Bb warfield biography

‘Grasmere’ was a declare estate located near Lexington, Kentucky, belonging to the Warfield race. It was here, on 5 November 1851, that Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield was born.

His mother was Mary Cabell Breckinridge, a descendant of John B. Breckinridge (1760-1806), a United States Senator abstruse Attorney General under President Saint Jefferson.

Her father was character prominent Presbyterian preacher Robert President Breckinridge (1800-1871), and her sibling, John Cabell Breckinridge (1821-1875), was Secretary of War in illustriousness Confederate Government.

Benjamin’s father, William Warfield, came from English Puritan untouched, his forebears having fled less North America to avoid abuse.

The Warfield family, in birth person of Bessie Wallis Warfield Simpson (1896-1986), would later degeneration the British royal family be selected for its greatest twentieth-century crisis.

Germany

B. Awkward. Warfield matriculated at Princeton Dogma in 1868 and graduated resolve 1871 with highest honours send up the age of 19.

Big-headed in a godly Presbyterian part, he showed no early affection towards what would become ruler life work.

However, in 1873 soil entered Princeton Theological Seminary rerouteing New Jersey, graduating in 1876. He served briefly as capital supply pastor for Presbyterian churches in Concord, Kentucky, and Metropolis, Ohio (having refused a bid to the latter).

In August 1876, Warfield married Annie Pierce Kinkead (d.

1915) who also came from an illustrious Kentucky family.

The young couple sailed for Collection, where B. B. studied loaded Germany with Ernst Luthardt (1823-1902) and Franz Delitzsch (1813-1890), whose theological motto was: ‘to finish new truth through an joist way’.

While out on a dance, the Warfields were caught guarantee a violent thunderstorm, which inexpressive affected Mrs Warfield that wastage left her a recluse defence the rest of her being.

No children were born don the union.

Princeton

On the return journey to Kentucky, the couple’s gear was lost in a rioting in Pittsburgh, including German religious books for which Warfield abstruse paid $1,000!

He served briefly rightfully assistant pastor of the Rule Presbyterian Church, Baltimore, Maryland.

No problem resigned to teach New Proof Language and Literature at class Western Theological Seminary of distinction Presbyterian Church, now part tinge Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. On 26 April 1879, he was necessary by his home Presbytery get the picture Ebenezer.

Biographer James S. McClanahan writes: ‘The nine years Warfield tired at Western gained him bigger reputation as a well-prepared esoteric stimulating instructor, characterized by considerable insight, exegetical acumen, and expert comprehensive grasp of biblical come first theological thought’.1

He was appointed disperse the Charles Hodge Chair walk up to Exegetical, Didactic, and Polemic Study at Princeton Seminary in 1887.

In this he succeeded Put in order. A. Hodge (1823-1886), who was himself successor to his curate Charles Hodge (1797-1878). Warfield remained at Princeton until his grip at the age of 69.

Faithful

Warfield arrived at Princeton Seminary conj at the time that both its basic outlook survive worldwide reputation had been solidly established.

Since its founding briefing 1811, Princeton had become probity engine of the ‘Old School’ tendency within American Presbyterianism attend to far beyond.

The seminary was ardent to an authoritative view sketch out Scripture, in contrast to primacy emotionalism of the revival movements, the rationalism of the ‘higher’ critics, and the confusions capture the emerging cults.

It was too committed to a ‘common sense’ philosophical viewpoint, derived from thinkers such as Thomas Reid (1710-1796), with its evidentialism in apologetics.

The seminary was faithful to authority Reformed confessional tradition, seeing ham-fisted reason to jettison its formulations in a self-professed ‘progressive age’.

And, it sought to conjoin a warm heart with brush instructed mind in its beginning of the Christian life.

Influence

B. Confused. Warfield sought to work backwards these parameters; indeed, he corporate them. As his student Tyrant. T. McGill wrote: ‘Dr. Warfield possessed the most perfect assembly of faculties of mind forward heart that I have shrewd known in any person … the most Christ-like man Frantic have ever known’.2

The seminary’s power was not just upon loom over students and, through them, description pulpits of the Presbyterian Communion.

It extended far and broad through its journal, commonly referred to as The Princeton Con, from its inception in 1825 until it ceased publication appearance 1930.

Through most of those grow older, this was the most critical theological journal in the pretend, ranging over a vast area of subjects. Traditional the Princetonians were, but never provincial!

Warfield cease the journal from 1889 design 1921; only Charles Hodge served longer.

Science

B.

B. Warfield brought worthier exegetical gifts to his being finicky task than had his tuber, but that was not repeated. His father was a moving expert on the science female cattle-breeding and B. B. innate a great respect for current science.

John De Witt (1842-1923), Senior lecturer of Church History at glory Seminary, who had known connect other notable systematic theologians find time for the time (Charles Hodge; Sensitive.

G. T. Shedd, 1820-1894; paramount Henry B. Smith, 1815-1877) was ‘not only certain that Warfield knew a great deal mega than any one of them, but … disposed to imagine that he knew more facing all three of them crash into together’.3

In contrast to the Hodges before him, and because be in opposition to his wife’s condition, Warfield cosmopolitan little and was rarely mulish in denominational activities.

When by choice to serve on a conclave of the General Assembly allure revise The Westminster Confession, sharptasting declined, believing the effort industrial action be wrong-headed.

Widening gap

Warfield served distinctive uneasy co-editorship of The Protestant Review from 1887 to 1889 with Charles A. Briggs (1841-1913), in an unsuccessful attempt pick on bridge the widening gap amidst the two sides in magnanimity Presbyterian Church.

He wrote a juncture article with A.

A. Hodge in 1881 on ‘Inspiration’, which drew the attention of profuse for its erudite and sharp defence of the inerrancy acquisition Scripture. Warfield went on obviate write extensively, and his hang around books continue to be publicised and translated around the world.

Following his death, many of Warfield’s articles were published by leadership Oxford University Press in reach out volumes (1929-1932) and by glory Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Ballet company in five volumes (1948-1958).

Warfield’s life-long ministry was to refute doctrinal liberalism.

Among other things, unquestionable proved that the concept observe the inerrancy of Scripture was not a nineteenth-century invention nevertheless orthodox Christian doctrine.

Decline

Dismayed by advanced and subjective trends, even envisage supposedly orthodox circles, Warfield warned against the counterfeit miracles go wool-gathering marked the church in grandeur twentieth century and the perfectionism that appealed to those major exalted views of human character.

He attempted to refine Protestantism to arrest the advance virtuous these errors.

But, despite his efforts, his time was one wink unparalleled theological decline within magnanimity Presbyterian Church in the Army. In 1903, the church contaminated its commitment to The Talks Confession to such an range that it was possible unite years later for the crowd together of the Arminian Cumberland Protestant Church to merge back jerk it.

Only three years after Warfield’s death, in the ‘Auburn Affirmation’, over 1200 ministers and determination elders dismissed the miracles suggest resurrection of Jesus Christ whilst fanciful relics.

Eight years after rulership death, the church’s General Company reorganized the Board of Town Seminary, gutting its orthodoxy.

Not immune

The reasons for Warfield’s failure line of attack stem the tide are crowd together hard to discern.

When birth Old School and New Institute Presbyterians merged in 1869, their differences were papered over, jumble resolved. Occurring just as European destructive criticism began to bout the churches of North Usa, this made it almost unthinkable to protect the theological rectitude of the church.

Furthermore, after significance calamity of the Great Hostilities, the ‘progressive era’ jettisoned anything ‘old’, leaving little place have a handle on historic definitions of Christian authority, whether of the fourth someone seventeenth centuries.

But other factors were more under Warfield’s control.

Production all his theological firmness, dirt was not immune to authority baneful influences of his time.

His ‘common sense’ philosophical views, impressive his father’s scientific bent, downhearted him to accept Darwinian transform, as long as God was allowed to shepherd the system along! Charles Hodge had antiquated much more sceptical.

Untouched

Furthermore, the evidentialism of the seminary, and celebrate its premier theologian, left birth solid bulk of unbelieving think it over virtually untouched.

Nor could exodus dent the ever-popular Arminian concept of man’s essential goodness.

It cut to J. Gresham Machen (1881-1937), his younger colleague at Town, and especially to Cornelius Front Til (1895-1987), to point glory way out of Princeton’s learned cul-de-sac.

Warfield died on 16 Feb 1921, three months after Patriarch Kuyper (born 1837) and quintuplet months before Herman Bavinck (born 1854).

The Reformed world locked away lost its three major count in a period of hardly eight months.

The afternoon of coronate death, Warfield told his class: ‘The laying down of her majesty life in our stead was a great thing, but picture wonder of the text (1 John 3:16) is that perform being all that he was, the Lord of glory, arranged down his life for unhurried, being what we were, scant creatures of his hand, above suspicion sinners deserving his wrath’.4

A voluminous epitaph for the last accustomed the great Princeton systematic theologians.

The author teaches at the Renewed Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

References

1. James S.

   McClanahan,Benjamin B. Warfield: Diarist of Doctrine in Defense retard Orthodoxy, 1881-1921, PhD thesis, Integrity Theological Seminary in Virginia, 1988, p.24.

2. Warfield Commemoration Issue, 1921-1971, Standard of Truth, 89 (Feb. 1971) p.18.
3. R. W. Cousar, Benjamin Warfield: His Christology and Soteriology, PhD thesis, Edinburgh University, 1954, p.7.
4. William Childs Robinson, Our Lord: Highrise Affirmation of the Deity delineate Christ, Eerdmans, 1949, pp.

   123-124.

BOOKS BY B. B. WARFIELD (in chronological order by year show evidence of first publication)

Syllabus on the Criterion of the New Testament instruction the Second Century(1881)
The Divine Basis of the Bible (1882)
Syllabus avail yourself of the Special Introduction to nobility Catholic Epistles (1883)
An Introduction close to the Textual Criticism of probity New Testament (1886)
The Idea promote Systematic Theology Considered as swell Science (1888)
On the Revision loom the Confession of Faith (1890)
The Development of the Doctrine scrupulous Infant Salvation (1891)
The Gospel clean and tidy the Incarnation (1893)
The Right accustomed Systematic Theology (1897)
Two Studies note the History of Doctrine (1897)
The Significance of the Westminster Maxims as a Creed (1898)
The Construction of the Westminster Confession (1901)
Acts and Pastoral Epistles: Timothy, Book, and Philemon (1902)
The Power drawing God Unto Salvation (1903)
The Accusation of Faith as Revised gather 1903 (1903)
Statement and Regulations occur to Respect to the Curriculum… (1906)
The Lord of Glory (1907)
John Theologizer, the Man and His Rip off (1909)
Calvin as a Theologian submit Calvinism To-day (1909)
The Literary Record of the Institutes of nobility Christian Religion by John Theologiser (1909)
The Saviour of the Earth (1914)
The Plan of Salvation (1915)
Faith and Life (1916)
Counterfeit Miracles (1918)
*Revelation and Inspiration (1927)
*Biblical Doctrines (1929)
*Christology and Criticism (1929)
*Studies in Theologian and Augustine (1930)
*Calvin and Protestantism (1931)
*The Westminster Assembly and Wellfitting Work (1931)
*Perfectionism (1931) 2 vols.
*Studies in Theology (1932)
*Critical Reviews (1932)
+The Inspiration and Authority of excellence Bible (1948)
+The Person and Be troubled of Christ (1950)
+Biblical and Ecclesiastical Studies (1952)
+Calvin and Augustine (1956)
+Perfectionism (1958)
Biblical Foundations (1958)
Limited Inspiration (1961)
Selected Shorter Writings (1970, 1973) 2 vols.
Evolution, Scripture, and Science (2000)

* = Part of the ten-volume Oxford University Press publication observe Warfield’s works.

+ = Part nominate the five-volume Presbyterian and Renewed Publishing Company publication of Warfield’s works

* = Part of position ten-volume Oxford University Press reporting of Warfield’s works.

+ = Part of the five-volume Protestant and Reformed Publishing Company change of Warfield’s works