Log College Press is the Place to Find American Presbyterian Psalters and Hymnals

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Have you visited our Compilations page lately? It is the home for many interesting works by denominations or groups of authors, but today we are highlighting the assembled psalters and hymnals which represent the sacred song utilized in the praise of God by American Presbyterians. This project is ongoing, but we invite you to check out what is currently available.

Psalters

  • The Psalms of David in Meeter [Kirk of Scotland] (1650)

  • The Book of Psalms [UPCNA] (1871)

  • The Book of Psalms: The Scottish Version Revised, and the New Versions Adopted by the United Presbyterian Church of North America [UPCNA] (1871)

  • The Psalter of the United Presbyterian Church of North America [UPCNA] (1887)

  • The Psalms: A Revision of the Scottish Metrical Version With Additional Versions [RPCNA] (1888)

  • The Psalter: With Music [RPCNA] (1890)

  • The Psalter, or, Book of Psalms: A Revision of the Metrical Version of the Bible Psalms, With Additional Versions [RPCNA] (1893)

  • The Psalter With Music [UPCNA] (1900)

  • The Psalms in Meter [Joint Committee] (1905)

  • The Psalter, or, Book of Psalms: A Revision of the Metrical Version of the Bible Psalms, With Additional Versions [RPCNA] (1907)

  • The New Metrical Version of the Psalms [Joint Committee] (1909)

  • The Psalter With Responsive Readings [UPCNA] (1912)

  • Psalter Hymns: For Use in Families, Sabbath Schools and Bible Classes, Young People's Societies, Prayer Meetings, and Union Services [UPCNA] (1912)

  • The Book of Psalms: Rendered in Metre and Set to Music [RPCNA] (1912)

  • The Book of Psalms: Rendered in Metre and Set to Music [RPCNA] (1920)

Note that the first Psalter employed by the RPCNA (besides the 1650 Scottish Metrical Psalter which it inherited - which is true for all branches of American Presbyterianism as well) was produced by William Wallace Keys in 1863, and is known to history as the Keys Psalter.

Hymnals (including Psalter-Hymnals)

  • [Isaac Watts] Psalms, Carefully Suited to the Christian Worship in the United States of America: Being an Improvement of the Old Versions of the Psalms of David; Allowed, by the Reverend Synod of New York and Philadelphia, to be Used in Churches and Private Families [PCUSA] (1787)

  • [Isaac Watts] Psalms, Carefully Suited to the Christian Worship in the United States of America: Being an Improvement of the Old Versions of the Psalms of David; Allowed, by the Reverend Synod of New York and Philadelphia, to be Used in Churches and Private Families [PCUSA] (1787, 1794)

  • Psalms and Hymns Adapted to Public Worship, and Approved by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America [PCUSA] (1830)

  • [George Fleming] Psalms and Hymns, Adapted to Public Worship, and Approved by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America [PCUSA] (1834, 1835)

  • Sacred Harmony: A Selection of Plain Tunes Adapted to the Use of the Psalms of David [Associate Reformed Synod of New-York] (1834)

  • Devotional Hymns Adapted to Social, Private and Public Worship [Old School PCUSA] (1842)

  • Church Psalmist, or, Psalms and Hymns: For the Public, Social, and Private Use of Evangelical Christians [New School PCUSA] (1843)

  • Parish Psalmody: A Collection of Psalms and Hymns For Public Worship (1844)

  • The Presbyterian Psalmodist: A Collection of Tunes Adapted to the Psalms and Hymns of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America [PCUSA] (1852)

  • Hymnal of the Presbyterian Church [PCUSA] (1867)

  • Psalms and Hymns For the Worship of God: Approved by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, at Its Meeting in Memphis, Tennessee, November, 1866 [PCUS] (1867)

  • The Sacrifice of Praise: Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs Designed For Public Worship and Private Devotion, With Notes on the Origin of Hymns (1869)

  • The Presbyterian Hymnal [PCUSA, music and words] (1874)

  • The Presbyterian Hymnal [PCUSA, words only] (1874)

  • The New Psalms and Hymns [PCUS] (1901)

  • Bible Songs: A Collection of Psalms Set to Music For Use in Church and Evangelistic Services, Prayer Meetings, Sabbath Schools, Young People’s Societies, and Family Worship [UPCNA] (1901)

  • The Book of Common Worship [PCUSA] (1906)

  • The Psalter Hymnal: The Psalms and Selected Hymns [UPCNA] (1927)

Note that other hymnals are available on individual pages, such as Archibald Alexander, A Selection of Hymns, Adapted to the Devotions of the Closet, the Family, and the Social Circle (1831); Leonard Woolsey Bacon, Congregational Church-Music; With 150 Psalms and Hymns (1854); Nathan Sidney Smith Beman, Sacred Lyrics: or, Select Hymns, Particularly Adapted to Revivals of Religion, and Intended as a Supplement to Watts (1832) and Sacred Lyrics, or Psalms and Hymns Adapted to Public Worship (1841); Louis FitzGerald Benson, The Hymnal (1895) and The Chapel Hymnal (1898, 1910), as well as others; Henry Augustus Boardman, A Selection of Hymns: Designed as a Supplement to the “Psalms and Hymns” of the Presbyterian Church (1861) and Hymns of Praise (1867); George Buist, A Collection of Hymns for Public and Private Worship, Approved by the Presbytery of Charleston (1796); Thomas Cleland, Evangelical Hymns, For Private, Family, Social, and Public Worship (1831); Henry Sloane Coffin, Hymns of the Kingdom of God: With Tunes (1910); William Coombs Dana, A Collection of Hymns: Supplementary to the Psalms and Hymns of Dr. Watts (1859); James Gallaher, New Select Hymns, Designed to Accompany Watts’ Psalms & Hymns (1835); Edwin Francis Hatfield, Freedom's Lyre: or, Psalms, Hymns, and Sacred Songs, For the Slave and His Friends (1840), The Church Hymn Book, With Tunes; For the Worship of God (1872), and The Chapel Hymn Book, With Tunes; For the Worship of God (1873); Robert Pollok Kerr, Hymns of the Ages For Public and Social Worship (1891); Willis Lord, Hymns of Worship: Designed For Use Especially in the Lecture-Room, the Prayer-Meeting and the Family (1858); James Lyon, Urania: A Collection of Psalm-Tunes, Anthems and Hymns (1761); Lowell Mason, Church Psalmody: A Collection of Psalms and Hymns, Adapted to Public Worship (1831), and more; James Ormsbee Murray, The Sacrifice of Praise: Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs Designed For Public Worship and Private Devotion, With Notes on the Origin of Hymns (1869); Samson Occom, Hymns (1773 and A Choice Collection of Hymns and Spiritual Songs (1774, 1785); Charles Seymour Robinson, Songs of the Church: or, Hymns and Tunes For Christian Worship (1862, 1864), Songs For the Sanctuary: or, Hymns and Tunes For Christian Worship (1865, 1867), Psalms and Hymns, and Spiritual Songs: A Manual of Worship For the Church of Christ (1875); Philip Schaff, Hymns and Songs of Praise For Public and Social Worship (1874); Gardiner Spring, The Brick Church Hymns, Designed For the Use of Social Prayer Meetings and Families, Selected From the Most Approved Authors and Recommended by Gardiner Spring, D.D., Pastor of Said Church (1823); Nathan Strong, The Hartford Selection of Hymns From the Most Approved Authors (1799); Thomas DeWitt Talmage, Many Voices; or, Carmina Sanctorum (1891); Robert Ellis Thompson, The National Hymn-Book of the American Churches (1893); Henry Jackson Van Dyke, Jr., The Church Psalter: One Hundred and Four Psalms Arranged Under Subjects For Responsive Reading (1891); James Patriot Wilson, Sr., Hymns For Social Worship, Collected From Various Authors (1817); and Samuel Ramsey Wilson, Hymns of the Church, Ancient and Modern, For the Use of All Who Love to Sing the Praises of God in Christ, in the Family, the School, or the Church; With a Discourse on Music as a Divine Ordinance of Worship (1872); among many others.

There is much matter here for those who wish to explore how early American Presbyterians offered “the sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips” (Heb. 13:15) in the sanctuary. The questions raised by the regulative principle of worship about the content of song to be used (inspired psalms or uninspired hymns), as well as the propriety and practicality of instrumental accompaniment, are dealt with in a whole other body of literature to which we have alluded in the past. This collection on the pages of Log College Press is drawn to a great extent from the Louis FitzGerald Benson Collection of Hymnals and Hymnody at the library of Princeton Theological Seminary, as well as from a variety of other sources. We continue to add more literature related to psalmody and hymnody often so be sure to check back here periodically as our collection grows.

A Lesson From the Apostles by R.E. Thompson

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No course of lectures which I have ever heard has been a greater source of guidance and strength than the Stone Lectures of 1891. The lecturer was Professor Robert Ellis Thompson, of the University of Pennsylvania, one of our ablest economists and the foremost advocate, among university teachers of his time, of the theory of protective tariffs. He was also a devoted Christian minister and we had few preachers in America who could equal him in the weight and originality of his sermons. He had one famous sermon on “The Sending of the Apostles Two by Two.” After preaching it in the Walnut Street Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia a friend urged him to repeat it. Dr. Thompson replied: “Why, Sparhawk, that is the one hundred and fifty-third time I have preached that sermon.” It was a sermon worthy of an even longer tenure. — Robert E. Speer, The Finality of Christ (1933), p. 11

It was indeed a notable sermon that Robert Ellis Thompson preached and a theme that he developed over the years regarding the Apostles. He published:

  • The Sending of the Apostles, Two by Two: A Sermon (1890)

  • What Became of the Apostles (1890)

  • The Sending of the Apostles (1894)

  • The Apostles as Everyday Men (1910)

In these works, Thompson spoke of the individuality of each Apostle, and their respective contributions to the church, but also how they meshed together to help the Church united. They were fishermen, weak, impetuous, full of character and foibles, essentially ordinary men like all of us. Distinctive in their character, but not spiritual supermen of faith, they needed the grace of God as much as we do.

Why, you find that these twelve apostles were just men like ourselves, men of our frailties, men of our weaknesses, our failures, our doubts. We can look upon the story and see how Christ chose just such men as we are to take part in His ministry and form His first church, and we can feel that there is a place for us in His church. We can feel that we were represented in that first little company, that our doubts were met and overcome — our questions were answered, and that such as we are still welcome to His company as He goes on to do and to teach what He "began to do and to teach" in the Church of the Apostles (The Sending of the Apostles Two by Two (1890), p. 3).

Each Apostle has a name, and the list of names makes up a company that “turned the world upside down” (Acts 17:6). But in examining the names one by one, we find that each character, standing alone, has little to commend itself to the wisdom of God in calling such men to such an important task. Yet, “Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1:24) called these men and in doing so confounded the wise of this world, and brought remarkably unexpected unity to the early Church.

Who would have thought that Doubting Thomas and Matthew the Publican would have made good partners in the project to advance God’s kingdom in the earth? Or that zealous Peter and cautious Andrew would both as brothers have their particular contributions to make towards the Apostolic mission? But we see in the calling of particular men, somewhat unalike in comparison, but with traits and characteristics having much in common with the rest of humanity, that the Apostolic team has much to teach us about the nature of the Church and God’s wisdom in assembling such a diverse tapestry of men for one noble task.

So the Master made one whole man out of two halfmen. And so his chugch should go forth, two by two, each with the one most unlike himself, and therefore best able to help him. The sect spirit bids them separate on the ground of these innocent differences of temper and disposition. Christ bids them unite the closer through such differences, When we heed him, and become “rooted and grounded in love,” then shall we “be strong to apprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge” (The Sending of the Apostles (1894)).

This is the great lesson for the Church taught by the calling of such unique, yet everyday, men. We are many, and we are not much to look at individually, but we are one in Christ, and Christ is “altogether lovely” (Song of Solomon 5:16) to behold. Our differences in personality and in gifts ought not to divide us, but rather to unite us in common cause as they did in the case of the Apostles. Having all been raised out of the same “miry clay” (Ps. 40:2), there is no room for pride, but there is plenty of work to be done in the Lord if we, by the grace of God, would once again “turn the world upside down.”

American Presbyterians and Freemasonry

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Anyone who has followed the National Treasure saga (two movies starring Nicolas Cage and a Disney+ show that has recently aired) will recall the Masonic background to the plot, and may recall an adventure that took place in the graveyard at the Old Pine Street Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia (where Archibald Alexander* (1772-1851) once served as pastor). The question of the relationship between American Presbyterians and Freemasonry is raised by such a story, and it turns out the connections are rather intriguing.

As a secret society, Freemasonry has fallen under the condemnation of such denominations as the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America and the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. The RPCNA specifically targeted “secret oath-bound societies and orders” in the Covenant of 1871, declaring that they were “ensnaring in their nature, pernicious in their tendency, and perilous to the liberties of both Church and State.” W.M. Glasgow, in History of the Reformed Presbyterian Church (1888), wrote that “The Reformed Presbyterian Church has always excluded members of oath-bound secret societies from her Communion” (p. 135). The OPC officially expressed its disapprobation of Freemasonry in a 1942 report by a committee chaired by R.B. Kuiper titled “Christ or the Lodge?”, concluding that “membership in the Masonic fraternity is inconsistent with Christianity.” Other denominations have addressed (or continue to address) the issue membership of Christian in the Masonic fraternity, but not as decisively (see the 1987 report of the Ad-Interim Committee to Study Freemasonry in the Presbyterian Church in America, for example).

Freemasonry in America dates back to colonial times. At least nine signers of the 1776 Declaration of Independence were Freemasons, including Benjamin Franklin and Richard Stockton (1730-1781). At least nine signers of the 1787 U.S. Constitution were Freemasons, including George Washington.

Washington occasionally worshiped and attended Masonic meetings at the Old Presbyterian Meetinghouse in Alexandria, Virginia, where James Muir (1757-1820) served as pastor from 1789 to 1820. Muir also served as chaplain of the Masonic Lodge, and participated in the Masonic ceremonies that attended the death of Washington. William B. McGroarty writes that "The Old Meeting House is often spoken of as the Masonic Westminster Abbey, because of the number of distinguished Masons buried in and near it" (The Old Presbyterian Meeting House at Alexandria, Virginia, 1774-1874, p. 58).

William McWhir (1759-1851), a friend of Washington who taught some of Washington’s nephews at McWhir’s Alexandria academy preached a sermon at the Masonic Lodge in Alexandria on December 27, 1785 (source: The Lodge of Washington: A History of the Alexandria Washington Lodge, No. 22, A.F. and A.M. of Alexandria, Va. 1783-1876 (1876), p. 75).

Alexander MacWhorter (1734-1807) was a Freemason, and preached at Washington’s funeral (source: Steven C. Bullock, Revolutionary Brotherhood: Freemasonry and the Transformation of the American Social Order, 1730-1840 (1996), p. 176).

John Rodgers (1727-1811), first moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, delivered a sermon at a Masonic Lodge in 1779: Holiness the Nature and Design of the Gospel of Christ: A Sermon, Preached at Stockbridge, June 24, 1779, Before the Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, of Berkshire County, State of Massachusetts, and Published at Their Request [not yet available at LCP].

David Austin (1759-1831), who published four volumes of The American Preacher, also wrote Masonry in its Glory: or Solomon's Temple Illuminated: Discerned Through the Flashes of Prophetic Light, Now Darting Through the Region of the Blazing Star, to Lie at the Threshold of the Temple of God, During the Glory of the Latter Day: -- Waiting the Rays of the Seven Lamps, that the Light of its Existence Might Break Forth (1799) [not yet available on LCP, but it can be read here].

In 1794, David McClure (1748-1820), who also delivered a discourse at Washington’s funeral, preached two sermons at Masonic Lodges: A Sermon, Delivered at the Installation of the Morning-Star Lodge, of Free Masons: in East-Windsor, Connecticut, August 21, 1794; and A Sermon, Delivered at the Installation of Village Lodge, of Free Masons: in Simsbury, Connecticut, October 7th, 1794 [not yet available on LCP].

Samuel Miller (1769-1850), a Freemason, preached A Discourse Delivered in the New Presbyterian Church, New-York: Before the Grand Lodge of the State of New-York. And the Brethren of that Fraternity, Assembled in General Communication, on the Festival of St. John the Baptist, June 24th, 1795, a sermon that he sent to George Washington (Miller delivered a discourse upon Washington’s death as well). Miller’s son sheds valuable insight into Miller’s views on Freemasonry, which changed over time:

Before this date, probably soon after his settlement in New York, Mr. Miller joined the Masonic order; he seems to have taken, for years, an active part in its proceedings, and a deep interest in its prosperity: and he reached the dignity of a Royal Arch Mason. His discourse seems to prove, that his confidence had been already shaken, if not in some of the principles of the order, at least in its practical results. But whatever may be thus inferred as to his views of Masonry at this time, certain it is that subsequently — perhaps from the date of his removal to Princeton, where there was no Masonic lodge — he renounced all connexion with the order; at least he never attended their meetings; and that he distinctly, carefully, and emphatically advised his sons not to become Masons. Whether the abduction of Morgan, in 1826, which brought a reproach upon the institution from which it has never recovered, and probably sealed its doom in the United States, had any influence, even to deepen his disapprobation, cannot now, perhaps, be determined. But probably his more mature reflections satisfied him, that such a secret order was incompatible with the spirit of good civil government, and especially of free institutions; and that too easily it might be made a cloak for disorderly, seditious, and treasonable designs; might be abused to base party purposes: might become the active enemy of sound morals, pure Christianity, and the Church of Christ; while it must, naturally, ever prove, in some sort, and in a greater or less degree, a rival of that Church, by proposing its own principles as a sufficient religion, drawing men away from church intercourse and worship, and suggesting, by its very existence, that the institutions of Christianity were not adequate to the fulfilment of the grand philanthropic purposes, for which they were founded. If this order might interfere with the normal workings of the commonwealth, it might interfere much more with those of the Redeemer’s visible kingdom (Samuel Miller, Jr., The Life of Samuel Miller, D.D., LL.D., Vol. 1, p. 99).

Another Presbyterian who once took an active role in Freemasonry but later took on role in opposition to the Masonic Order is William Wirt (1772-1834). He took the first two degrees in the Masonic Rite at a lodge in Richmond, Virginia, but after the 1826 Morgan affair alluded to above (William Morgan had announced his intention to publish a book exposing the secrets of Freemasonry and was soon after abducted and murdered), Wirt was persuaded to accept the 1831 nomination for U.S. President from the Anti-Masonic Party. He was a reluctant nominee, and his campaign was unsuccessful. He died just a few years later.

Aaron Whitney Leland (1787-1871) delivered A Discourse Delivered on the 27th, December, 1815, Before the Grand Lodge of South-Carolina.

Hooper Cumming (1788-1825) preached an Independence Day sermon before a Masonic Lodge: A Sermon, Delivered at Schoharie, Before the Grand Lodge, at the Installation of Hicks Lodge No. 305, July 4th, 1818.

One of the first publications by Robert Jefferson Breckinridge (1800-1871) was A Masonic Oration: Delivered Before the Grand Lodge of Kentucky at Its Annual Communication in Lexington, on the 26th of August, A.D. 1828. He achieved the rank of Grand Orator of the Grand Lodge of Kentucky (source: John Winston Coleman, Masonry in the Bluegrass: Being an Authentic Account of Masonry in Lexington and Fayette County, Kentucky, 1788-1933 (1933), p. 208).

William Stephen Potts (1802-1852) published A Masonic Discourse, Delivered Before the Missouri Lodge, No. 1, on St. John's Day, at St. Louis, 1828 [not yet available on LCP].

U.S. President Andrew Jackson (1767-1845) was a well-known Freemason. “Jackson was initiated into Harmony Lodge No. 1 in Tennessee. He would be instrumental in founding other lodges in the state. He was the only President to have been a Grand Master of the state until Harry S. Truman in 1945 (source).

A biographical sketch of Obadiah Jennings (1778-1832) published in the Masonic Voice Review (Jan. 1859) indicates that not only was Jennings a dedicated Mason, but also that “Through the unbounded influence of Rev. Bro. Jennings, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, when the question of Masonry was presented to them, immediately postponed its consideration for two reasons: 1st. Because some of their own excellent Divines and members were Masons, and 2d. That they had not sufficient information upon the subject.”

John Matthews (1772-1848) delivered A Sermon Preached Before a Lodge of Freemasons [not yet available on LCP] (see William B. Sprague, Annals of the American Pulpit, Vol. 4, p. 294).

Colin McIver (1784-1850) was a member of and chaplain for the Masonic Order (source).

George Musgrave Giger (1822-1865, translator of Francis Turretin’s Institutes, was a Freemason while at Princeton. After his death a tribute was published: Proceedings of the Sorrow Lodge: and the Address Delivered in Honor of the Memory of Bro. George Musgrave Giger, D.D., December 20, 1865.

Thomas Rice Welch (1825-1886) was a prominent Mason in Arkansas (source).

Thomas Henry Amos (1826-1869) served as Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Masonic Lodge of Liberia, which he co-founded in 1867 (source: Cheryl R. Gooch, On Africa's Lands: The Forgotten Stories of Two Lincoln-Educated Missionaries in Liberia (2014), p. 119).

Jonathan Greenleaf (1785-1865) served as chaplain of the Grand Lodge of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (source: Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of the Most Ancient and Honorable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons, of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (1856), p. 115).

James Henley Thornwell II (1846-1907) was a Grand Secretary of the Masonic Order of the Eastern Star in South Carolina (source).

Arista Hoge (1847-1923), businessman and historian of the First Presbyterian Church of Staunton, Virginia, was a “Knight Templar Mason” (source).

John Simonson Howk (1862-1942) was a prominent Indiana Presbyterian minister and a member of a Masonic Lodge (source: Lewis C. Baird, Baird’s History of Clark County, Indiana (1909), p. 792),

The Belk Brothers were both prominent Freemasons. John Montgomery Belk (1864-1928) was a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason. He had also been active in Pythian ranks in former years (source). William Henry Belk (1862-1952) was a member of the Scottish and York Rite Masons  and the Order of the Mystic Shrine (source).

Lucien V. Rule (1871-1948), a Freemason, wrote Pioneering in Masonry: The Life and Times of Rob Morris, Masonic Poet Laureate; Together With the Story of Clara Barton and the Eastern Star (1920).

Ralph Earl Prime (1840-1920) was a Freemason from 1865 forward. In 1879, he served as District Deputy Grand Master of the Ninth Masonic District, comprised of Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess Counties in New York (source: Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of New York (1923), p. 19).

James Naismith (1861-1939), Presbyterian minister and inventor of basketball, was also a Freemason (source).

There were some notable opponents of Freemasonry within the early American Presbyterian Church. Lebbeus Armstrong (1775-1860) was very passionate on the subject and wrote The Man of Sin Revealed, or, The Total Overthrow of the Institution of Freemasonry: Predicted by St. Paul, and Now Fulfilling: Illustrated, and Proved, in a Sermon on II. Thessalonians, II. 8 (1829); Masonry Proved to be a Work of Darkness (1831), and William Morgan, Abducted and Murdered by Masons, in Conformity with Masonic Obligations: and Masonic Measures, to Conceal that Outrage Against the Laws: a Practical Comment on the Sin of Cain: Illustrated and Proved in a Sermon (1831) [Masonry Proved to be a Work of Darkness is available on LCP].

Charles G. Finney (1792-1875) published The Character, Claims and Practical Workings of Freemasonry (1869). In this book Finney aims to thwart the spread of Freemasonry and acknowledges having once been a Mason himself.

Several Presbyterian authors have written against secret societies generally, including Thomas Smyth (1808-1873), James McCosh (1811-1894), David MacDill (1826-1903), James Harper (1823-1913), Robert J. George (1844-1911) [see his Lectures on Pastoral Theology, Vol. 3] and H.H. George (1833-1914). Robert E. Thompson (1844-1924) has written on The Origin of Free Masonry (1871).

As we have already well exceeded the length of a normal LCP blog post, we will rest here having only highlighted some particular historical connections to Freemasonry within American Presbyterianism of special interest. Much more could be said and further avenues explored (for example, the note concerning Obadiah Jennings’ efforts to have the PCUSA General Assembly table the question of Masonry). It is both a mixed picture that we present and a controversial subject for many, but we have strived to represent individuals correctly and without going beyond what can be ascertained factually. We welcome any needful corrections as to the statements above. As to the merits or not of Freemasonry, we have not attempted to analyze its distinctive teachings in this article, but we would refer the reader to Kuiper’s Christ or the Lodge?, among the many resources already cited.

* We have not confirmed that Archibald Alexander was ever a Freemason. However, there is a hint that this may have been the case in James H. Moorhead, Princeton Seminary in American Religion and Culture (2012), p. 81: “Moreover, there was the example of Freemasonry — the secret society par excellence — which was growing dramatically at this time with its promise to promote benevolent ends for all. In any event, the secrecy of the Brotherhood was scarcely seen to be subversive by the faculty, who were sometimes party to it. As one student remarked, he was taken into the inner circle — ‘a wheel within a wheel’ — of the secret society — and on several occasions ‘Dr. Alexander…met with us in this inside organization, and we got from him a great deal of useful instruction and advice.’”

What's New at Log College Press? - November 15, 2022

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As the year winds down, Log College Press remains in high gear as we continue to expand the site and make accessible more and more literature from early American Presbyterians.

Last month, in October 2022, we added 494 new works to the site. There are currently over 16,000 free works available at LCP. Today we are highlighting some of the new free PDFs available as found on our Recent Additions and Early Access pages, two features provided to members of the Dead Presbyterians Society.

Some highlights at the Early Access page:

Some highlights at the Recent Addtiions page:

  • Philip Schaff edited both The American Church History series and A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church (first and second series). All of the above has now been added to Log College Press (approximately 23,000 pages of material);

  • Working for the Presbyterian Board of Publication, William M. Engles edited the 12-volume British Reformers series, which has now been added to his page;

  • The full run of The Penn Monthly Magazine under Robert E. Thompson’s editorship (13 volumes);

  • Dozens of works by Theodore L. Cuyler, Benjamin M. Palmer and Thomas DeWitt Talmage;

  • Joshua L. Wilson’s 1845 first sermon on witchcraft; and much more.

Also, be sure also to check out the quotes we have been adding at our blog for DPS members: Though Dead They Still Speak, including George Howe on the importance of a well-educated spiritual ministry; E.S. Ely on the duty of civic rulers to "kiss the Son"; Alexander Proudfit on the Biblical qualifications for public office; and Robert D. Wilson’s life plan to defend the Old Testament.

We appreciate hearing from our readers if they find matters needing correction, or if they have questions about authors or works on the site, or if they have suggestions for additions to the site. Your feedback helps the experience of other readers as well.

Meanwhile, please feel free to browse the many resources available to our readers in print and in digital format. There is a lot to explore, and many Presbyterian voices from the past to hear. Thank you, as always, for your interest and support, dear friends.

Get to know Nathaniel S. McFetridge

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Having benefited over the years from a little book titled Calvinism in History — Loraine Boettner spoke highly of it in his own classic The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination — by Nathaniel Smyth McFetridge, this writer had little information at first about the author and was curious for more. From a combination of sources, we have gleaned details about this fascinating Presbyterian minister who died quite young.

Wayne Sparkman at the PCA Historical Center wrote a biographical sketch, which provides very helpful information, including a partial bibliography. Other information has been assembled from ecclesiastical and genealogical records and publications from colleges with which he was associated. There is much more that we wish we had — for example, a photograph, and a few more of his known published writings. But we have discovered where he was laid to rest, among other details of interest. It is hoped that we will learn more over time, but below are some fresh brush strokes which will attempt to paint in some measure the picture of his life, and to supplement material that Dr. Sparkman has previously published.

McFetridge was born in Ardina, Dunboe Parish, County Derry, Northern Ireland on August 4, 1842. His family came to America when he was but a child, and they settled in Catasauqua, Pennsylvania. He studied at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania, and retained ties to the school after he graduated in 1864. It was in that year that his prize-winning essay on the Prologue to Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales was published. He split the Fowler Prize with another student (who won $20, while he won $10) for his introductory study of the great classic. Recently, this writer obtained a copy and uploaded pictures of the text for readers who may wish to read young McFetridge’s insights into Chaucer.

Our author tells us in the preface to Calvinism in History that he benefited greatly in his later studies at Western Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh under A.A. Hodge, which he regarded as one of the greatest blessings of his life. McFetridge graduated from seminary in 1867 and was ordained into the ministry by the Presbytery of Erie (PCUSA) soon after, being installed the following year as pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Oil City, Pennsylvania. Married in 1868 to Jane Sutton, the McFetridges had four daughters and one son. He wrote to the Lafayette Monthly in March 1872 that he contemplated leaving the Oil City pastorate, but was persuaded to stay. In 1874, however, he transferred his credentials to the Presbytery of Philadelphia, North and became pastor of the Wakefield Presbyterian Church of Germantown, a neighborhood in northwestern Philadelphia. Dr. William C. Cattell, President of Lafayette College, gave the charge to the pastor on December 10, 1874.

Regarding his ties to Lafayette, it was reported in the July 1, 1871 Lafayette Monthly that Rev. McFetridge read a poem of his own composition titled “Peace” and offered the closing prayer at Alumni Society meeting held the day before commencement exercises. A hymn composed by McFetridge was published in January 1873 Lafayette Monthly titled “Jesus is Born.” The same periodical reported on January 1, 1879 that McFetridge presided over an alumni dinner, “with a quiet dignity and grace becoming the occasion, and introduced the speakers in a very happy manner,” with Dr. Cattell sitting at his right hand. In 1879, after the death of William Adamson, who served on the Lafayette Board of Trustees, Rev. McFetridge delivered a commemorative sermon. The February 1, 1880 Lafayette Journal informed its readers that McFetridge was recently elected to fill the vacant seat on the Board of Trustees, and also mentions that in 1878 he delivered the annual sermon before the Brainerd Society and the Christian Brotherhood.

In February 1881, McFetridge was seriously injured in a train accident, an event alluded to in the July 1, 1881 Lafayette Journal’s description of commencement exercises at which he was asked to speak but declined due to his injuries. He was spoken of as the man “whom steam engines can not crush.” He did pronounce the benediction at an oratorical contest as reported in the March 1, 1883 Lafayette Journal. The December 1883 Lafayette College Journal published a dispatch by McFetridge which reported on the departure from New York of Dr. Cattell and his family on board the steamship SS Servia bound for Liverpool, England. The warmth of his affection for Lafayette’s President is most apparent in his praise of the man. McFetridge’s Calvinism in History — which originated in lectures delivered at Wakefield Presbyterian Church in 1881 and which was published in 1882 — is dedicated to Cattell.

On the occasion of Martin Luther’s four hundredth birthday, in 1883, at the Presbyterian Church in Abington, Pennsylvania, Rev. McFetridge, along with Robert Ellis Thompson, gave an address in commemoration of “The Dear Man of God: Doctor Martin Luther of Blessed Memory.”

After eleven years at Wakefield, McFetridge resigned from his pastorate (due to his impaired health, we are told by Francis B. Reeves in his historical sketch of Wakefield Presbyterian Church) and was elected in early 1885 to fill the position of chair of Greek, Anglo-Saxon and Modern Languages at Macalester College in Minnesota, and had joined the faculty there by the autumn of that year.

An 1887 memorial tribute by Macalester College informed its readers that after a brief but much beloved tenure, Rev. McFetridge entered into glory on December 3, 1886 at the age of 44. It is thought that the injuries suffered from the train accident several years before they took their final toll on his body. Although he died in St. Paul, Minnesota, he was buried at the Shenango Valley Cemetery in Greenville, Pennsylvania, where his wife and at least two daughters were later laid to rest as well. A memorial window at Wakfield Presbyterian Church was given by his wife (where also artwork by a Japanese student who once lived with the McFetridges was presented). As described by his colleagues at Macalester, he was an inspiration as a teacher, minister of the gospel and friend:

As members of the Faculty, we were strangers when we met; but very soon our departed brother won the esteem and confidence of us all. No less did he win that of the students. As a professor, he was scholarly. careful and diligent in his work. He had the aptitude for teaching in a high degree. He exacted careful and diligent work from the students. Though a constant sufferer, he did not spare himself, and he had small patience with idleness and inattention on the part of any in his classes. When he led the college in morning prayers, his confessions of human frailty and sin, and his pleadings with our Heavenly Father for grace and strength to bear us through the duties of the day, were peculiarly touching.

As a member of the Faculty, he was prudent in counsel, firm in the maintenance of right, faithful to the best interests of the College, and courteous to his brethren.

As a preacher, he was remarkably clear in exposition and impressive in manner. He delighted especially in commending the love, the patience and the faithfulness of Christ, and was never happier than when so engaged.

He was a man of sprightly temperament, of genial and kindly disposition. His intellect was fine, his culture high, his views broad, and his spirit catholic. He was eminently patient in suffering and we who never saw him free from it, know how his brightness and hopefulness and faithfulness in the midst of it, enforced the lesson of Christian joy in submission to the Father's will, with "patient continuance in well-doing," upon all about him.

The writings of Nathaniel S. McFetridge that we have assembled thus far are available to read at his page here. His enduring Calvinism in History is there to read, along with a few other writings referenced above. We hope to add more eventually. From these and other materials we have gleaned that he was a well-respected, indeed beloved, pastor, teacher, friend and family man. Although details of his life are fewer than we would wish, we have sketched some aspects which reveal him to be a poet, a correspondent, a loyal college alumni, and a scholar. He was a man of humility too, and who looked to Christ in the midst of his personal physical suffering; and all of these qualities are evident in his writings and in the testimonials about him by others. He was a candle that burned brightly and briefly, yet the illumination of his life and legacy continues to shine.