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In 1791, Ashbel Green went on a journey from Philadelphia to New England. The theological climate of New England at that time was such that he would be challenged by interactions from very different viewpoints than his own. His diary records that before embarking on this trip, he made a concerted effort to regulate his conduct to the glory of God.
“June 6, 1791. — To-morrow, God willing, I expect to set out on a journey into New England. I think it will be useful for me to lay down some rules for the government of my own conduct, and to read them over every morning and evening.
Rule 1. To endeavour to promote, by every means in my power, the glory of God. Hence I must preach as much and as often as I can; and endeavour to recommend religion to all whom I may have intercourse with, by my whole conversation and deportment, and I must endeavour constantly to have this rule in my memory and recollection.
2. Let me avoid talkativeness; and be as modest and unassuming as possible. Let no controversy on religious subjects make me lose my temper, or say any thing hastily, harshly, or severely.
3. Let me not deny any sentiments that I really hold, be the consequences what they may.
4. Let me, in answering questions or in giving relations, and in every thing else, keep vigorously and entirely to the simple truth; neither adding nor admitting any circumstance, so as to convey an idea of things in any degree different from what they really are.
5. Let me endeavour to suppress pride and vanity; and not endeavour to shine by an affectation of knowledge, or qualities which I do not possess. It is dangerous; it may bring me into absolute disgrace; it is very wicked.
6. Let me observe characters with all attention. This is a principal object of my journey. Let me try to learn something from every body I speak to.
7. Especially let me observe the state of society, and the peculiarities of manners in the places where I go.
8. Let me recollect in remarkable places the distinguished events that have taken place in them, and see all the vestiges and remains of them. Let me inquire the state and history of colleges; and endeavour to see their professors, masters, libraries and philosophical apparatus. Let me, where I can, ask who are the leading men and principal characters in any town. Let me observe the general face of the country — its soil, productions, &c., &c.
9. Let me pay a particular attention to the state of religious opinions, and see if I can trace the cause of them.
10. Let me not be disconcerted with difficulties in my journey. Let me endeavour to keep up my spirits, and resolutely set about my business, in each particular place.
11. Let me not suffer the importunities of friends, or others, to break in on my own plans of travelling; but vigorously and constantly pursue them; denying with modesty, but at the same time with firmness.
12. Let me pay a personal and particular attention to my horse. It seems proper that I should mention that I travelled in a sulkey, without a servant or a companion.
13. Let me endeavour to travel in the morning, and lie by in the heat of the day.
14. I am at a loss, whether to rebuke profaneness in watermen, servants, &c.; in general it is, I believe, best to give them some check.
15. Let me not neglect secret prayer; and always remember my family and congregation in it.
16. Let me try in every way to get improvement; by getting men to talk on their favourite topics; by making deductions from their opinions; by comparing them together; by pursuing hints which I may take from what they say; by retaining and remembering all the information they convey.
17. Let me not neglect to write to my wife as often as possible.
18. Let me not find fault with the peculiarities of places to their inhabitants. Let me not make comparisons to their disadvantage, and tell them things are much better in the place I came from. People will not bear this.
A number of these rules contain things which I ought to be incapable of forgetting or neglecting; but I know for myself that the most obvious duties sometimes escape my attention. By examining myself on these rules, I shall be likely to remember, discover, correct, and avoid any errors and omissions; and I shall have my memory refreshed with a view of my business and duty."
The above rules, and the remark with which they are concluded, appear to have been very hastily written; and some of them are very incorrect in expression; but the intention of each of them is, I think, palpable; and I thought it would be best to give them verbatim as they were originally penned.
Allan Stanton wrote this brief summary of that trip:
During his journey, Green kept a brief journal with reflection upon every person that he met with especial consideration upon the piety and theological persuasions of pastors. The two most common observations of his journal are in reference to Anti-Trinitarian and Hopkinsian persuasions of these pastors. Green consistently concluded that the men he met were pious and that he avoided controversy with them while gaining invaluable insight into the ecclesiastical circumstances in which he found himself.
Stanton goes on to say that the religious pluralism which Green encountered in New England was a factor in his later push to establish what became Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey (Allan Stanton, “The Theological Climate of the Early Nineteenth Century and the Founding of a Polemical Seminary at Princeton,” in The Confessional Presbyterian (2010) 6:24).
Times have changed in some respects, but in other respects we can learn from Green’s rules of conduct and make useful application in the even more religiously pluralistic 21st century. There is great value in healthy and wholesome conversation, in striving to listen and learn from those with whom we engage, and doing what we can to avoid unnecessary controversy and rather build bridges that can be employed for the glory of God. Do you aim to learn something from everyone that you speak to? Green found this to be good advice to himself, and there is much to commend this advice in our present-day interactions, whether they be in our neighborhood, on public transit or online. Green’s rules (which can be read in The Life of Ashbel Green, pp. 204-207) helped him to redeem the time and to have a profitable trip, and there is profit in these rules for us today.
