The Downgrade Controversy inflicted deep wounds among Spurgeon, his contemporaries, and the Baptist Union. Anyone studying this controversy might ask the same question that many asked in Spurgeon’s day: Why didn’t he name names, thereby vindicating himself and possibly purifying the Baptist Union? If there were false teachers among the ranks of the Baptist Union, it would be logical that Spurgeon should produce evidence so that they could be removed. But it was not so simple. He never provided the names of these teachers for at least three reasons.