Who Was C. H. Mackintosh? The Irish Writer Behind "C.H.M." Notes

Biography Bible Study Commentary

Charles Henry Mackintosh was an Irish Bible teacher who lived from 1820 to 1896. He belonged to the Christians often called the Plymouth Brethren, and he signed much of his work simply "C.H.M." He's best known for his Notes on the Pentateuch, six devotional volumes on the five books of Moses, from Genesis to Deuteronomy. In them he looks for Christ on every page of the Old Testament and presses the gospel of free grace on the reader. Those books have stayed in print for well over a century and have been translated into many languages.

Here's a fuller look at his life, what he taught, and which of his books to start with.

Early years in Ireland

Mackintosh was born in October 1820 at Glenmalure Barracks in County Wicklow, Ireland. His father was a captain in a Highland regiment, so the family had Scottish roots and an army home.

He came to faith at about eighteen. Two things God used: letters from his sister, who had been converted herself, and a small book by John Nelson Darby on the work of the Holy Spirit in the soul. Mackintosh found peace not by looking at his feelings but by resting on what God had said. That lesson runs through everything he later wrote:

I believe it; not because I feel it, but because God says it.
The Assembly of God (Miscellaneous Writings, Vol. III), "Gilgal"

Among the Brethren in Dublin

As a young man he worked in a business house in Limerick, then moved to Dublin, where he joined the Brethren meeting. These believers met simply around the Lord's Table each Lord's Day, without a paid clergy, and gave great weight to Bible study and the hope of Christ's return. Mackintosh learned from older teachers such as J. G. Bellett and Darby, and he wrote his first gospel tract, Peace with God, in the early 1840s.

A schoolmaster in Westport

In his mid-twenties he opened a boarding school in Westport, County Mayo, in the west of Ireland. He taught the classical languages and worked out his own method for teaching them. Those were the years of the Great Famine, and in his school holidays he preached the gospel to the poor of Mayo.

By 1853 he had come to believe God was calling him to give his whole time to the Word. He closed the school and spent the rest of his life preaching, writing and editing.

Preacher, editor and writer

Mackintosh took part in the great revival that swept through Ulster in 1859 and 1860, preaching to crowds who had been stirred to seek God. Around the same time he began editing a magazine called Things New and Old, with the evangelist Charles Stanley. For many years it carried his short papers on the gospel, the church and the Christian life.

Those papers were later gathered into a set of Miscellaneous Writings. TheWay Library has six of the volumes, among them The All-Sufficiency of Christ and The Lord's Coming.

His largest work, though, was the Notes. He began with Notes on the Book of Genesis and went on book by book through Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers, ending with two volumes on Deuteronomy. They aren't technical commentaries. They're the notes of a man reading his Bible slowly, with his heart, and writing down what he saw of Christ.

What he taught

Mackintosh had one great subject: Christ, and Christ alone, as all a sinner needs. He put it this way in a paper on the believer's security:

Christ is the soul, centre, and life of all doctrine.
The All-Sufficiency of Christ (Miscellaneous Writings, Vol. I), Final Perseverance

Christ in the Old Testament. He read the Old Testament as a book of pictures, or types, of the Lord Jesus. Joseph, rejected by his brothers and lifted to the throne, points to Christ. The Passover lamb, the tabernacle and the five offerings of Leviticus each show some side of His person and His death.

Saved by the blood, not by our feelings. He wanted troubled believers to stop looking inward. Writing on the Passover night in Egypt, he said of the Israelite safe in his house:

He was not saved by his interest in, or his thoughts about, the blood, but simply by the blood.
Notes on the Book of Exodus, chapter XII

Grace greater than our failure. He wrote with great tenderness about saints who stumble, like Abraham in Egypt, Jacob with his schemes, and Peter by the fire. "The more man sinks, the more God's grace rises," he wrote in his notes on Jacob.

The authority of Scripture. He held that God's Word settles every question, and that it is enough for the church in every age.

The Lord's coming. Like other Brethren teachers, he looked for Christ to come for His people, and he urged believers to wait for the Son from heaven and not just hold the doctrine.

He was known among the Brethren as a gentle man who avoided quarrels where he could, and his writing has that tone. It's warm and direct, and he often speaks straight to "the reader."

His influence

The Notes reached far beyond the Brethren. The American evangelist D. L. Moody spoke of Mackintosh's books as among the most helpful he had ever read for understanding the Bible. Charles Spurgeon recommended the Genesis volume for its edifying thoughts, though he was more cautious about some Brethren views in the later books. Pastors, missionaries and ordinary Bible readers have kept the Notes on their shelves ever since.

Last years

In his last years his health failed, and he could no longer preach or write. He died at Cheltenham, England, on November 2, 1896, at seventy-six, and was buried there beside his wife, Emma.

Why he's still read

Mackintosh is still read because he makes the Old Testament warm. Many Christians find Leviticus or Numbers hard going. In his hands, a list of offerings or a march through the desert becomes a page about Jesus and about the believer's daily walk with God. He's also a great help to anyone who struggles with assurance. Again and again he turns the reader away from self and toward a finished work.

Where to start

TheWay Library has twelve of his books, all free to read. If you're new to him, start with Notes on the Book of Genesis. It's the shortest of the Notes and the easiest to read straight through. Then go on to Notes on the Book of Exodus for the Passover and the tabernacle, and Notes on the Book of Leviticus for the offerings. For short papers you can read in one sitting, try The All-Sufficiency of Christ.

Our guide to C. H. Mackintosh's books explains how all twelve fit together, and our collection of C. H. Mackintosh quotes gathers his best lines. You'll find all his books on the C. H. Mackintosh author page.