5
November 1851 A.D. Benjamin
Breckinridge Warfield
(November 5, 1851 – February 16, 1921) was professor of theology at Princeton Seminary from
1887 to 1921. Some conservative Presbyterians[1] consider him to be the last of the great Princeton theologians before
the split in 1929 that formed Westminster Theological Seminary and the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.
From Wikipedia.
Contents
Biography
Warfield was born near Lexington,
Kentucky on November 5, 1851. His parents were
William and Mary Cabell (Breckinridge) Warfield, originally from Virginia and
quite wealthy. His maternal grandfather was the Presbyterian preacher Robert Jefferson Breckinridge (1800–1871), the son of John Breckinridge,
a former United States Senator and Attorney General.
Warfield's uncle was John
C. Breckinridge, the fourteenth Vice President of the United States, and a Confederate general
in the American
Civil War. His brother, Ethelbert Dudley Warfield
was a Presbyterian minister and college president. A distant niece of his was Wallis Warfield Simpson, for whom Great Britain's King Edward VIII abdicated his throne in order to marry her.
Education
Like many children born into a wealthy
family, Warfield's childhood education was private. Warfield entered Princeton
University in 1868 and graduated in 1871 with
high honors. Although Warfield studied mathematics and science
in college, while traveling in Europe he decided to study theology, surprising
even many of his closest friends. He entered Princeton
Seminary in 1873, in order to train for
ministry as a Presbyterian minister. He graduated in 1876.
Ministry
For a short time in 1876 he preached
in Presbyterian churches in Concord,
Kentucky and Dayton, Ohio as a "supply pastor" — the latter church calling him to be their
ordained minister (which he politely refused). In late 1876 Warfield and his
new wife moved to Germany
where he studied under Christoph Ernst Luthardt
and Franz Delitzsch. Warfield was the assistant pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Baltimore,
Maryland for a short time. Then he became an
instructor at Western Theological Seminary, which is now called Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. He was ordained on April 26, 1879.
In 1881 Warfield wrote a joint article
with A. A. Hodge on the inspiration of the Bible.
It drew attention because of its scholarly and forceful defense of the
inerrancy of the Bible. In many of his writings, Warfield attempted to
demonstrate that the doctrine of Biblical
inerrancy was simply orthodox Christian teaching,
and not merely a concept invented in the nineteenth century. His passion was to
refute the liberal
element within Presbyterianism and within Christianity at large. Throughout his
life, he continued to write books and articles, which are still widely read
today.
Marriage
In August 1876 Warfield married Annie
Pierce Kinkead. Soon afterward they visited Germany. During their time there, Annie was struck by lightning and was
permanently paralyzed. Benjamin continued to care for her until her death in
1915, managing to fit his work as a theologian with his role as caregiver. They
had no children.
Princeton and death
Princeton
In 1887 Warfield was appointed to the Charles Hodge Chair at Princeton
Theological Seminary, where he succeeded
Hodge's son A. A. Hodge. Warfield remained there until his death. As the last conservative
successor to Hodge to live prior to the re-organization of Princeton Seminary,
Warfield is often regarded by Protestant scholarship as the last of the Princeton theologians.
Views
Bible
During his tenure, his primary thrust
(and that of the seminary) was an authoritative view of the Bible. This view
was held in contrast to the emotionalism of the revival movements, the rationalism of higher criticism, and the heterodox teachings of various New religious movements
that were emerging. The seminary held fast to the Reformed
confessional tradition — that is, it faithfully followed the Westminster Confession of Faith.
Warfield believed that modernist
theology was problematic, since it relied upon the thoughts of the Biblical
interpreter rather than upon the divine author of Scripture. He therefore
preached and believed the doctrine of sola scriptura — that the Bible is God's inspired word and is sufficient for the
Christian to live his or her faith.
Much of Warfield's work centered upon
the Bible's "inspiration" by God — that while the authors
of the Bible were men, the ultimate author was God
himself. The growing influence of modernist theology denied that the Bible was
inspired, and alternative theories of the origin of the Christian faith were
being explored.
After comparing grammatical and linguistic styles found within the Bible itself, modernist scholars suggested that
because the human authors had clearly contributed to the writing of the
biblical text, the Bible was written by people alone, not God. Warfield was a
central figure in responding to this line of thinking by arguing that the
supernatural work of the Holy Spirit did not lead to a form of "mechanical" inspiration (whereby the
human authors merely wrote down what God dictated to them, similar to the story
of the Qur'an's
inspiration) but one in which the human author's intellect was fully able to
express itself linguistically, while at the same time being supervised by the
Holy Spirit to ensure its inspiration. This approach is essential to
understanding the view of inspiration held by many Reformed and Evangelical Christians today.
Studies in religious experience
Warfield was a conservative critic of
much religious revivalism that was popular in America at the time. He believed that the teachings
and experience of this movement were too subjective and therefore too shallow
for deep Christian faith. His book Counterfeit Miracles advocated cessationism over and against miracles
after the time of the Apostles. Such attacks did not go unnoticed, and even today Warfield is criticized
by proponents of revivalism in the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements. For example, Jack
Deere wrote Surprised by the Power of the Spirit with
the intention of refuting Counterfeit Miracles. Warfield's book was
published before the worldwide spread of Pentecostalism and addressed the issue of false claims to the possession of miraculous
gifts under the headings, "Patristic and Mediǣval Marvels", "Roman Catholic Miracles",
"Irvingite Gifts", "Faith-Healing" and "Mind-Cure".
His book Perfectionism is a
detailed critique of what he saw as false theories of sanctification. It includes an analysis of the Higher
Life movement and the Keswick
movement, as well as a rebuttal of earlier
schools of thought, such as that of Asa
Mahan and Oberlin
College, and in particular the theology of Charles Grandison Finney.
Calvinism
Underpinning much of Warfield's
theology was his adherence to Calvinism as espoused by the Westminster Confession of Faith. It is sometimes forgotten that, in his battles against modernism on the one hand, and against revivalism on the other, he was simply expressing the Reformed faith when applied to
certain situations.
It was Warfield's belief that the 16th
century Reformers, as well as the 17th century Confessional writers, were
merely summarizing the content and application of scripture. New revelations,
whether from the minds of celebrated scholars or popular revivalists, were
therefore inconsistent with these confessional statements (and therefore inconsistent
with Scripture). Throughout his ministry, Warfield contended that modern world
events and thinking could never render such confessions obsolete. Such an
attitude still prevails today in many Reformed churches and Christians who embrace Calvinism.
Calvinism is just religion
in its purity. We have only, therefore, to conceive of religion in its purity,
and that is Calvinism.
(Selected Shorter Writings, I, p. 389)
Evolution
Warfield's views on evolution have
been a source of dispute. Scholars David
N. Livingstone and Mark A. Noll highlighted Warfield's statements on evolution to demonstrate his
acceptance of the theory in their article A Biblical Inerrantist as
Evolutionist.[3] Theologian Fred G. Zaspel
argues that these statements have led Livingstone and Noll to assume too much
about Warfield's views on the subject. Zaspel writes "That Warfield
actually committed himself to a doctrine of evolution seems impossible to
affirm simply because although there are some indications that he entertained the
idea, he never admits to accepting it."[4]
Warfield studied and wrote about Charles Darwin's religious views. In an article on Darwin's religious Life, he concluded
that Darwin's doctrine of evolution directly expelled Darwin's Christian
belief. Warfield writes, "Thus the doctrine of evolution once heartily
adopted by him (Darwin) gradually undermined his faith, until he cast off the
whole Christianity as an unproven delusion."[5] Warfield did not believe that evolution required such a rejection of
faith. His 1889 review of The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin
included this statement: "There have been many evolutionists who have been
and have remained theists and Christians."[6]
In his 1915 article Calvin's
Doctrine of Creation, Warfield wrote "It should scarcely be passed
without remark that Calvin's doctrine of creation is, if we have understood it
aright, for all except the souls of men, an evolutionary one. The 'indigested
mass,' including the 'promise and potency' of all that was yet to be, was
called into being by the simple fiat of God. But all that has come into being
since- except the souls of men alone - has arisen as a modification of this
original world-stuff by means of the interaction of its intrinsic forces. Not
these forces apart from God, of course..." [7] And further more he says, "What concerns us here is that he [Calvin]
ascribed the entire series of modifications by which the primal 'indigested
mass,' called 'heaven and earth,' has passed into the form of the ordered world
which we see, including the origination of all forms of life, vegetable and
animal alike, inclusive doubtless of the bodily form of man, to the second
causes as their proximate account. And this, we say, is a very pure
evolutionary scheme."[7]
Warfield also points out that,
"Calvin doubtless had no theory whatsoever of evolution; but he teaches a
doctrine of evolution." [8] In that same article, Warfield adds a significant footnote: "H.
Bavinck in the first of his Stone Lectures ('The Philosophy of Revelation,'
1909, pp. 9-10) remarks: 'The idea of a development is not a production of
modern times. It was already familiar to Greek philosophy. More particularly
Aristotle raised it to the rank of the leading principle of his entire system
by significant distinction between potentia and actus... This idea of
development aroused no objection whatsoever in Christian theology and
philosophy. On the contrary, it received extension and enrichment by being
linked with the principle of theism.' Calvin accordingly very naturally thought
along the lines of a theistic evolutionism."[8]
In a separate reference:
“I do not think that there is any
general statement in the Bible or any part of the account of creation, either
as given in Genesis 1 and 2 or elsewhere alluded to, that need be opposed to
evolution.” B. B. Warfield[9][10]
Church politics
Unlike his contemporaries at
Princeton, and perhaps due to his invalid wife, Warfield never cared much for
churchmanship.[citation needed] While he was certainly supportive of political moves
within various churches to strengthen and push conservative theology, he was
never interested in the actual process itself, preferring to use his work at
Princeton to influence future generations of Presbyterian ministers.
Influence and legacy
Along with Abraham Kuyper and Herman Bavinck, Warfield is acknowledged as one of the major influences on the thought of
Cornelius Van Til. However, that influence was limited to certain areas. In apologetics, Warfield was a thoroughgoing evidentialist and the most prominent
exponent of the Old Princeton school, whereas van Til, who was the most
prominent figure in the Dutch wing of presuppositionalist apologetics,
absolutely rejected the central tenets of Old Princeton evidentialism and
protested violently against the evidentialism of his contemporary J. Oliver Buswell.
Warfield's influence on contemporary
evangelicalism can be seen in the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy.[citation needed]
References and notes
1.
Jump up ^ For example, see J Gresham Machen as quoted in
Mark Noll's 1983 book entitled The Princeton Theology on page 16:
"It seemed to me, that the old Princeton - a great institution it was -
died when Warfield was carried out."
2.
Jump up ^ "Dr. B B. Warfield
Dead"
(PDF). New York Times. February 18, 1921. Retrieved 2009-09-16. "Professor of Theology at Princeton."
3.
Jump up ^ Livingstone, David N.; Mark A. Noll (June 2000). "A biblical inerrantist as
evolutionist". PubMed:
283–304. PMID 10967876.
4.
Jump up ^ Zaspel, Fred (July 2010). "B. B. Warfield on
Creation and Evolution". Themelios 35 (2).
5.
Jump up ^ The Presbyterian Review 9: 569–601.
1988 http://books.google.com/books?id=ckQ9AAAAYAAJ&l
|url= missing title (help).
7.
^ Jump up to: a b Mark Noll. 1983. The Princeton Theology. Baker
Book House; Grand Rapids. page 297.
8.
^ Jump up to: a b Mark Noll. 1983. The Princeton Theology. Baker
Book House; Grand Rapids. page 298.
9.
Jump up ^ Denis Alexander (2002). Rebuilding the Matrix: Science and faith in
the 21st Century. p. 177. ISBN 0745951163.
10. Jump up ^ The author, Mr. Alexander, does not provide a
citation for the Warfield quote, but it comes from his class lecture on evolution
prepared in 1888 and that content was used for the remainder of his years
teaching that course, at least until the early 1900s.
Further reading
- Cousar, R. W., Benjamin Warfield: His Christology and Soteriology, PhD thesis, Edinburgh University, 1954.
- McClanahan, James S., Benjamin B. Warfield: Historian of Doctrine in Defense of Orthodoxy, 1881–1921, PhD thesis, Union Theological Seminary in Virginia, 1988.
- Warfield Commemoration Issue, 1921–1971, The Banner of Truth, no. 89 (Feb. 1971).
- Livingstone, David N. and Mark A. Noll, "B.B. Warfield (1851-1921): A Biblical Inerrantist as Evolutionist," Isis, 91:2 (June 2000), 283-294
- Zaspel, Fred G., The Theology of B B Warfield - A Systematic Survey, Apollos (15 Oct 2010), ISBN 978-1844744824.
Writings
Books
These include:
- The Lord of Glory : A Study of the Designations of Our Lord in the New Testament with Especial Reference to His Deity, (1907) London: Hodder and Stoughton
- Counterfeit Miracles, (1918) New York : C. Scribner's — "The Thomas Smyth lectures for 1917-1918, delivered at the Columbia Theological Seminary, Columbia, South Carolina, October 4–10, 1917.", modern edition: Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, ISBN 0-85151-166-X
- Perfectionism - Articles reprinted from periodicals, etc. edited by Ethelbert Dudley Warfield, William Park Armstrong, and Caspar Wistar Hodge. (1931) New York : Oxford University Press.
- Calvin and Calvinism, (1931) New York ; London : Oxford University Press
- The Inspiration and Authority of the Bible / edited by Samuel G. Craig ; with an introduction by Cornelius Van Til. (1948) Philadelphia : Presbyterian and Reformed.
- Biblical and Theological Studies / edited by Samuel G. Craig, (1952) Philadelphia : Presbyterian and Reformed.
Essays and sermons (external links)
- Site dedicated to the life and writings of B. B. Warfield
- The Leading of the Spirit
- What is Calvinism?
- A Brief and Untechnical Statement of the Reformed Faith
- Calvinism - The Meaning And Uses of the Term
- The Theology of John Calvin
- Augustine & The Pelagian Controversy: The Origin & Nature of Pelagianism
- Augustine & The Pelagian Controversy: The Theology of Grace
- Augustine & The Pelagian Controversy: The External History of the Pelagian Controversy
- Inspiration (of Scripture)
- The Formation of the Canon of the New Testament
- God-Inspired Scripture
- Calvin and the Bible
- Calvin and the Reformation
- John Calvin The Theologian
- Election
- Some Thoughts on Predestination
- The Plan of Salvation (Part I) (Part II) (Part III) (Part IV) (Part V)
- Photographs of B.B. Warfield's grave at Princeton Cemetery.
- Darwin's Arguments Against Christianity And Religion by Benjamin B. Warfield
Other external links
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Academic
offices
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Preceded by
Archibald Alexander Hodge |
Principal
of Princeton
Theological Seminary
1887–1902 |
Succeeded by
Francis Landey Patton as President of Princeton Theological Seminary |
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