Bible Commentaries

C. H. Mackintosh's Notes on the Pentateuch

Charles Henry Mackintosh

Charles Henry Mackintosh (October 1820 - 2 November 1896) was a nineteenth century Christian preacher, dispensationalist, writer of Bible commentaries, magazine editor and member of the Plymouth Brethren.

Mackintosh took a great interest in, and actively participated in, the great Irish Evangelical revival of 1859 and 1860 (see Revivalism).

Mackintosh's literary fame rests primarily upon his work Notes on the Pentateuch, beginning with a volume of 334 pages on Genesis, and concluding with a two-volume work on Deuteronomy extending to over 800 pages. These are still in print and have been translated into a dozen or more languages. Brethren historian Roy Coad notes:

"Another popular writer among the exclusives was an Irish schoolmaster, Charles Henry Mackintosh, who preached extensively in the revival movement. The initials 'C.H.M.' became familiar in many pious evangelical households of the later Victorian and Edwardian years. No critical scholar, Mackintosh nevertheless had a marked gift for simple Biblical exposition, and his works on the Pentateuch had an enormous vogue as simple aids to devotional interpretation for the first five books of the Bible. He was, however, no theologian, and certain isolated sentences in those books referred to 'the heavenly humanity' of Christ (and thus verged on formal heresy), brought him much hostile notice from prejudiced opponents of the Brethren (who took his writings as being far more significant and representative than they deserved). He later withdrew the expressions, on Darby's insistence."

Charles Spurgeon offers the following comment on C.H. Mackintosh's Notes on Leviticus:

"We do not endorse Plymouthism which pervades these notes, but they are frequently suggestive. Should be read cautiously."