- Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield
Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield (
November 5 ,1851 –February 16 ,1921 ) was the principal ofPrinceton Seminary from 1887 to 1921. Some conservative Presbyterians consider him to be the last of the greatPrinceton theologians before the split in 1929 that formed Westminster Seminary and theOrthodox Presbyterian Church .Early life
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 formerUnited States Senator and Attorney General. Warfield's uncle wasJohn C. Breckinridge , the fourteenthVice President of the United States , and a Confederategeneral in theAmerican Civil War .Wallis Simpson, the Duchess of Windsor, who married King
Edward VIII of the United Kingdom (and was largely responsible for his abdication of the throne in 1936), was a distant relative.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 studiedmathematics andscience in college, while travelling in Europe he decided to study theology, surprising even many of his closest friends. He enteredPrinceton Seminary in 1873, in order to train for ministry as aPresbyterian minister. He graduated in 1876.Ministry
For a short time in 1876 he preached in Presbyterian churches in
Concord, Kentucky andDayton, 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 toGermany where he studied underErnst Luthardt andFranz Delitzsch . Warfield was the assistant pastor of First Presbyterian Church inBaltimore, Maryland for a short time. Then he became an instructor at Western Theological Seminary, which is now calledPittsburgh Theological Seminary . He was ordained onApril 26 ,1879 .In 1881 Warfield wrote a joint article with
A. A. Hodge on the inspiration of theBible . 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 ofBiblical inerrancy was simply orthodoxChristian 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 of 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.The actual events that led to Annie's paralysis are still unclear. Some believe that she may have suffered some form of mental or psychological disability.
Princeton
In 1887 Warfield was appointed to the
Charles Hodge Chair at Princeton Theological Seminary, where he succeeded Hodge's sonA. 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 as the last of thePrinceton theologians .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 ofhigher criticism , and the heterodox teachings of variousNew religious movement s that were emerging. The seminary held fast to theReformed confessional tradition — that is, it faithfully followed theWestminster 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) 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.tudies 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" advocatedcessationism over and againstmiracle s after the time of the Apostles. Such attacks did not go unnoticed, and even today Warfield is criticized by proponents of revivalism in thePentecostal 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 ofPentecostalism 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 theHigher Life movement and the Keswick movement, as well as a rebuttal of earlier schools of thought, such as that ofAsa Mahan andOberlin College , and in particular the theology ofCharles G. 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 embraceCalvinism .::"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)
Darwinism
“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. Warfieldcite book|last=Alexander|first=Denis|title=Rebuilding the Matrix: Science and faith in the 21st Century|pages=177|year=2002|isbn=0 7459 5116 3]
Warfield's view of
Darwinism may appear unusual for a conservative of his day. He was willing to accept that Darwin's theory might be true, but believed that God guided the process of evolution, and was as suchatheistic evolution ist. His avid interest in amateur science was shared by many Victorian clerics and Warfield's views were not untypical.Church politics
Unlike his contemporaries at Princeton, and perhaps due to his invalid wife, Warfield never cared much for churchmanship. 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 andHerman Bavinck , Warfield is acknowledged as one of the major influences on the thought ofCornelius Van Til in the field ofapologetics .References
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).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 D. 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 byCornelius 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)
* [http://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/onsite/warfield01.html The Leading of the Spirit]
* [http://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/onsite/WarfieldCalvin.html What is Calvinism?]
* [http://www.reformed.org/calvinism/index.html?mainframe=warfield_reformed_theology.html A Brief and Untechnical Statement of the Reformed Faith]
* [http://homepage.mac.com/shanerosenthal/reformationink/bbwcalvinism.htm Calvinism - The Meaning And Uses of the Term]
* [http://homepage.mac.com/shanerosenthal/reformationink/bbwcalvin2.htm The Theology of John Calvin]
* [http://www.graceonlinelibrary.org/etc/printer-friendly.asp?ID=461 Augustine & The Pelagian Controversy: The Origin & Nature of Pelagianism]
* [http://www.graceonlinelibrary.org/etc/printer-friendly.asp?ID=463 Augustine & The Pelagian Controversy: The Theology of Grace]
* [http://www.graceonlinelibrary.org/etc/printer-friendly.asp?ID=462 Augustine & The Pelagian Controversy: The External History of the Pelagian Controversy]
* [http://incolor.inetnebr.com/stuart/inspiration.htm Inspiration (of Scripture)]
* [http://www.crta.org/bible/warfield_canon.html The Formation of the Canon of the New Testament]
* [http://www.aomin.org/THEOPNEU.html God-Inspired Scripture]
* [http://incolor.inetnebr.com/stuart/cb.htm Calvin and the Bible]
* [http://incolor.inetnebr.com/stuart/cr2.htm Calvin and the Reformation]
* [http://homepage.mac.com/shanerosenthal/reformationink/bbwcalvin1.htm John Calvin The Theologian]
* [http://www.the-highway.com/Election_Warfield.html Election]
* [http://homepage.mac.com/shanerosenthal/reformationink/bbwpredest.htm Some Thoughts on Predestination]
* [http://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/onsite/WarfieldPlan01.html The Plan of Salvation (Part I)] [http://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/onsite/WarfieldPlan02.html (Part II)] [http://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/onsite/WarfieldPlan03.html (Part III)] [http://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/onsite/WarfieldPlan04.html (Part IV)] [http://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/onsite/WarfieldPlan05.html (Part V)]
* [http://www.richardsibbes.com/Princeton.Cemetery.Warfields.htm Photographs of B.B. Warfield's grave at Princeton Cemetery.]
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