What's New at Log College Press? - December 20, 2022

Receive our blog posts in your email by filling out the form at the bottom of this page.

At the close of 2022, Log College Press is staying very active as we continue to expand the site and make accessible even more literature from early American Presbyterians.

Last month, in November 2022, we added 582 new works to the site. There are currently over 17,000 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:

  • Two works by Thomas Cleland, A Familiar Dialogue Between Calvinus and Arminius (1805, 1830); and The Socini-Arian Detected: A Series of Letters to Barton W. Stone, on Some Important Subjects of Theological Discussion, Referred to in His "Address" to the Christian Churches in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio (1815);

  • Abraham Brooks Van Zandt, God's Voice to the Nation: A Sermon Occasioned by the Death of Zachary Taylor, President of the United States (1850);

  • Cornelius Van Til, The Defense of the Faith (1955); and Christianity and Barthianism (1962);

  • John Murray, The Reformed Faith and Modern Substitutes (1935-1936); and The Application of Redemption (1952-1954) [a series of many articles which served as the basis for his 1955 book Redemption Accomplished and Applied];

  • Geerhardus Vos, A Song of the Nativity (1924, 1972) [a Christmas poem]; and

  • early sermons by Francis James Grimké, Our Duty to the Poor — How We Observed It on Christmas (1881); Wendell Phillips: A Sermon Delivered Sunday, Feb. 24, 1884, at the Fifteenth Street Presbyterian Church, Washington, D.C. (1884); Our Future as a People (1890), each of which was contributed by a reader.

Some highlights at the Recent Addtiions page:

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 John Holmes Agnew: The Lord Loves the Gates of Zion; B.B. Warfield on Theological Study as a Religious Exercise and on What it Means to Glorify and Enjoy God; William H. Green on How the Child of God May Rightly Undergo Frowning Providences; John Murray: To the Calvinist Who Once Struggled With the Arminian Idea of Free Will; E.C. Wines: Christ is the Fountain of the Promises; James Gallaher on the Difference Between Calvinism and Fatalism; William S. Plumer's Suggested Guidelines for Making Family Worship More Profitable; Elizabeth Prentiss on Dying Grace; and T. De Witt Talmage: The Sabbath a Taste of Heaven.

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. We look forward to seeing what the Lord has in store for Log College Press in 2023. Thank you, as always, for your interest and support, dear friends, and best wishes to you in the New Year!

A Bibliography by William Childs Robinson

Receive our blog posts in your email by filling out the form at the bottom of this page.

One particular enjoyable aspect of perusing old books is noting their provenance — that is, the history of where the book came from. Or, who owned this book and from whose library? Many of the books found in the Log College Press digital library were scanned at the Princeton Theological Seminary library (to name but one) and arrived there by way of someone who bequeathed the book to Princeton. Many books were once owned, for instance, by B.B. Warfield, Louis F. Benson, Samuel Miller or William H. Green (which often bear their handwritten names or personalized book plate labels). These markings help to tell a story that is bigger than the book itself.

Recently, this writer acquired some books with especially interesting provenances. One such book is Thornwell’s Life and Writings (1875) by Benjamin M. Palmer. This copy comes from the library of William Childs Robinson, bears his name and handwritten notes, and includes an undated typewritten bibliography of the works of B.M. Palmer produced by Robinson himself. The list also notes which volumes were owned by Robinson.

One can picture Robinson — who says of himself that “I have lived in the shadow of Columbia Theological Seminary” (In Response to Recognition by the Alumni (1967)), where he studied and taught church history — sitting in front of his typewriter, working to develop this list and carefully recording with an asterisk those Palmer works which he owned in his library.

Bibliography of B.M. Palmer by William C. Robinson (undated, photo credit: R. Andrew Myers).

An inscription in this copy of Palmer’s biography of Thornwell informs us that it was given to him by his father, David, on October 18, 1919. Clearly, it was read with care. Thornwell’s Life and Letters by Palmer is referenced many times in Robinson’s 1931 study of Columbia Theological Seminary and the Southern Presbyterian Church.

Paul Settle, a student Robinson, drew a line from Thornwell to Palmer to Robinson in a “heartfelt tribute to his teacher.”

He was one of the last in a line of Southern Presbyterian worthies, extending from Thornwell, Dabney, Palmer, Girardeau, and others, to the present, who proclaimed and lived the whole counsel of God (quoted in David B. Calhoun, Pleading For a Reformation Vision: The Life and Selected Writings of William Childs Robinson (1897-1982) [2013], p. 125).

Another line can be drawn from Palmer’s biography of Thornwell to Robinson’s The Reformation: A Rediscovery of Grace (1962). Among the notations and underlining found in Robinson’s copy is this from p. 81: “…the doctrines of the Reformation, which are only the doctrines of grace…” And on p. 8 of Robinson’s The Reformation, we read: “On account of its rediscovery of the doctrines of grace, the Reformation has been hailed as a revival of Augustinianism.” Certainly, the concept that the Reformation was largely about the doctrines of grace is not unique to these authors, but it was crucially important in their understanding of the history and theology of their spiritual forefathers. And so it is to us. There are lines that connect truth between generations, and that is what today’s story is about.

J.W. Alexander on Thankful Review following the Lord's Supper

(Receive our blog posts in your email by clicking here. If the author links in this post are broken, please visit our Free PDF Library and click on the author’s page directly.)

Q. 175. What is the duty of Christians, after they have received the sacrament of the Lord’s supper?

A. The duty of Christians, after they have received the sacrament of the Lord’s supper, is seriously to consider how they have behaved themselves therein, and with what success; if they find quickening and comfort, to bless God for it, beg the continuance of it, watch against relapses, fulfill their vows, and encourage themselves to a frequent attendance on that ordinance: but if they find no present benefit, more exactly to review their preparation to, and carriage at, the sacrament; in both which, if they can approve themselves to God and their own consciences, they are to wait for the fruit of it in due time: but, if they see they have failed in either, they are to be humbled, and to attend upon it afterwards with more care and diligence. — Westminster Larger Catechism

A wonderful little handbook or manual for those seeking to rightly observe the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper is Plain Words to a Young Communicant (1854) by James W. Alexander (republished in 2000 by Banner Truth under the title Remember Him).

In the space of 85 brief chapters (80 in the Banner of Truth edition), Alexander addresses preparation for the Table, whether doubters can approach the table, self-examination, retrospect following communion, and many various aspects of the Christian Walk, including meditation, prayer, Sabbath-keeping, church attendance, and other means of grace and sanctification. Under the heading “Questions Before the Communion,” he has borrowed from a work by Ashbel Green titled Questions and Counsel for Young Converts (1831) [attributed erroneously by Banner of Truth to William Henry Green]. These questions are helpful to young believers (and old) in ascertaining the state of the soul before God.

There is one chapter especially worth highlighting for those who have just recently partaken of the sacrament: Thankful Review.

Through the tender mercies of our God, the cases are numerous, in which the young communicant retires from the Table of the Lord, strengthened and encouraged. The cardinal truth of Christianity has been set before his thoughts and become incorporated with his faith. He has seen Jesus [John 12:21]. His views of the infinite freedom of salvation have been made more clear. The evidences of his acceptance with God have become brighter. He is more disposed than ever before, to yield himself as a sacrifice, soul, body, and spirit, which is his reasonable service [Rom. 12:1]. Where any part of this is true, you have new cause for gratitude. It is “the Lord thy God which teacheth thee to profit” (Isa. 48:17). Now is the time, to bless him for this grace, and to beg the continuance of it. Now is the time to set a watch against relapses, and to carry into effect the vows which you have made at the Lord’s Table. Henceforth, you will look for the recurrence of this sacrament with a lively expectation, founded on experience.

If you are preparing to partake of the Lord’s Supper or have just partaken, this devotional manual is a good aid to right observance. Read J.W. Alexander’s handbook for communicants in full here.

Weight of Glory: Thoughts on Affliction

(Receive our blog posts in your email by clicking here. If the author links in this post are broken, please visit our Free PDF Library and click on the author’s page directly.)

John Franklin Bair writes, in Poems For All Classes (1922), p. 174:

The Blessings of Affliction

Afflictions come, but not by chance,
Nor do they from the ground arise,
They may be heavy, but each one
Is but a blessing in disguise.

By faith I see the hand of God
In all afflictions sent to me;
Therefore I will rejoice because
My future blessings they will be.

Do we measure our happiness in life by putting our afflictions on one scale and balancing them against our blessings? We may receive evil from the hand of the Lord, but we hope to receive more good. Is that the right way to take account of a good life? If one is opposed to the other, do we stand on pins and needles at the equipoise until the scales tip in our favor? In fact, on the scales of God's justice, we are found wanting. We deserve no good thing at all. But the afflictions of the righteous are in fact blessings in disguise. While they are hard providences, they are providences from the loving hand of Almighty God, who has promised that nothing "shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom. 8.39), and "that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose" (Rom. 8.28). That being case, we must reckon rightly that blessings and afflictions are not properly weighed against each other but weighed together as "a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" (2 Cor. 4.17).

William Henry Green (1825-1900), chair of Biblical and Oriental Literature at Princeton, addressed this notion in his commentary on Job, originally titled The Argument of the Book of Job Unfolded (1874), pp. 313-314, 318; [republished with editorial modifications as Conflict and Triumph: The Argument of the Book of Job Unfolded (1999), pp. 152, 154]:

Sublime as was Job's resignation in the first and second stage of his afflictions, it is sublimer now. When his property and his children were all swept from him at a stroke, Job still blessed the name of the Lord, mindful of the fact that the Lord had given what he now took away. When in addition his own person was visited with a dreadful and incurable malady, he meekly received the evil at the hands of the Lord, mindful of the good which he had previously bestowed.

His constant trust in God rooted itself each time in the past, in the abundance of former mercies, his grateful sense of which was not effaced by all the severity of his present trials. He put his trials in the scales over against the benefits which the Lord had so bounteously conferred upon him, and the latter still largely outweighed.
...
This is the lesson which Job has now learned; and hence he retracts all his murmuring words, and all that he has said reproachful to his Maker. He abhors himself for having uttered them, and repents in dust and ashes. He would not ask as before, 'Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?' [(2:10)]. There is no evil [adversity], there can be no evil [adversity] from the hand of the Lord.

Evil [Adversity] is good when it comes from him. He [Job] no longer puts the benefits from God in one scale and afflictions in the other. But afflictions are put in the same scale with benefits: they, too, are benefits when God sends them. And thus, instead of tending to create a counter-poise, they but add their weight to that of obligation previously existing.

An Honorable Princeton Roll Call

(Receive our blog posts in your email by clicking here. If the author links in this post are broken, please visit our Free PDF Library and click on the author’s page directly.)

Among the addresses delivered at the 1912 Centennial celebration for Princeton Theological Seminary was one given by William Lenoard McEwan titled “Princeton in the Work of the Pastorate.” In this message highlighting the contributions of Princeton-educated men to the work of the ministry, he includes a roll call of names that are also highlighted here at Log College Press. Today’s post is an extract from that address with links to pages for these men so that the 21st century reader may better acquaint themselves with their lives and labors. It is just a partial snapshot — Princeton has contributed much, much more — but it is a way to recognize some important but often-neglected names from American Presbyterian history.

Indeed if there were time to revive the memories of those who are familiar with the great movements that are written in our history, the reading of the names of the men whose influence has been great in the time of crisis or through long years of service would be sufficient— James W. Alexander, John C. Backus, for forty-eight years in Baltimore; J. Trumbull Backus, for forty-one years in Schenectady, N.Y.; George D. Baker, for a score of years in Philadelphia; Albert Barnes, forty years in Philadelphia; Charles C. Beatty, for sixty years in Steubenville, Ohio; William Blackburn; Henry A. Boardman, for forty-seven years in Philadelphia; Rob't J. Breckinridge of Kentucky; James H. Brookes of St. Louis; T. W. Chambers, nearly half a century in New York City; William C. Cattell, Joseph Christmas, founder of the American Church in Montreal; Bishop T. M. Clark; Richard F. Cleveland (father of a president of the United States); Theodore L. Cuyler, for thirty years in Brooklyn; Doak of Tennessee; J. T. Duryea, Philemon H. Fowler, Sam'l W. Fisher, P. D. Gurley of Washington, D.C; Leroy J. Halsey, A. A. Hodge, C. W. Hodge, E. B. Hodge, F. B. Hodge, William H. Hornblower, William Henry Green, Charles K. Imbrie, pastor, secretary and editor; Sheldon Jackson, Bishop John Johns, M. W. Jacobus, S. H. Kellogg, John M. Krebs, of New York; John C. Lowrie, Willis Lord, Bishop A. N. Littlejohn, J.M. Ludlow, Erskine Mason, Bishop C. B. Mcllvaine, David Magie, George W. Musgrave, Thomas Murphy, N.G. Parke, R. M. Patterson, W. S. Plumer, S. I. Prime, William M. Paxton, George T. Purves, Nathan L. Rice, Rendall of Lincoln, David H. Riddle, Stuart Robinson, Charles S. Robinson, W. D. Snodgrass, William A. Scott, W. B. Sprague, J. G. Symmes, E. P. Swift, H. J. Van Dyke, C. Van Rensselaer, Charles Wadsworth.

In this one packed paragraph, the names are easily passed over but each one represents a part of the story of the Lord’s kingdom work in this country and in the world by means of “an able and faithful ministry” (to use Samuel Miller’s words) as taught at Princeton. We are thankful for these men and take note of them here at Log College Press, also intending to add more as we are able. To God be the glory for these faithful witnesses.

A 1903 recommended pastoral library

(Receive our blog posts in your email by clicking here. If the author links in this post are broken, please visit our Free PDF Library and click on the author’s page directly.)

We have examined previously what constitutes a solid, recommended pastoral library as described by Thomas Murphy; and J.O. Murray, B.B. Warfield, and others. In today’s post, we take a look at recommendations from George Summey of The Presbyterian Quarterly and R.A. Lapsley, Sr. in the Union Seminary Magazine of 1903.

In Vol. 16 of The Presbyterian Quarterly, pp. 407-409, we find a list of 100 recommended titles compiled from the suggestions of many pastors and professors as to what should constitute the basic inventory of a young pastor’s library.

Beginning with the King James Version and Revised Version of the Bible, and Greek and Hebrew lexicons, the list continues with Bible dictionaries and concordances, and Bible commentaries (Matthew Henry and J-F-B on the whole Bible, and select commentators on individual books, such as William Henry Green on Job and Joseph Addison Alexander on Isaiah), before proceeding to classics of Christian literature such as John Calvin’s Institutes, Charles Hodge’s Systematic Theology, Thomas à Kempis’ Imitation of Christ, Thomas Murphy’s Pastoral Theology, Fisher’s Catechism, B.M. Palmer’s Theology of Prayer, and D'Aubigné’s History of the Reformation; and classics of literature in general, including Shakespeare, Milton, Tennyson and Dickens.

It is a full list with a sufficiently broad scope to encompass many areas of study with which each pastor ought to be acquainted. But no list of this nature is going to be complete. R.A. Lapsley wrote his own article to supplement that of the Presbyterian Quarterly by proposing several additional fields of literature of great value to the young minister.

  • Experimental religion - Andrew Murray, Abide in Christ; Archibald Alexander, Thoughts on Religious Experience; William S. Plumer, Vital Godliness; Jonathan Edwards, Religious Affections; and the practical works of John Owen;

  • Revivals of religion - G.W. Hervey’s Manual of Revivals, with particular reference to the bibliography at p. 143-144, and the outlines of George Whitefield’s sermons, and others;

  • Sermons — The sermons of Charles Spurgeon are recommended, as well as Stuart Robinson’s Discourses of Redemption; and those found in the 1896 Southern Presbyterian Pulpit;

  • Hymnology — S.W. Duffield, English Hymns: Their Authors and History; and

  • Christian biographies — Memoirs of Robert Murray M’Cheyne, Edward Payson, William C. Burns, and David Brainerd are among those recommended.

Lapsley concludes thus:

These, then, are some of the lines along which a preacher's library ought to grow, building upon the solid foundation laid down in the Quarterly’s list of one hundred books. If a man is to be a preacher and pastor, as well as a theologian and exegete, he wants to have and “inwardly digest” some books on religious experience and revivals of religion, some volumes of sermons, something on religious poetry, especially hymnology, and a number of the choicest religious biographies. These, along with text-books on Pastoral Theology and hand-books of missions, furnish the material for that great department of Practical Theology which is a vital point in ministerial equipment, coördinate with dogmatics and hermeneutics.

In short, the well-read and well-rounded minister is one who begins with the study of the Bible and proceeds to consult spiritual classics from the spectrum of history. Lapsley is not averse to recommending (for occasional perusal) the autobiography of Charles Finney (with a caution about his Pelagianism), but offers his highest praise of the practical works of John Owen. Read Summey’s list here, and Lapsley’s article here, for the combined pastoral library recommendations from the 1903 Presbyterian Quarterly and Union Seminary Magazine.

Who were "the sons of God and the daughters of men"? A 19th century Presbyterian answers

(Receive our blog posts in your email by clicking here. If the author links in this post are broken, please visit our Free PDF Library and click on the author’s page directly.)

A verse of Scripture that many have wrestled with over the years is that from Genesis 6:1-4:

And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

So, who are “the sons of God” and “the daughters of men”? Are angels or demigods meant by “sons of God”? Was there some sort of superior race of beings that was the fruit of the union between the “sons of God” and the “daughters of men”?

There have been many fanciful ideas put forth regarding these matters, dating back to, perhaps, the non-canonical Book of Enoch. The idea of angels marrying human females and producing a race of Nephilim has an appeal to many. But this idea is examined by Professor William Henry Green of Princeton in The Presbyterian and Reformed Review (Oct. 1894) and is thoroughly refuted.

Sometimes the simplest explanation is the correct one. As Green explains, Nephilim were clearly present before and after the intermarrying that took place, so they could not be the fruit of the union that is described. And the context of this passage in connection with the description of the flood which follows (and the reasons given for the flood), show that the text under consideration is meant to provide a reason for the punishment of the wicked. Although “sons of God” does mean angels in a few places in Scripture, it is also more broadly a term for God’s chosen people, that is, the godly on earth. Elsewhere, we are explicitly told that angels do not and cannot marry. Green: “There is no suggestion that angels are married or are given in marriage; the contrary is expressly declared (Matt. xxii. 30).” Our author, after analyzing these points, and in consideration of the context, shows that it is the intermarrying of the godly with the wicked that brings on the flood later in the chapter.

Green also tackles another idea that some have put forth suggesting that “sons of God” means persons of high rank, while “daughters of men” are those of inferior rank. Green: “But no such contrast is suggested here; and the intermarriage of different classes in society is nowhere represented as displeasing to God or provoking the divine judgment.”

The mythological and other erroneous ideas about this passage have led many astray, but the simple explanation, which is consistent with rest of Scripture, is that the godly intermarried with the wicked and, as a result, brought about a punishment “of Biblical proportions.”

Take time to read Green for yourself and work through the arguments presented. It is short (7 pages) but filled with solid exegesis. It will help to anchor your understanding of this passage to the rest of Scripture.

How to Form a Minister's Library by J.O. Murray and Others

(Receive our blog posts in your email by clicking here. If the author links in this post are broken, please visit our Free PDF Library and click on the author’s page directly.)

The first dean of the faculty at Princeton was James Ormsbee Murray (1827-1899), who served as such from 1883 until his death. Dean Murray, in January/June 1890, authored a 2-part article for The Homiletic Review titled How to Form a Minister’s Library. In addition to his own recommendations for useful books, he included further lists of recommended titles by Caspar Wistar Hodge, Sr. on New Testament exegesis, William Henry Green in Old Testament, James McCosh (former President of Princeton) in philosophy, Francis Landey Patton (then-current President of Princeton) in ethics, George Park Fisher in history, and B.B. Warfield in Dogmatic Theology.

Although in the 21st century, many theological students and ministers have found digital books the economical way to build a library, and Log College Press is doing its best to assist with thousands of worthy titles available on this site, there is still wisdom to be gained from reviewing the recommendations and suggestions of notable late 19th century ministers, theologians and scholars, although the counsel found herein as to how to purchase quality books.

For one thing, the recommendations go beyond theology to the realm of general history (as well as ecclesiastical), science, poetry and even novels - Murray writes: “Is fiction to have any place in the minister's library? How can he have it, if he is going to preach against novel-reading? If he is to preach indiscriminately against all use of fiction, he by no means should use it himself. But he had better refrain from all such folly, and set an example of using the novel as not abusing it.” This wisdom could be applied to other genres of art and aspects of culture as well.

Moreover, many classic titles in theology and Biblical studies that were utilized by Princeton theologians in the 19th century have stood the test of time, if not the test of popularity, even though the century of more of scholarship that has been performed since this article was published should also not be neglected. Patrick Fairbairn on the Typology of Scripture, Alfred Edersheim’s The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, George Smeaton on the Doctrine of the Holy Spirit - these are some of specific titles mentioned which have stood the test of time. Some of the titles given are by American authors, some by European; some are available today in digital format, others require a trip to a seminary library. But the modern minister or student of the ministry today can gain from a review of this 1890 article by Murray and the listed recommendations. Bookmark this article and take a few minutes to see what men like Warfield and other Princeton divines thought was important to have in a minister’s library.