches in Ireland, Canada, England, and his native Scotland.
  8. ↑ "List of previous ministers - Airdrie Baptist Church Scotland - 1980-1987". Airdrie Baptist Church. November 1, 2017.
  9. ↑ "Kirkintilloch Baptist Church". November 1, 2017.
  10. ↑ "Intro Bio for an interview when Liiam Goligher was at Duke Street". Oct 31, 2017.
  11. ↑ "Tenth Presbyterian (PCA), Philadelphia expected to call Dr. Liam Goligher, Minister at Duke Street Church, London, to be Senior Minister - The Aquila Report". The Aquila Report. 2011-01-02. Retrieved 2017-11-02.
  12. ↑ "Wheaton's New President Comes from Tenth Church". Wheaton College. Oct 31, 2017.
  13. ↑ Goligher, Liam (Oct 31, 2017). "That You May Believe -- Series on John".
  14. ↑ Goligher, Liam (Oct 31, 2017). "Gospel According to Isaiah".
  15. ↑ "Liam Goligher's sermons on the book of Esther (pt 1)". A Cry For Justice. 2016-08-28. Retrieved 2017-10-31.
  16. ↑ Goligher, Liam (Oct 31, 2017). "Tenth Presbyterian Church - List of Series Preached".
  17. ↑ Guthrie, Nancy (Oct 31, 2017). "Seeing Jesus in the Old Testament". Christianity Today.
  18. ↑ Guthrie, Nancy (2012). The Wisdom of God: Seeing Jesus in the Psalms and Wisdom Books. Wheaton Illinois: Crossway. ISBN 1433526328. Search this book on
  19. ↑ Christian, Buckley; Dobson, Ryan (2010). Humanitarian Jesus : social justice and the cross. Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers. pp. 33, 216. ISBN 0802452639. OCLC 462894148. Search this book on
  20. ↑ Tidball, Derek; Hilborn, David; Thacker, Justin, eds. (2008). The atonement debate : papers from the London Symposium on the Theology of Atonement. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. ISBN 9780310273394. OCLC 173509342. Search this book on
  21. ↑ "Dr. Liam Goligher". www.tenth.org. October 31, 2017. Retrieved 2017-11-02.
  22. ↑ "Centre for the Study of World Christianity, University of Edinburgh: Regions Beyond Missionary Union". www.mundus.ac.uk. Retrieved 2017-11-02.
  23. ↑ "Regions beyond missionary union archive. - Catalog - UW-Madison Libraries". search.library.wisc.edu. Retrieved 2017-11-02.
  24. ↑ "Colportage Society - picked up functions of the Council when it closed in 1997". Evangelical Times. November 2014. Retrieved November 2, 2017.
  25. ↑ "Dognatics Conference".
  26. ↑ "Rutherford House".
  27. ↑ "The Keswick Convention Trust". The Charity Commission of the UK. December 31, 2016.
  28. ↑ "Keswick Ministries". November 2, 2017.
  29. ↑ "Evangelicals Now".
  30. ↑ Goligher, Liam (July 2009). "The Third Degree (about going off to college)".
  31. ↑ Goligher, Liam (February 2008). "Article in Evangelicals now based on speaking at Keswick". Evangelicals Now.
  32. ↑ Goligher, Liam (July 2006). "Article - The DaVinci Con". Evangelicals Now.
  33. ↑ "Esperanza Trust UK".
  34. ↑ "Keychange Charity".
  35. ↑ Goligher, Liam (Oct 31, 2017). "Bio for Derby Week Keswick. Like many sites this references his work in Eastern Europe. Discretion and confidentiality is important" (PDF).
  36. ↑ Warnock, Adrian. "Liam Goligher Archives - Adrian Warnock". Adrian Warnock. Retrieved 2017-11-02.
  37. ↑ "BibleMesh online learning". November 2, 2017.
  38. ↑ "Online Learning Launch". Evangelicals Now. October 2010.
  39. ↑ "Keswick - speaker at 140th year".
  40. ↑ "Keswick downloads 2015".
  41. ↑ "Speaking at Keswick's 140th Celebration".
  42. ↑ "Banner of Truth".
  43. ↑ "Liam Goligher – Honolulu Bible Conference". www.honolulubibleconference.com. Retrieved 2017-11-02.
  44. ↑ "Honolulu Conference".
  45. ↑ "Liam Goligher | Author/Speaker | Evangelical Movement of Wales". www.emw.org.uk. Retrieved 2017-11-02.
  46. ↑ "Keswick Videos 2015".
  47. ↑ "Keswick Video Downloads - 2015".
  48. ↑ "Speaking at Word Alive! 2009".
  49. ↑ "Keswick Videos - Jonah".
  50. ↑ "Audio of PCRT 2013".
  51. ↑ "PCRT 2013 - In the Beginning". Oct 31, 2017.
  52. ↑ "Bible by the Beach".
  53. ↑ "Aber Conference".
  54. ↑ "Crieff Tapes Here".
  55. ↑ "Lewis Christian Conference".
  56. ↑ "Proclamation Trust programs".
  57. ↑ "Dr. Liam Goligher Archives - University Reformed Church". University Reformed Church. Retrieved 2017-11-02.
  58. ↑ "Formerly called Glasgow Bible College".
  59. ↑ "Proclamation Trust Cornhill".
  60. ↑ "Oak Hill Theological College".
  61. ↑ "Beeson Divinity School lectures".
  62. ↑ "Beeson Divinity School - Goligher".
  63. ↑ "Liam Goligher to Give Beeson Divinity School's Biblical Studies Lectures in February". www.beesondivinity.com. Retrieved 2017-11-02.
  64. ↑ "Liam Goligher at Reformed Theological Seminary". Oct 31, 2017.
  65. ↑ "At RTS conference on Business" (PDF). Oct 31, 2017.
  66. ↑ Goligher, Liam (March 2006). "Book Review of Baptist Wisdom". Evangelicals Now.
  67. ↑ Wright, Nigel. Free Church Free State. Paternoster. Search this book on
  68. ↑ Liam., Goligher, (2006). The Jesus Gospel. Bletchley: Authentic Media. ISBN 9781850786986. OCLC 71824751. Search this book on
  69. ↑ (Steve), Jeffery, S. (2007). Pierced for our transgressions : rediscovering the glory of penal substitution. Ovey, Michael., Sach, Andrew. (North American ed.). Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books. p. 29. ISBN 1433501082. OCLC 165478176. Search this book on
  70. ↑ Goligher, Liam (July 2006). "Article - The Jesus Gospel: Wounded for Me". Evangelicals Now.
  71. ↑ "Tenth Pres Church - Preaching on Hebrews". November 2, 2017.
  72. ↑ Giles, Kevin (Summer 2017). "The Nicene and Reformed Doctrine of the Trinity". Priscilla Papers. Vol. 31, No. 3: 3.
  73. ↑ Felce, Alicia (November 2, 2004). "I Didn't Want the Day to End". Evangelicals Now.
  74. ↑ Liam., Goligher, (1994). A window on tomorrow. Fearn: Christian Focus. ISBN 9781857920802. OCLC 30918934. Search this book on
  75. ↑ Liam., Goligher, (2003). The fellowship of the king : the quest for community and purpose. Milton Keynes: Authentic Lifestyle. ISBN 9781850784906. OCLC 53359001. Search this book on
  76. ↑ "Authentic Media Publications". authenticmedia.co.uk. Retrieved October 31, 2017.
  77. ↑ Liam., Goligher, (2006). The Jesus Gospel. Bletchley: Authentic Media. ISBN 9781850786986. OCLC 71824751. Search this book on
  78. ↑ Liam., Goligher, (2008). Joseph : the hidden hand of God. Fearn, Ross-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus. ISBN 9781845503680. OCLC 228373473. Search this book on
  79. ↑ "CFP | Joseph: The Hidden Hand of God | Liam Goligher". www.christianfocus.com. Retrieved 2017-11-02.
  80. ↑ Liam,, Goligher,. A man just like us : Elijah. [New Maiden, Surrey, U.K.] ISBN 9781909559240. OCLC 968317773. Search this book on
  81. ↑ ELIZABETH., GOLIGHER, LIAM. MCQUOID, (2017). EZEKIEL 30-day devotional. [S.l.]: INTER-VARSITY PRESS. ISBN 9781783596034. OCLC 1005858624. Search this book on
  82. ↑ "Sermons by Liam Goligher - Tenth Presbyterian Church". www.tenth.org. Retrieved 2017-11-02.
  83. ↑ Stott, John (April 18, 2005). "2005 Time 100 Time magazine". Time.
  84. ↑ "Liam Goligher as cited in Korean write up on C H Spurgeon" (PDF). November 2, 2017.


This article "Liam Goligher" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Liam Goligher. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.


Retrieved from "https://en.everybodywiki.com/index.php?title=Liam_Goligher&oldid=921714"
License CC BY-SA 3.0
Powered by MediaWiki
Powered by Semantic MediaWiki