B. B. Warfield

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Principal of Princeton Theological Seminary
In office
1886–1902
Preceded byArchibald Alexander Hodge
Succeeded byFrancis Landey Patton as first president
Personal details
Born
Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield

(1851-11-05)November 5, 1851
Princeton Seminary

Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield (November 5, 1851 – February 16, 1921) was an American professor of

Princeton theologians before the split in 1929 that formed Westminster Theological Seminary and the Orthodox Presbyterian Church
.

Biography

Warfield was born near

Wallis Warfield Simpson, whom Great Britain's King Edward VIII
abdicated his throne in order to marry.

Education

Like many children born into a wealthy family, Warfield's childhood education was private. Warfield entered

Presbyterian
minister. He graduated in 1876.

Ministry

For a short time in 1876 he preached in Presbyterian churches 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

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 as Warfield was studying at Leipzig. During their time there, the two were overcome by a fierce thunderstorm. The experience of the storm was so shattering that Kinkead never fully recovered and remained a functional invalid for the rest of her life.[2] Warfield 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

B. B. Warfield at Princeton

In 1887 Warfield was appointed to the

Princeton theologians
.

He died in Princeton, New Jersey on February 16, 1921.[3]

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

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 "

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

Verbal plenary inspiration'
is the term that has come to describe this view.

Studies in religious experience

Warfield was a conservative critic of much religious

Mind-Cure
".

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 Calvinist 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

Calvinist 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, vol. I, p. 389.

Evolution

Warfield's views on evolution have been a source of dispute. Scholars

Mark A. Noll highlighted Warfield's statements on evolution to demonstrate his acceptance of the theory in their article A Biblical Inerrantist as Evolutionist.[4] 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."[5]

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."[6] 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."[7]

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…"[8] 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."[8]

Warfield also points out that, "Calvin doubtless had no theory whatsoever of evolution; but he teaches a doctrine of evolution."[9] 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."[9]

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[10]

Church politics

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.

Race

Warfield came from a family of emancipationists and was himself an outspoken opponent of segregation and racism at Princeton Seminary.[11] This led to Warfield, when he was principal of the seminary, to allow a black student to live in white university halls, an action which was met by opposition from fellow faculty members.[12] Warfield termed segregation a "wicked caste system" and wrote a number of theological treaties and essays to undermine the segregationist position.[13]

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]

Writings

Books

  • Dr. Edwin A. Abbott on the Genuineness of Second Peter (1883)
  • Some Difficult Passages in the First Chapter of 2 Corinthians (1886)
  • The Canon of the New Testament: How and When Formed (1892)
  • The Witness of the Stars (1893)
  • Number in Scripture (1894, 1921 4th revised edition)
  • The Right of Systematic Theology (1897)
  • Acts and Pastoral Epistles Timothy, Titus, and Philemon, Vol. 26 of The Temple Bible (1902)
  • The Power of God Unto Salvation (1903)
  • The Lord of Glory : A Study of the Designations of Our Lord in the New Testament with Especial Reference to His Deity, (1907)
  • The Westminster Assembly and its Work (1908)
  • Commentary on Revelation (1909, revised and corrected)
  • The Religious Life of Theological Students (1911)
  • Concerning Schmiedel's "Pillar-passages." (1913)
  • The Plan of Salvation (1915)
  • The Bible, The Book of Mankind (1915)
  • Faith and Life (1916)
  • The Saviour of the World (1916)
  • Counterfeit Miracles (1918)
  • Are They Few That Be Saved? (1918)
  • The Divine Origin of the Bible
  • Biblical Doctrines
  • Augustine and the Pelagian Controversy
  • Studies in Theology
  • The Inspiration and Authority of the Bible
  • The Making of the Westminster Confession
  • The Emotional Life of Our Lord
  • The Person of Christ According to the New Testament
  • An Introduction to the Textual Criticism of the New Testament
Posthumous works
  • Perfectionism: Articles reprinted from periodicals, etc. edited by
    Caspar Wistar Hodge
    (1931)
  • Calvin and Calvinism (1931)
  • The Inspiration and Authority of the Bible, edited by Samuel G. Craig ; with an introduction by Cornelius Van Til. (1948)
  • Biblical and Theological Studies, edited by Samuel G. Craig (1952)

Essays and sermons (external links)

References and notes

  1. ^ For example, see J Gresham Machen as quoted in Noll 1983, p. 16: "It seemed to me, that the old Princeton – a great institution it was – died when Warfield was carried out.”
  2. ^ "Annie Pierce Kinkead, Mrs. BB Warfield", Credo, 2013-04-24.
  3. ^ "Dr. B B. Warfield Dead" (PDF). The New York Times. February 18, 1921. Retrieved 2009-09-16. Professor of Theology at Princeton.
  4. S2CID 6096236
    .
  5. ^ Zaspel, Fred (July 2010). "B. B. Warfield on Creation and Evolution". Themelios. 35 (2).
  6. ^ Briggs, Charles Augustus; Hodge, Archibald Alexander; Patton, Francis Landrey; Warfield, Benjamin Breckinridge (1988). "Charles Darwin's Religious Life: A Sketch in Spiritual Biography". The Presbyterian Review. 9: 569–601.
  7. ^ Mark Noll. 1983. The Princeton Theology. Baker Book House; Grand Rapids. page 293.
  8. ^ a b Noll 1983, p. 297.
  9. ^ a b Noll, Mark (1983), The Princeton Theology, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, p. 298.
  10. . 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 he used that for the remainder of his years teaching that course, at least until the early 1900s.
  11. ^ Zaspel, Fred. G (2018). "Reversing the Gospel: Warfield on Race and Racism". Themelios. 43 (1).
  12. JSTOR 3169907
    .
  13. ^ Warfield, Benjamin. B (2001). Selected Shorter Writings, ed. John E. Meeter, 2 vols. Philipsburg NJ: Presbyterian & Reformed. pp. 2:736–737.

Further reading

  • Cousar, R. W., Benjamin Warfield: His Christology and Soteriology, PhD thesis, Edinburgh University, 1954.
  • Livingstone, David N. and Mark A. Noll, "B.B. Warfield (1851–1921): A Biblical Inerrantist as Evolutionist," Isis, 91:2 (June 2000), 283-294
  • McClanahan, James S., Benjamin B. Warfield: Historian of Doctrine in Defense of Orthodoxy, 1881–1921, PhD thesis, Union Theological Seminary in Virginia, 1988.
  • Riddlebarger, Kim. The Lion of Princeton: B.B. Warfield as Apologist and Theologian, Lexham Press (2015),
  • Warfield Commemoration Issue, 1921–1971, The Banner of Truth, no. 89 (Feb. 1971).
  • Zaspel, Fred G., The Theology of B.B. Warfield: A Systematic Summary, Crossway (2 Sept 2010), .

External links

Academic offices
Preceded by Principal of Princeton Theological Seminary
1887–1902
Succeeded byas President of Princeton Theological Seminary