Egbert Watson Smith (1862-1944) was a distinguished graduate of Davidson College (1882) and Union Theological Seminary (Richmond, Virginia, 1886), who went on serve as pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Greensboro, North Carolina, and the Second Presbyterian Church of Louisville, Kentucky, was also noted for his love for foreign missions. In 1911, he became executive secretary of Foreign Missions for the Presbyterian Church in the United States, in Nashville, Tennessee, where he labored and authored works in support of missions and missionaries around the world. Even after he retired from that position in 1932, he took on the newly created position of field secretary of foreign missions. He served as one of the most active and able advocates of missionary activities in the American Presbyterian church.
As a confessional Presbyterian, he also wrote in defense of the Westminster Standards, the creedal position of the Presbyterian Church. His 1901 volume on The Creed of Presbyterians is remarkable because it makes the point that the Westminster Confession of Faith, and Larger and Shorter Catechisms, are simply put, a summary of essential truths that evangelical, Protestant Christians agree are taught from Scripture. They are not uniquely Presbyterian in a sectarian sense, but Catholic in nature. They affirm the principle of one true Church, in all its branches, to be the body and kingdom of Christ on earth. Smith has written this work for laymen, and it serves as a good introduction to what Protestants believe concerning the sovereignty of God, the authority of Scripture, and the value of having a summary of these things to unite believers in the truth, all of which serve as a great motivation for the spread of the gospel.
This is a book that 21st century Christians will appreciate, as the depth and breadth of the author's humility and charity shine through as an example of how confessional Presbyterians may serve the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ with those two particular attributes, which is as much needed today as it was over a century ago. Take time to download and peruse The Creed of Presbyterians, which is a wonderful contribution to the whole church of Jesus Christ.
William Plumer on the Sabbath Day
Have you ever considered the irony that many who plant Ten Commandment signs in their front yards today reject the fourth commandment as binding upon Christians under the new covenant? As you rejoice in this Lord's Day, be encouraged by the challenging, persuasive, and promissory words of William Swan Plumer:
"He, who loves God's word and worship, he, who delights in prayer and praise, loves the day devoted to the study of Scripture, and the service of Jehovah. Among the thousands of religious biographies now before the world, is there one which shows that any heart loved the other precepts of the Decalogue and disregarded this?
It is generally agreed that Christ came to enlarge, not to curtail the privileges of his people, and especially of the poor and afflicted, many of whom are not the masters of their own time. But if he abolished the Sabbath, he cut off the pious poor from one of their dearest privileges, one no less necessary to relieve their heavy hearts than to refresh their toil-worn bodies.
The Scriptures contain many precious promises to those who reverently keep this day, and take pleasure in its appropriate duties. Isa. 56:1-7, and 58:14; Jer. 17:21-26. To such God will give, in his house and within his walls, a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters. He will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off. He will make them joyful in his house of prayer, and will accept all their sacrifices; and blessings like those which came upon Jacob shall fall upon them." -- The Law of God, page 299
Do You Have These American Presbyterian General Assembly Digests?
The General Assemblies of the Presbyterian Church in America and the Orthodox Presbyterian Church were held this week. At some point in the near future the minutes of these assemblies will be approved, and then in the more distant future a digest of these minutes, and the minutes of other years' assemblies, will be compiled for historical record and easy reference. Digests are a great blessing for the historian and the church government wonk, and some are available on the Log College Press website.
Several Digests were published in the first half of the 19th century, but Samuel Baird's Digest (published in 1856) is the most well known. It covers all the way back to the beginning of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. Digests were also published in 1859, 1861, 1873, 1886, 1898, and 1907. None of these are currently on our site. We do have the 1923 Digest compiled by Lewis Seymour Mudge for the Northern Presbyterian Church, as well as W. A. Alexander's Digest of the Presbyterian Church in the United States (the Southern Presbyterian Church) in 1888, covering the years 1861-1888.
These books will not be interesting even to all who love Presbyterianism, or even all who love General Assembly. But for the handful of individuals who enjoy reading Assembly minutes, we hope you find access to these documents useful.
19th-20th Century Black Presbyterians
Yesterday, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) elected its first African-American Moderator, Dr. Irwyn Ince (who, coincidentally, also wrote the Foreword to our upcoming book, Meditations on Preaching, by Francis Grimke - available for Pre-Order on Amazon here!). In his Moderator's Address, Dr. Ince mentioned the impact that discovering African-American Presbyterian fathers in the faith had on his spiritual development and his love for the PCA. How easy it is to be unaware, or forget, that there have been Black Presbyterian pastors from the earliest days of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America! Many of these fathers and their published works are on the Log College Press website:
Matthew Anderson
Titus Basfield
William Thomas Catto
John Chavis
John Gloucester
Henry Highland Garnet
Francis James Grimke
James William Charles Pennington
William Henry Sheppard
Theodore Sedgwick Wright
We don't have all the published works of these men on our site yet, so if you know of some books or sermons or articles that we can upload to our site, please contact us! Likewise, let us know of other African-American Presbyterians from the 18th through the early 20th centuries, so we can put them on our website as well. God has been at work through the history of our country, even through long seasons of pain and oppression, to build His church (even the Presbyterian church) from all ethnicities. May He continue to do as He writes our history in this generation.
A Look Back at the Year 1572
Church history matters. As William Pratt Breed put it, "Ecclesiastical history is the record of the outworking of God's decree for the world's renovation. It is the complicated story of the progress of the truth, its assaults upon error, the resistance of error to these assaults, and the results, in the life and experience of men and nations, of these onsets and oppositions — results many of them cheering and glorious, some of them fearful and bloody. Full of food for the head and the heart is such a story!"
In 1872, he published a book which looked back at the state of Presbyterianism three hundred years previous: Presbyterianism Three Hundred Years Ago. In fact, 1572 was a momentous year in church history. It was the year that the first English presbytery was formed, the year that the Huguenots of France were massacred on St. Bartholomew's Day, the year that John Knox entered glory. In this book, Breed paints a picture, sketching where the Protestant church stood in Europe in that eventful year. The tales he tells ought to enlighten and inspire Presbyterians, not only of the 19th, but indeed the 21st, century.
"Thus was it with Presbyterianism three hundred years ago, and well were it for us all were we more familiar with the thrilling, bleeding, glorious tale. Well were it for our Church could our youthful Presbyterians be induced to fill their minds with the records of those days that so sorely tried men's souls, with the true character and history of our glorious Presbyterianism, with the heroism to which it gave birth, the heroes that glorify its progress and the services it has rendered the world....How instructive, too, and in many respects how cheering, is the contrast between those days and ours! Over all the round world, almost, no hindrance to the free propagation of the unsearchable riches of Christ."
How does all this relate to American Presbyterianism? By 1572, because of the missionary vision of Admiral Coligny, two Protestant (Huguenot) colonies had already been planted on American soil. But beyond this, it is worthwhile to consider how we as Christians, as Presbyterians, got where we are today. What challenges did our spiritual ancestors face, and how did they, by the grace of God, overcome them? In the words of Michael Crichton, "If you don't know history, you don't know anything. You are a leaf that doesn't know it is part of a tree." William Breed's book is a helpful look back so that we may better understand the present, and be encouraged about the future.
An Awakening in Central Virginia
Presbyterianism was planted in eastern Virginia in the late 1600s and early 1700s with the arrival and ministry of Francis Makemie. As pioneer settlers, many of them Scotch-Irish, migrated down the Valley of Virginia, they brought Presbyterianism with them. These seeds were watered by the ministry of such men as John Blair, John Craig and Alexander Craighead, and others, who planted and organized congregations along the Blue Ridge. But in-between, the established Anglican church dominated the colony of Virginia, and as a consequence, parish preaching often led to a spiritual dormancy.
As Ezra H. Gillett notes, "The rise of Presbyterianism in Hanover is inseparably connected with what is known by tradition as Morris' Reading-House" (History of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, Vol. 1, p. 111). The spirit of God began to stir in the County of Hanover around 1740, an awakening which centered, in the providence of God, upon Samuel Morris, a simple brick mason who was anxious for the state of his soul, and, as a result, began to read such works as Martin Luther's commentary on Galatians, Thomas Boston's Fourfold State, and the sermons of George Whitefield, who had preached in Williamsburg in 1739, and began to embrace true Biblical experimental piety. He organized meetings in his home with family and neighbors to pray, read Scriptures and discuss these books. These Sabbath afternoon meetings became so popular that crowds grew, necessitating the erection of a meeting-place, which became known as "Morris' Reading House," while attendance upon the parish churches began to decline. This decline became so precipitous that the authorities in their alarm summoned Morris and his friends to appear before the Governor's Council in Williamsburg "to declare their creed and name." Being largely unacquainted with church history, and referencing the works of Luther, they were apparently identified as "Lutherans" and allowed to continue their meetings. Another report, said by Ernest T. Thompson to be "almost certainly apocryphal" (Presbyterians in the South, Vol. 1, p. 52), claims that on their way to Williamsburg, Morris and company happened upon a copy of the Westminster Confession of Faith, which they found most agreeable to their religious sentiments. Governor Gooch, when presented with this document, being a Scotsman himself, is said to have immediately identified the group as Presbyterian dissenters whose right to worship was protected under the Toleration Act.
It was in the winter of 1742-1743 that the Rev. William "One-Eyed" Robinson was sent by the Presbytery of New Castle to minister to points south, which included Hanover. Archibald Alexander's Biographies of the Log College Men gives an account of Robinson's arrival there (included in that account is a 1751 letter by Samuel Davies, which further incorporates a letter by Samuel Morris describing the experience of Robinson's ministry there). On July 6, 1743, Robinson preached the first Presbyterian sermon in those parts, and he stayed for three further days, fanning the flames of revival. Morris called those four days the "glorious days of the Son of Man." As a token of thanks, a substantial financial gift was offered to Robinson, which he declined. Edward Mack relates the account thus: "The first Presbyterian preacher who came to this Hanover flock was William Robinson, whose four days of preaching in 1743 bore fruit in earnest throngs and many converts. Being a man of means, Robinson refused money for these days of preaching. But discovering a large roll of bills slipped into his saddle-bags without his knowledge, he dedicated it to the education of a young man for the ministry, in the hope that he might come to Virginia. So it was that a poor, struggling young man, Samuel Davies, became the beneficiary of Virginia’s first gift for Ministerial Education, and after a few years, in 1747, this same Samuel Davies, at the age of twenty-three, came to these Presbyterians of Hanover as their first regular minister." Thus, a congregation was planted, Polegreen Church (which was attended by Patrick Henry), and eventually in 1755 the Hanover Presbytery itself was organized, "the mother-Presbytery of most of the churches and Presbyteries south of the Potomac" (Robert Ellis Thompson, A History of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, p. 38).
Love is the Best Casuist
Casuistry - what is it? Simply put, it is the application of moral principles to practical situations. These are sometimes referred to as "cases of conscience." Yet, hear what Robert Lewis Dabney has to say about the benefit of private godly conference being the more proper place for such cases of conscience to be addressed, rather than the pulpit.
"I do not conceive that much of casuistry should he introduced into practical sermons. This belongs rather to the pastor's study than to the desk. The minute distinctions by which nice cases are to be adjusted, if they be addressed to a promiscuous company of persons not vitally interested in the particular problem, will be surely misunderstood by many. Thus they will minister to the morbid scruples of some consciences and to the license of others. And even in our private instructions love is the best casuist. Let the great principles of gospel love be presented with a breadth and warmth which, instead of dissecting, will dissipate the doubt." -- Sacred Rhetoric; Or, A Course of Lectures on Preaching, p. 63.
Jure Divino Presbyterianism
"The Southern Presbyterian Church was committed from its initial organization in 1861 to a theory of the church advanced by Thomas Cartwright in England in the latter part of the 16th century, embodied in the Scottish Second Book of Discipline (1581) and championed by James Henley Thornwell and other Southern Presbyterian divines as over against Charles Hodge of Princeton in the 1850's." -- Ernest Trice Thompson, Presbyterians in the South, Vol. 2: 1861-1890, p. 414.
As Thompson goes on to relate, John Lafayette Girardeau summed up the Southern Presbyterian position well, historically known as jure divino Presbyterianism, or divine right Presbyterianism, as he laid it out in a sermon before the General Assembly of 1875:
"There are two supreme obligations which this final charge of the Lord Jesus lays upon the heart of the church. The first is the transcendent duty of universal evangelization. The second is the inculcation and maintenance of the truth which Christ, the prophet of the church, has taught, and the commands which Christ, the king of the church, has enjoined. The call of the gospel is to be addressed to all the sons of men, and when they accept it, and are gathered into the fold of the church, she is to teach them all things whatsoever Christ has commanded. There are obviously a positive and a negative aspect of this charge to the church, — positive, in that she is directed to teach all that Christ has commanded; negative, in that she is implicitly prohibited from teaching anything which He has not commanded. The negative duty is a necessary inference from the command which enforces the positive. Here, then, we have the principle tinctured with the blood of our Puritan, Covenanter and Huguenot forefathers — that what is not commanded, either explicitly or implicitly in the Scriptures, is prohibited to the church. She can utter no new doctrine, make no new laws, ordain no new forms of government, and invent no new modes of worship. This is but a statement of a fundamental principle of Protestantism, contra-distinguishing it from Rationalism on the one hand and Romanism on the other, — that the Scriptures, as the word of Christ, are the complete and ultimate rule of faith and duty. They are complete, since they furnish as perfect a provision for the spiritual, as does nature for the physical, wants of man, and, therefore, exclude every other rule as unnecessary and superfluous. They are ultimate because, being the word of God, they must pronounce infallibly and supremely upon all questions relating to religious faith and practice. The duty of the church, consequently, to conform herself strictly to the divine word, and her guilt and danger in departing from it would seem to be transparently evident. But the clearest principles, through the blindness, fallibility, and perverseness of the human mind, frequently prove inoperative in actual experience; and the history of the church furnishes lamentable proof that the great, regulative truth of the completeness and supremacy of the Scriptures constitutes no exception to this remark. Because we are Protestants, and Presbyterian Protestants, because the doctrine of the perfection and ultimate authority of the word lies at the root of our system and is embodied in our standards, we are not, therefore, free from the peril attending the failure of the church to conform herself in all things to the revealed will of Christ, and her tendency to rely upon her own folly instead of His wisdom" ("The Discretionary Power of the Church," Sermons, p. 370-371).
Testimony of God's Grace in the Life and "Religious Experiences" of Archibald Alexander
Richard McIlwaine, like Archibald Alexander, served as president of Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, from 1883-1904. In McIlwaine's autobiography, Memories of Three Score Years and Ten (pp. 112-115), he relates a story that is both a testimony to the grace of God in Alexander's life and writings, and an encouragement to us all to remember that one's legacy lives on after death, and that the seeds we plant for God's kingdom will bear fruit in his good time, no matter how long that may take.
"Dr. Archibald Alexander died in the fall of 1851. He had been President of Hampden-Sidney College from 1796 to 1807, was closely connected with Rev. Dr. John H. Rice and was brother-in-law to Rev. Dr. Benjamin H. Rice. A memorial service, held in the Seminary Chapel, was largely attended by the students of both institutions and by the people of the neighborhood. In my youth I knew many ministers who were prepared for their work under his hand, and from them heard a great deal of him. At college I studied his little work on Moral Science, and later read his interesting books on the Evidences of Christianity and on Religious Experience and his Biography by his son, Rev. James W. Alexander, D.D. I early formed the opinion that, all things considered, his life was the greatest blessing ever conferred on the Presbyterian Church in America and to-day, after wide observation, acquaintance, and experience, I see no reason to doubt the correctness of this judgment. In support of this opinion, I beg to narrate the fol- lowing incident:
In December, 1858, I became pastor of the Amelia Presbyterian Church. In the course of pastoral duty I came into touch with a family of excellent social position, consisting of an old gentleman, a widower and not a professing Christian; a widowed sister, and a niece, both intelligent Christian women, with the lovely, gentle manners characteristic of the women of that day. The brother and sister were both aged and the niece advanced in years. They were in comfortable circumstances, possessed of a good residence and farm, plenty of servants, carriage and horses and ample means. I was told that the old gentleman had been a wicked man, a disciple of Tom Paine and along with a coterie of like spirits from Amelia and the adjoining counties of Nottoway and Powhatan, would assemble on Saturdays at a point in the upper part of Amelia, which they named Paineville, for a day of carousal and profanity. In due time I called, was invited into the parlor, where the gentle-mannered Christian women soon joined me and gave me a hearty greeting. After a time, perhaps half an hour, the door opened and in walked the old gentleman, the embodiment of the best external features of an old time Virginia gentleman; tall, erect, broad-shouldered, snowy-white hair, an intelligent, benevolent countenance; attired in the olden style, — ruffled shirt bosom, blue broadcloth coat with brass buttons, as sumptuously gotten up as if in attendance on an imposing public function. His reception of me was dignified and polite, though at first somewhat restrained with the air of a man of the world, who wants to know you better before he lets himself into your confidence. Presently, however, it came out in conversation that I had been a student of Hampden-Sidney College. This greatly excited his interest and led to the announcement that he also was an alumnus of that institution, having been connected with the College during the administration of Dr. Archibald Alexander, of whom he spoke with warm admiration, and I thought, even with a tinge of affection. After this there was no let-up in the conversation. The ice had been broken and a tie established between us. We were both attached to the College and to the memory of Dr. Alexander. When I arose to say good-bye he took me cordially by the hand, expressed pleasure at having made my acquaintance, and invited me to call when I could.
As I rode home that evening a sense of serious responsibility oppressed me. Here was a man on the verge of eternity. From all accounts he had led a grossly wicked life. So far as I knew, no minister of the gospel had access to him or had ever conferred with him on the subject of his soul's salvation. He never attended church or left his plantation, except on election day when he would go to the polls in his carriage, cast his vote, and return to his home. We were now on such terms that I could approach him. The obligation rested on me. But I was young and inexperienced. He was old and dignified and possibly might be offended and treat such an effort as an intrusion. I thought about it; prayed over it. At last it occurred to me that possibly I might obtain the access I desired through the medium of a book. On going to my book-case, my eye soon discovered a copy of Alexander on "Religious Experience," which I took down and, writing a courteous note of presentation, said, that after he had read the volume, I should be glad, with his permission, to call and converse with him on its subject-matter at any time he might appoint. The volume and note were conveyed to him a few days after from church by his sister, and the next time she met me she said, "Brother ---------- asked me to tell you that he will be glad to see you any time it suits you to call. I do not know what that means, but that is what he said."
I did call in a few days, was received in the old gentleman's chamber, found him attired not in the lordly apparel of the former occasion but in his plain every-day clothes, and after a conversation of an hour, concluded with prayer, left him believing that he was a true penitent and an humble follower of our Lord Jesus Christ. I saw him during the remainder of my brief pastorate in Amelia as often as my exacting duties would permit; and soon after I left, his death occurred. On my first visit to the county some months after his death, I was told that he had fully confessed Christ before men and in view of death spoke of me with affection and regret that I could not be with and minister to him. My present impression is that he was a Christian before I ever saw him, though he had not awaked to the consciousness of it.
It is a curious question, but worthy of thought and one which has frequently arisen in my mind: What is the connection between Dr. Alexander's life and this old gentleman's salvation? About sixty years intervened between their acquaintance at Hampden-Sidney and the time when he found peace in believing. May not Alexander's life, — something he said, something he did, his consistent Christian deportment, — have been instrumental in awakening the still small voice of conscience in that man's soul, which, palsied by a long course of sin, at last asserted itself and became a dominant force in bringing him, a humble, contrite sinner to the foot of the Cross. God knows! Let every Christian be careful so to direct his course in the world that his influence will be felt in winning men to God."
Beware of Digging Ditches
Before the early American Presbyterian worship wars between those who preferred the hymns of Isaac Watts and those who preferred Rous' Psalms (although nicknamed such, the Scottish Psalter of 1650 was in fact far removed from the earlier version by Francis Rous), there was Sternhold & Hopkins' edition of the Psalms of David. In the 19th century, Sternhold & Hopkins, nevertheless, was not forgotten.
In the commentary on the Psalms by William Swan Plumer, he refers to Sternhold & Hopkins twice. One reference is found in his exposition of Psalm 7:15, in which he quotes the metrical version thus:
"Sternhold and Hopkins have given a version of this and the next verse, which has attracted attention.
He digs a ditch and delves it deep,
In hope to hurt his brother;
But he shall fall into the pit
That he digged up for other.
Thus wrong returneth to the hurt
of him in whom it bred;
And all the mischief that he wrought,
Shall fall upon his head."
Rev. Plumer had occasion to quote this verse at the 1874 General Assembly of the Southern Presbyterian Church, which was dealing with a controversy at Columbia Theological Seminary, which had enacted a rule requiring faculty and students to attend chapel services on the Lord's Day morning (which, according to Richard McIlwaine, later president of Hampden Sydney College, obstructed professors supplying other pulpits and students desiring to hear other ministers preach). The following was recorded by McIlwaine in his autobiography, Memories of Three Score Years and Ten, pp. 312-313:
"This seems to show that the root of contention was a personal disagreement in the Faculty, and to justify the story narrated to me by Rev. Dr. A.P. Smith, then of Mississippi, but afterwards, for a quarter of a century or more, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Dallas, Tex. He was a most companionable man, full of life and spirit and bubbling over with good humor. He said that on the adjournment of the session of the Assembly at which these resignations were accepted, he walked out of the house with Dr. Plumer, who took his arm and as they got out of the crowd, asked, 'Do you remember Sternhold and Hopkins' version of such and such a palm?' and on his reply, 'No,' the doctor repeated a verse, as follows:
'He digged a pit, he digged it well,
He digged it for his brudder,
Into that selfsame pit he fell,
Himself and not anudder.'
This narration impresses the fact that we are all liable to err and do err..."
Even servants of Christ, who desire to do right, as McIlwaine acknowledged of those with whom he disagreed on the issue at Columbia Theological Seminary, may yet dig ditches for others into which they themselves fall. May God grant that we be not blind leaders of the blind, leading ourselves and others into ditches. But rather, may we stick close to the light of God's Word, and build bridges over snares rather than dig ditches that are snares.
George Burrowes on the Song of Solomon
One of the best 19th century American commentaries written on the Song of Solomon is that by George Burrowes (1811-1894). Previously, he had published an article on the SoS, which appeared in an 1849 issue of The Biblical Repertory and Princeton Review.
In that article he sets forth the high and majestic place the SoS has within the scope of God's Word:
"The gospels furnish the life of God manifest in flesh; the epistle to the Hebrews opens the doctrine of atonement as vicarious and possessing infinite value from the divine nature of Him who suffered; Proverbs embody the practical duties of daily life; the Psalms are the pious heart's language of devotion, the song is its language of love."
As Thomas Hooker once wrote, "The man whose heart is endeared to the woman he loves, he dreams of her in the night, hath her in his eye and apprehension when he awakes, museth on her as he sits at table, walks with her when he travels and parlies with her in each place where he comes."
And so, Burrowes speaks of meditating on this Song, a song of love between Christ and the believer, making a point worthy of consideration for the Christian who thus muses: "We have deemed it more profitable and natural in meditating on this book, to view the bride as the representative of the individual believer rather than of the whole church. As the church is a collection of individuals, its state must be that of the members composing it; and no distinction can be drawn between the love of Jesus for the collective body and his love for the several persons constituting the whole mass."
Moving from the 1849 article to the 1853 commentary, Burrowes sets forth his goal therein: "In the exposition, the aim has been to unfold the truth, in the way supposed the most desirable to a soul animated with fervent love for the Lord Jesus, and craving the hidden manna which the Holy Spirit has lodged in this precious portion of the Scriptures. The heart hungering and thirsting for righteousness, does not rest satisfied with the stalk and husks, but is anxious for the luscious kernel, of these fruits of eternal life. As here viewed, the Song is a continuous and coherent whole, illustrating some of the most exalted and delightful exercises of the believing heart" (pp. 7-8).
Burrowes has read the wide spectrum of commentators and their opinions about the SoS. In the introduction, he makes the case that the Song is an allegory representing Christ and the believer: "It is an allegorical illustration of the operations of love in the bosom of the saint and of the Redeemer” (p. 32).
The expressions of spiritual longing and delight found in this remarkable Song are in these works studied and mused upon by a gifted scholar, who very clearly understands the language of love. Thus, "When we are anxious to hear from the lips of Jesus the fulness of his love to us, here do we rejoice to sit and listen" (p. 24). Let Burrowes be your guide, dear Christian, as you take up this precious Song, in your study, meditation, and delight, to the glory of our Redeemer.
The Presbyterian's Hand-Book of the Church
In 1861, the Rev. Joel Parker (1799-1873) collaborated with the Rev. Thomas Ralston Smith (1830-1903) to publish The Presbyterian's Hand-Book of the Church: For the Use of Members, Deacons, Elders, and Ministers. It is a valuable contribution to the church, useful even today.
Overall, it is a guide to explain what Presbyterianism is, how Presbyterian congregations are planted, what duties are expected of church members, how families should strive to live, what are the duties and responsibilities of church officers, and what might be expected in church worship services.
In particular, there are specific features of this handbook or manual that stand out:
The guidance given on how churches planted is basic, but nevertheless, rare and appreciated;
There is encouragement to build a congregational library, for the benefit of all;
Specific recommendations are made for the building of a pastoral library;
Recommended prayers for the use of families and ministers are provided;
Encouragement is given to parents and pastors to catechize children, using both the Westminster Shorter Catechism, and Joel Parker's three-part Initiatory Catechism;
Much practical application is offered for church officers to perform their duties efficiently and wisely, with an emphasis on the importance of pastoral visitation, congregational harmony, and a spirit of prayerfulness, and;
There is an overarching theme that the business of the church and the household is primarily aimed at the glory of God, the service and expansion of his kingdom, the saving of souls, and the love of the saints.
The practical wisdom brought to bear upon 19th-century readers is equally of value to 21st-century readers, whether you are a church member or a church officer. Download this work today, and take time to work through it. It will be a benefit to your soul.
How Can We Glorify God at All Times?
James Harper (1823-1913), in his Exposition in the Form of Question and Answer of the Westminster Assembly's Shorter Catechism (1905), regarding the first question and answer of the Shorter Catechism concerning man's chief end, asks the follow-up question, one that has perhaps arisen in the minds of many sincere Christians:
"Q. 24. In order to glorify God must we be always definitely thinking of Him?
No. But the habit of our minds must be to turn with reverence and pleasure to God. As the needle to the pole, our hearts must be attracted to Him. I Cor. 10:31.*
He goes on to say this:
"Some worthy people have been perplexed about the direction given in i Cor. 10:31: 'Whether, therefore, ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.' Supposing this to mean that in all our acts we must have conscious reference to God, they have felt that either the precept is unreasonable, or that they must be destitute of true spirituality.
Touching this difficulty it may suffice to remark:
1. That the injunction in question requires that we have the thought of God consciously very often present in our minds;
2. That, therefore, the habitual attitude of our minds should be toward God;
3. That yet we are not required to be incessantly thinking about God. Our mental constitution forbids this. But a subconscious reference to God is possible and obligatory. A man may be controlled in his conduct by some desire even when the object of desire may be for a time forgotten. For instance, one starts upon a journey to a certain place, and every step he takes is controlled by the desire to reach that place ; and yet his mind meanwhile may be directly occupied with a thousand incidents and scenes which present themselves in the way."
A Visit to Princeton
In the library and the bookstore of the Log College Press, resources on the College of New Jersey, or Princeton, abound.
In particular, from the library, Archibald Alexander's biographical sketches and sermons from the Log College; Samuel Davies Alexander's and John DeWitt's volumes on Princeton College; histories of the College of New Jersey by William Armstrong Dod and John Maclean, Jr.; and Samuel Miller's history of Princeton Theological Seminary.
And from the bookstore, David B. Calhoun's 2-volume set on Princeton Seminary; James Garrettson's multiple volume on Princeton; James Moorhead's Princeton Seminary in American Religion and Culture; Mark A. Noll's volumes on Princeton; Gary Steward's Princeton Seminary; and Gordon S. Mikoski and Richard R. Osmer With Piety and Learning: The History of Practical Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary 1812-2012; among other volumes of interest.
This writer, before he was born again, by the grace of God, had occasion to visit Princeton once, in the providence of God, around three decades ago. But another opportunity has arisen to visit again. Having studied most of the volumes mentioned above, and taken a virtual tour of the Princeton Cemetery, I wish to ask the readers of this blog, are there additional resources that you would recommend to one who is interested in the history and library of Princeton before this trip takes place in mid-June 2018, DV? If so, please write to us - your feedback will be most appreciated, and may help to make Log College Press a better site.
Have you read the biographical sketches authored by Thomas Peck?
From time to time we aim to highlight not only sets of volumes containing the works of a particular author, but also to guide the reader to particular writings of interest within a set. In the case of Thomas Ephraim Peck (1822-1893), the three volumes originally titled Miscellanies of Thomas E. Peck. One can glean something of the contents of each by reviewing the title page of the separate volumes, but today we focus our attention on the biographical sketches contained in the first volume.
The three biographical sketches cover the lives of Martin Luther (German Reformer), Blaise Pascal (French Jansenist), and Stuart Robinson (Southern Presbyterian). The first two are the fruits of lectures given in 1871-1872, the latter is a memorial of a man that Peck knew personally and worked with, which appeared in an 1882 volume of the Southern Presbyterian Review.
These sketches evidence scholarly historical research and spiritual appreciation of the men highlighted. Regarding the German "Samson," Peck acknowledges his errors and human flaws, yet tells Luther's story as admirer of the man whom God placed at the right time and place. Peck recognizes that Pascal was fighting a battle over the Biblical understanding of grace from within the Roman Catholic Church, but pays tribute to his genius, eloquence and "golden words" on behalf of the truth. In his memorial of Robinson, an Irish-American Presbyterian minister, he tells of the life and writings of a man he considered his friend, with humility leaving out the fact that with him he served as co-editor of the Presbyterian Critic and Monthly Review.
These sketches are not long, but are full of spiritual insight, historical perspective, and personal appreciation. Take time to read these tributes to three remarkable men by a gifted Presbyterian historian.
The Covenant of 1871: A Memorial
Continuing a theme this week, we have recently observed the anniversary of the Covenant of 1871, adopted by the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America, as well as the personal covenant taken by the man who authored the 1871 Covenant, Samuel Oliver Wylie.
Today, we note the Memorial Volume: Covenant Renovation published by the RPCNA in 1872, edited by James Renwick Wilson Sloane (1823-1886). It is a commemoration of a very significant chapter in the history of the American Covenanter Church. Included in its pages are a narrative of the events surrounding the adoption of the Covenant signed on May 27, 1871; as well as sermons and addresses by multiple ministers on the ordinance of covenanting, its importance and its duty, as well as related matters.
With the Scottish National Covenant of 1638 and the Solemn League and Covenant of 1643, embraced by the Westminster Divines, as background, the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America has and continues to embrace the ordinance of covenanting, on both a personal as well as social, basis, as a duty for New Testament Christians. As we take note of the American Covenant of 1871, and the personal covenant taken by its framer, this Memorial Volume of 1872 provides further insight into the why's and wherefore's of covenanting from the perspective of the RPCNA, and in particular, the men who were there on that significant day in history. It is a rich treasure of history and sermons that is not well-known today, even among American Covenanters; but it is available to read at Log College Press today.
A Personal Covenant
When Rev. Samuel Oliver Wylie of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America, primary author of the Covenant of 1871, died, a document was found among his papers that shows that he made a personal covenant with the Lord while he was a seminary student. It was the practice that many of God's people in the past followed as well - notable examples include Philip and Matthew Henry, and Thomas Boston.
Thomas Sproull, writing S.O. Wylie's obituary, introduces Wylie's personal covenant thus:
"The following is a copy of a covenant found among his papers. From its date I learn it was entered into the second year that he was in the seminary, on a day observed by professors and students as a day of fasting and humiliation. I have a pretty distinct recollection of the exercises of that day, and of the solemnity of the occasion. It seems that he went to his lodging impressed with the services, and gave himself in this formal manner to God. Would that such exercises were still observed with similar results.
"Having spent this day as a clay of fasting, humiliation and prayer unto God, with an acknowledgment of sins, original and actual, all of which duties have been attended with very great imperfection, I, Samuel O. Wylie, desiring to be fully sensible of my ruined and helpless condition by nature, and believing that there is no way of salvation but through the covenant of grace entered into by the Father and the Son from all eternity, and made with the sinner in the day of effectual calling, do this evening of the twenty-fourth of December, 1840, enter into personal covenant with the Lord God of my salvation, which covenant is contained in the following words:
'1. I avouch the Lord to be my God and covenant Father, and give myself unreservedly to him, earnestly desiring to be recorded amongst the number of his sons and daughters.
2. I take the Lord Jesus Christ, the second person of the adorable Trinity, to be my Saviour, confiding entirely in the merits of his death, both for justification and sanctiflcation. I do most solemnly engage to take him in his three-fold relation of prophet, priest and king, discarding all dependence upon the flesh and my own works of righteousness, each one of which in God's sight is inconceivably filthy and polluted.
3. I take the Holy Ghost, the third person of the Trinity, to be my sanctifier, relying upon his gracious operations for advancing the work of sanctiflcation in my soul, in enabling me to maintain a walk and conversation becoming the gospel.
4. In the strength of divine grace, I engage to live in a holy and habitual reliance upon God for all things pertaining to life and godliness, giving diligent attention to the means of grace as ordained by God for my good, promising to wait upon him in secret prayer morning and evening, to attend family, social and public worship, with submission to the courts of the Lord's house.
To the performance of these and all other duties, through divine strength, I solemnly pledge myself, calling to witness my sincerity in this transaction the persons of the Godhead and all holy angels.
In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my name, Samuel O. Wylie.
'December 24, 1840.'"
May 27, 1871: The Reformed Presbyterian Covenant of 1871
The Reformed Presbyterian Church of North American in its Directory of Public Worship teaches about the principle of covenanting:
"Covenanting with God is a solemn act of worship in which individuals, churches, or nations declare their acceptance of Him as their God and pledge allegiance and obedience to Him. Public covenanting is an appropriate response to the Covenant of Grace. The 'Covenant of Communicant Membership' is to be accepted by individuals who profess faith in Christ and unite with the Church. Ordinarily, such individuals are to give public assent to this covenant in the presence of the congregation. When circumstances warrant, churches and nations also may produce statements of responsibility arising from the application of the Word of God to the times in which they are made. Such covenants have continuing validity in so far as they give true expression to the Word of God for the times and situations in which believers live. (For a fuller discussion of vows and covenanting see Testimony, chapter 22 ['Of Lawful Oaths and Vows'], especially paragraphs 8 and 9.) Examples of such covenants are the Scottish National Covenant of 1638, the Solemn League and Covenant of 1643, and the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America’s Covenant of 1871."
On May 27, 1871, the Synod of the RPCNA, meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, entered into a solemn covenant and confession of sins before the Lord. The history of this event as well as the text of the Covenant itself is recorded by William Melancthon Glasgow in his History of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of America. Glasgow notes concerning Samuel Oliver Wylie (1819-1883) that "He was the Chairman of the Committee which drafted the Covenant of 1871, and, with a few changes, was adopted as it came from his pen." The Covenant has six sections - section 5 is reproduced here. The history and full text of the 1871 Covenant (also known as the "Pittsburgh Covenant") from Glasgow can be read here.
"5. Rejoicing that the enthroned Mediator is not only King in Zion, but King over all the earth, and recognizing the obligation of His command to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, and to teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, and resting with faith in the promise of His perpetual presence as the pledge of success, we hereby dedicate ourselves to the great work of making known God's light and salvation among the nations, and to this end will labor that the Church may be provided with an earnest, self-denying and able ministry. Profoundly conscious of past remissness and neglect, we will henceforth, by our prayers, pecuniary contributions and personal exertions, seek the revival of pure and undefiled religion, the conversion of Jews and Gentiles to Christ, that all men may be blessed in Him, and that all nations may call him blessed."
Of this section it has been noted: "We hail with delight one special feature of this Pittsburgh Covenant—its recognition of the obligations to missionary and evangelistic effort. There is particular allusion, it is true, to this duty in the Solemn League and Covenant, but it is entirely overlooked in subsequent renovations of it, or the Bonds of Adherence which the Churches, from time to time, have adopted. It is here brought out with a clearness and prominence worthy of its great importance. There is something touching in the express references to past shortcomings on this head. They furnish evidence that the men who framed and subscribed this Covenant are not moving in the mere groove of antiquated forms and traditions, but are alive and awake to the momentous responsibilities of the present hour" (The Reformed Presbyterian Magazine, Oct. 2, 1871).
The RPCNA entered into a briefer Covenant subsequently on July 18, 1954. But it was the Covenant of 1871 that signified a distinctly American application of the principle of covenanting within the RPCNA. Take time to read the six sections, and Glasgow's history of a special day in the history of Reformed Presbyterianism in America here.
May 27, 1564: Death of John Calvin
On the anniversary of the death of John Calvin, we look to two American Presbyterian biographies of the great French Reformer to get a glimpse of the closing scenes of his life.
Thomas Cary Johnson, John Calvin and the Genevan Reformation, p. 87:
"He preached for the last time on the 6th of February, 1564; he was carried to church and partook of the communion for the last time on 2d of April, in which he acknowledged his own unworthiness and his trust in God's free election of grace and the abounding merits of Christ; he was visited by the four syndics and the whole Little Council of the republic on the 27th of April, and addressed them as a father, thanking them for their devotion, begging pardon for his gusts of temper, and exhorting them to preserve in Geneva the pure doctrine and government of the gospel; he made a similar address to all the ministers of Geneva on the 28th and took an affectionate leave of them; he had these ministers to dine in his house on the 19th of May, was himself carried to the table, ate a little with them and tried to converse, but growing weary had to be taken to his chamber, leaving with the words, 'This wall will not hinder my being present with you in spirit, though absent in the body.' [William] Farel (in his eightieth year) walked all the way to Geneva from Neuchatel to take leave of the man whom he had compelled to work in Geneva, and whose glorious career he had watched without the least shadow of envy.
With the precious word of God, which he had done so much to make plain to his own and all subsequent ages, in his heart and on his tongue, he died on the 27th of May, 1564."
Thomas Smyth, Calvin and His Enemies: A Memoir of the Life, Character, and Principles of Calvin, pp. 77-82:
"Let us, then, before we take our leave, draw near, and contemplate the last act in the drama of this great and good man's life. Methinks I see that emaciated frame, that sunken cheek, and that bright, ethereal eye, as Calvin lay upon his study-couch. He heeds not the agonies of his frame, his vigorous mind rising in its power as the outward man perished in decay. The nearer he approached his end, the more energetically did he ply his unremitted studies. In his severest pains he would raise his eyes to heaven and say, How long, Lord! and then resume his efforts. When urged to allow himself repose, he would say, 'What! would you that when the Lord comes he should surprise me in idleness?' Some of his most important and laboured commentaries were therefore finished during this last year.
On the 10th of March, his brother ministers coming to him, with a kind and cheerful countenance he warmly thanked them for all their kindness, and hoped to meet them at their regular Assembly for the last time, when he thought the Lord would probably take him to himself. On the 27th, he caused himself to be carried to the senate-house, and being supported by his friends, he walked into the hall, when, uncovering his head, he returned thanks for all the kindness they had shown him, especially during his sickness. With a faltering voice, he then added, 'I think I have entered this house for the last time,' and, mid flowing tears, took his leave. On the 2d of April, he was carried to the church, where he received the sacrament at the hands of [Theodore] Beza, joining in the hymn with such an expression of joy in his countenance, as attracted the notice of the congregation. Having made his will on the 27th of this month, he sent to inform the syndics and the members of the senate that he desired once more to address them in their hall, whither he wished to be carried the next day. They sent him word that they would wait on him, which they accordingly did, the next day, coming to him from the senate-house. After mutual salutations, he proceeded to address them very solemnly for some time, and having prayed for them, shook hands with each of them, who were bathed in tears, and parted from him as from a common parent. The following day, April 28th, according to his desire, all the ministers in the jurisdiction of Geneva came to him, whom he also addressed: 'I avow,'' he said, 'that I have lived united with you, brethren, in the strictest bonds of true and sincere affection, and I take my leave of you with the same feelings. If you have at any time found me harsh or peevish under my affliction, I entreat your forgiveness.' Having shook hands with them, we took leave of him, says Beza, 'with sad hearts and by no means with dry eyes.'
'The remainder of his days,' as Beza informs us, 'Calvin passed in almost perpetual prayer. His voice was interrupted by the difficulty of his respiration; but his eyes (which to the last retained their brilliancy,) uplifted to heaven, and the expression of his countenance, showed the fervour of his supplications. His doors,' Beza proceeds to say, 'must have stood open day and night, if all had been admitted who, from sentiments of duty and affection, wished to see him, but as he could not speak to them, he requested they would testify their regard by praying for him, rather than by troubling themselves about seeing him. Often, also, though he ever showed himself glad to receive me, he intimated a scruple respecting the interruption thus given to my employments; so thrifty was he of time which ought to be spent in the service of the Church.'
On the 19th of May, being the day the ministers assembled, and when they were accustomed to take a meal together, Calvin requested that they should sup in the hall of his house. Being seated, he was with much difficulty carried into the hall. 'I have come, my brethren,' said he, 'to sit with you, for the last time, at this table.' But before long, he said, 'I must be carried to my bed;' adding, as he looked around upon them with a serene and pleasant countenance, 'these walls will not prevent my union with you in spirit, although my body be absent.' He never afterwards left his bed. On the 27th of May, about eight o'clock in the evening, the symptoms of dissolution came suddenly on. In the full possession of his reason, he continued to speak, until, without a struggle or a gasp, his lungs ceased to play, and this great luminary of the Reformation set, with the setting sun, to rise again in the firmament of heaven. The dark shadows of mourning settled upon the city. It was with the whole people a night of lamentation and tears. All could bewail their loss; the city her best citizen, the church her renovator and guide, the college her founder, the cause of reform its ablest champion, and every family a friend and comforter. It was necessary to exclude the crowds of visitors who came to behold his remains, lest the occasion might be misrepresented. At two o'clock in the afternoon of Sabbath, his body, enclosed in a wooden coffin, and followed by the syndics, senators, pastors, professors, together with almost the whole city, weeping as they went, was carried to the common burying ground, without pomp. According to his request, no monument was erected to his memory; a plain stone, without any inscription, being all that covered the remains of Calvin.
Such was Calvin in his life and in his death. The place of his burial is unknown, but where is his fame unheard?"
Ohne Hast, ohne Rast
It was said of Edwin Francis Hatfield (1807-1883) that he exemplified the German proverb from Goethe: "Ohne Hast, ohne Rast! Without haste! without rest!"
After making a public profession of faith in Christ on March 25, 1827 at New York City's Central Presbyterian Church, this former businessman would go on to study at Middlebury College and Andover Theological Seminary before becoming licensed by the Third Presbytery of New York on October 6, 1831. After a short but profound period of time laboring in New Jersey during a period of revival (Hatfield wrote that "That winter of 1831-1832 gave a tone to my whole ministry and made me what I have since been"), and after wrestling with a strong desire which he had to serve as a missionary to China, he was ordained as an evangelist by the same presbytery on May 14, 1832, and then called under the auspices of the American Home Missionary Society to serve as the pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church of St. Louis, Missouri from October 1832 to February 1835. He was then called to serve as the pastor of the Seventh Presbyterian Church of New York, where he would minister for 21 years (1835-1856), during which time around 2,200 new members were added to the church; after which he served as pastor of New York City's North Presbyterian Church from 1856 to 1863. He also never once took a vacation during the entirety of his pastoral career.
Hatfield played an important role in the development of Union Theological Seminary in New York, serving as a director from 1846 to the end of his life, and as a financial agent during 1864-1865. Ultimately, his library of 6,000 volumes was donated to the seminary as well. He also served as secretary of the Presbyterian Home Missions Committee from 1868 to 1870; and contributed to several religious newspapers, and published books prolifically during and after his pastoral career. In 1846, he was appointed to serve as the stated clerk of the New School General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, a role which he continued after the reunion of 1870 until his death. Indeed, in 1883, at the time of his death, Hatfield was, remarkably, serving as stated clerk, treasurer and moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America.
"His chief publications are: Universalism as it is, in 1841 (originating from his great success in dealing with Universalists, many of whom were converted under his ministry); Memoir of Elihu W. Baldwin, 1843 (his predecessor in the pastorate of the Seventh Church); St. Helena and the Cape of Good Hope, 1852, (arising from his interest in missions in those regions); History of Elizabeth, 1868, (his native place); The Church Hymn-Book with Tunes, 1872; The Chapel Hymn-Book, 1873. The hymnbooks represent the interest of his entire pastorate in this subject. His hymnological library was one of the best in the country. These books have been well received, and will always be regarded as important contributions to that department of literature" (The Presbyterian Review, Vol. 5, 1884, p. 129).
Thomas à Kempis, mindful of Christ's words in Luke 19:3 ("Occupy till I come"), once wrote that Christians ought always to be occupied in doing good: "Be thou never without something to do; be reading, or writing, or praying, or meditating, or doing something that is useful to the community" (Imitation of Christ 1.19.4). Certainly, Edwin Francis Hatfield exemplified this principle in his life. Take time to peruse some of the writings of this fascinating 19th century Presbyterian pastor and author who devoted his life to the service of Christ and his church.