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| Princeton Seminary |
H/T to Dr.
Darryl Hart for his scholarly leadership, conservation of excellent memories, and contributions to the preservation of “that
old and scholarly” Princeton tradition.
A “careful breed,” my father frequently noted with approval. "Good fences make for good neighbors," said Robert Frost in his famous poem; Dr. Charles Hodge, amongst many others, raised the excellent fence between the (American) Enthusiasts and Confessional Churchmen. We need to maintain the boundaries and be cautious about trespassory torts or theological harms. We commend www.oldlife.org to all reviewers here.
Almost
All Old Princeton All the Time
By D. G. Hart | Published: July 30, 2012
The
new issue of Credo Magazine is out and it is dedicated almost entirely
to the bi-centennial of Princeton Theological Seminary. Here’s an excerpt from
Christopher Cooper:
While
the Princeton theologians did not oppose the possibility of revival and
welcomed them on occasion, they believed that it was neither the common, best,
nor desirable mode available for the advancement of the Christian religion.
Princeton’s Charles Hodge, for instance, pointed out several problems with
revival. First, revivals tend to produce pastors and lay people who envision
conversion as always sudden and sensible. Such revivalists take it for granted
that children grow up unconverted and in need of the drama of a revival
experience in order to enter the Christian fold. According to Hodge, such a
scheme does not allow for the more regular, scriptural, and desirable method of
Christian nurture. Under this system, parents immerse their children in
prayers, catechesis, and Christian encouragement, so that they may be quietly,
although no less supernaturally, converted without the pomp and circumstance of
revival.
Second,
Hodge argued that revivals generate an unscriptural form of piety that makes
the exercise of strong emotions essential to true religion and worship. Such an
opinion produces unstable Christians whose religious stability is gauged by
their emotional state. This approach also demeans the ordinary means of grace
that are given by God not to foster great emotional highs that are inevitably
followed by lows, but to serve as a more constant encouragement to Christian
pilgrims.
Hodge
pointed out that revivals are, by their very nature, extraordinary occasions
and are not meant to be relied upon by pastors and laypersons to whom God has
given the task of parental nurture and pastoral ministry. Likewise, pastors
today ought not to rely upon revival or the vestiges of revivalism, but would
do well to instill within themselves confidence in the ordinary means of
pastoral ministry and into their congregants a sense of responsibility for the
nurture and edification of their children.
And
in case readers are wondering, Old Lifers do make an appearance in this issue.
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