10 interesting facts about Charles Hodge

I have tried reading biographies of Charles Hodge the Princeton professor of systematics before but not finished. The bitesize one by S Donald Fortson III is a great overview.

 

1. His grandfather and great aunt would have heard and appreciated Whitefield

2. Benjamin Franklin was his wife's great grandfather

3. George Muller taught him German

4. He heard Charles Simeon preach in Cambridge

5. He heard Schleiermacher (who he disagreed with but thought was a Christian) preach

6. He became a lifelong friend off Tholuck in Germany

7. On his return from Europe he developed a leg problem that left him lame. When he could walk again he had to use a cane.

8. His study door was always open to his children (and grandchildren)

9. His sons A A Hodge and C W Hodge also taught at Princeton

10. His first book was on Romans and came out in 1835 (the same year as Albert Barnes' work)

Last Week 2 Evangelical Library

On Monday evening it was my great privilege to be at the Evangelical Library to hear Ian Hamilton speaking on the theology of Old Princeton. It was an excellent lecture, popular in the best sense and gave a real flavour of the stature of the Princeton giants - Hodge, Warfield, Alexander, etc. The only disappointment was the relatively poor turn out, which as more like twenty than the forty we might have expected. This was probably due to the lecture being given in July rather than the June date it normally gets. I'm sure I also over-estimate the familiarity of the Christian public with these things and in the publicity I should have put a bigger emphasis on the fact that this is a bi-centennial year for Princeton and the fact that it was until 1929 the home of Reformed theology. The recording can be obtained from the Library and will hopefully appear in print form in due time.   

JOC Lectures on Scripture 1

It was my privilege once again today to be among the privileged few at the John Owen Centre in nearby Finchley for lectures this time from fellow blogger Iain D Campbell on the doctrine of Scripture. We began with brief biblical introduction (taking in Psalm 19, John 10:35, 2 Timothy 3:16, etc). We then went on to look at Westminster Theological Seminary and Scripture. We began with Machen (see this Daryl Hart essay via here) moved on to Murray (in the Infallible Word symposium, outline here) and E J Young (Thy Word is Truth). We also looked at Sinclair Ferguson in Harvie Conn's symposium (outline here).

We then turned to Old Princeton beginning with Turretin (whose tome Hodge would have used), passing over Hodge himself and focusing on Warfield, especially his inaugural address at Western in 1881 and his essay with A A Hodge on Inspiration (see here). I notice that several Warfield articles are here. In the afternoon we looked at the opening chapter of the Westminster Confession which, though familiar, was worth going through together its finely balanced statements.

Westminster 09 2b

It was my privilege to chair in the afternoon the session on Darwin. Ken Brownell spoke on the attitudes of C and A A Hodge and Warfield (no time for Machen) to evolution. It was a fascinating, informative and challenging paper. The discussion was rather wide ranging and ran over slightly but was very stimulating. Here are Ken's five concluding principles.
1. Like old Princeton we must be committed to a high doctrine of Scripture and as infallible and inerrant word of God. The Bible is in the end our touchstone but while we must have the same high view of Scripture we will have differing legitimate interpretations. In relation to science we may have to revise our interpretations as the church has done before, but only cautiously and after long reflection. As Charles Hodge said there will be a struggle in this, but we can trust the Holy Spirit to guide us. But here we need to do better than the Princetonians. In this area they were strangely weak in their exegesis of the relevant Biblical passages in spite of having such a high view of Scripture.
2. Like old Princeton we must be robustly and enthusiastically Calvinistic in theology, not only in understanding how God saves, but also in how he works in the world. The Princetonians’ doctrine of providence and the absolute sovereignty of God helped them in their assessment of the idea of evolution. Likewise a Calvinistic view of reality will help us face many of the challenges of science today.
3. Like old Princeton we should have a deep respect for the scientific enterprise. I sometimes get the impression that some Christians are deeply suspicious of science. That is not something Hodge and company could understand. Perhaps they had a too high an estimation of the objectivity of scientists, but some Christians may have too low an estimation. While sin affects the scientific enterprise as much as everything else, God’s common grace is operative. There needs to be respect for scientists, support for Christians working in science and respectful dialogue particularly in this area of evolution.
4. Like old Princeton we must engage in this dialogue with courtesy and respect for those with whom we disagree. Nothing brings more discredit on evangelical Christianity than the intemperate way in which we sometimes deal with our opponents. The Princeton theologians always dealt with those they opposed with courtesy and respect; they were gentlemen controversialists and we should be as well. Among other things that means being fair in the way we assess the views of those we oppose. A good example of this in another area of controversy is the way John Piper evaluated N T Wright’s views in his book on justification.
5. Like old Princeton we must remember that the big battle is not on the details of how God created things, but with naturalistic materialism that has no place for God. This was the big issue for old Princeton and it must be for us. Whatever our specific views on many aspects of the evolution debate all Christian theists need to stand together to contend for the Christian worldview. He closed with a quote from Kuyper on evolution
Evolution is a newly conceived system, a newly established theory, a newly formed dogma, a newly emerged faith. Embracing and dominating all of life, it is diametrically opposed to the Christian faith and can erect its temple only on the ruins of our Christian confession… And therefore against that system of the aimlessly and mechanistically constructed cosmos we set our full-fledged resistance. We must not only defend ourselves against it but attack it… Over against Nietzsche’s Evolution-law that the strong must tread the weaker we cling to the Christ of God who seeks the lost and has mercy on the weak. Over against the undirected mechanism of evolution we present faith in that Eternal Being who “has worked and continues to work all things after the counsel of His will” [Eph. 1:11]. Over against the selection that selects the species and neglects the individual, we cling to Election… Over against the annihilation of the individual person in the grave we continue to testify to the coming judgment and of an eternal glory. And over against the altruism that is nothing more than a “transformed” and therefore disguised egoism we raise up the fire of eternal love that burns in God’s Father-heart, a holy spark of which has leaped to our own… And so I conclude by returning to what was, is now, and ever will be the starting point of the Confession for the entire Christian church on earth, by maintaining over against Evolution the first of all articles of faith: I BELIEVE IN GOD ALMIGHTY, CREATOR OF HEAVEN AND EARTH.