America's Debt to Calvinism

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"He that will not honor the memory, and respect the influence of Calvin, knows but little of the origin of American liberty." — George Bancroft, Literary and Historical Miscellanies (1855), p. 406

The central thesis of this book — that John Calvin and his Genevan followers had a profound influence on the American founding — runs counter to widespread assumptions and rationale of the American experiment in government. — David W. Hall, The Genevan Reformation and the American Founding (2003), p. vii

On the Fourth of July, which is not only the date celebrated as the birth of the United States in 1776, but also the date on which Log College Press was founded in 2017, we pause to remember how God has dealt graciously with this nation in large part through the influence of the doctrines of grace and the principles of civil liberty which are associated with Calvinism.

American history has many streams running through it, including the Native American population, Spanish exploration, African-American slaves, and much more, but it cannot be denied that in the colonial era and in the early part of the republic, American principles and character were largely fashioned by the Protestant European settlers who came to this country and, looking to Scripture as their foundation, enacted laws, promoted education and even fought for freedom, on the basis of ideas taught in John Calvin’s Geneva.

To demonstrate this premise — which historically was unquestioned, but has been increasingly challenged in recent years — we will extract from the writings of some authors on Log College Press, and others, to show that many of America’s founding principles can be traced to the Calvinism that brought French Huguenots to Florida and South Carolina in 1562; English Anglicans and Presbyterians to Jamestown, Virginia in 1607; Pilgrims and Puritans to Massachusetts beginning in 1620; the Dutch Reformed to New Netherland (New York) in the 1620s; the Scotch-Irish, such as Francis Makemie in the 1680s, to Virginia and Pennsylvania; and the German Reformed settlers who, as did John Phillip Boehm in 1720, arrived in Pennsylvania and other ports of entry. Although painting a picture with broad strokes, and not at all unmindful of the secular character of this nation today under principles enshrined in the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights, it is worthwhile to consider how Geneva influenced the founding of America more than any other source. It has been well said by some that “knowledge of the past is the key to the future.”

Jean Leon Gerome Ferris, The Mayflower Compact, 1620

Egbert W. Smith writes, in a chapter titled “America’s Debt to Calvinism,” that:

If the average American citizen were asked, who was the founder of America, the true author of our giant Republic, might be puzzled to answer. We can imagine his amazement at hearing the answer given to this question by the famous German historian, [Leopold von] Ranke, one of the profoundest scholars of modern times. Says Ranke, ‘John Calvin was the virtual founder of America.’” — E.W. Smith, The Creed of Presbyterians (1901), p. 119

In a lecture given by Philip Schaff in 1854, he stated:

The religious character of North America, viewed as a whole, is predominantly of the Reformed or Calvinistic stamp…To obtain a clear view of the enormous influence which Calvin's personality, moral earnestness, and legislative genius, have exerted on history, you must go to Scotland and to the United States. — Philip Schaff, America: A Sketch of the Political, Social, and Religious Character of the United States of North America (1855), pp. 111-112

Nathaniel S. McFetridge devotes a chapter in his most famous book, Calvinism in History, to the influence of Calvinism as a political force in American history, and argues thus:

My proposition is this — a proposition which the history clearly demonstrates: That this great American nation, which stretches her vast and varied territory from sea to sea, and from the bleak hills of the North to the sunny plains of the South, was the purchase chiefly of the Calvinists, and the inheritance which they bequeathed to all liberty-loving people.

If would be almost impossible to give the merest outline of the influence of the Calvinists on the civil and religious liberties of this continent without seeming to be a mere Calvinistic eulogist; for the contestants in the great Revolutionary conflict were, so far as religious opinions prevailed, so generally Calvinistic on the one side and Arminian on the other as to leave the glory of the result almost entirely with the Calvinists. They who are best acquainted with the history will agree most readily with the historian, Merle D’Aubigne, when he says: ‘Calvin was the founder of the greatest of republics. The Pilgrims who left their country in the reign of James I., and, landing on the barren soil of New England, founded populous and mighty colonies, were his sons, his direct and legitimate sons; and that American nation which we have seen growing so rapidly boasts as its father the humble Reformer on the shores of Lake Leman [Lake Geneva].’” — N.S. McFetridge, Calvinism in History (1882), pp. 59-60

W. Melancthon Glasgow, referencing the great American historian George Bancroft, says:

"Mr. Bancroft says: 'The first public voice in America for dissolving all connection with Great Britain came not from the Puritans of New England, the Dutch of New York, nor the Planters of Virginia, but from the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians of the Carolinas.' He evidently refers to the influence of Rev. Alexander Craighead and the Mecklenburg Declaration: and this influence was due to the meeting of the Covenanters of Octorara, where in 1743, they denounced in a public manner the policy of George the Second, renewed the Covenants, swore with uplifted swords that they would defend their lives and their property against all attack and confiscation, and their consciences should be kept free from the tyrannical burden of Episcopacy....It is now difficult to tell whether Donald Cargill, Hezekiah Balch or Thomas Jefferson wrote the National Declaration of American Independence, for in sentiment it is the same as the "Queensferry Paper" and the Mecklenburg Declaration." — W. Melancthon Glasgow, History of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in America (1888), pp. 65-67

William H. Roberts, in a chapter on “Calvinism in America,” wrote:

Politically, Calvinism is the chief source of modern republican government. That Calvinism and republicanism are related to each other as cause and effect is acknowledged by authorities who are not Presbyterians or Reformed…The Westminster Standards are the common doctrinal standards of all the Calvinists of Great Britain and Ireland, the countries which have given to the United States its language and to a considerable degree its laws. The English Calvinists, commonly known as Puritans, early found a home on American shores, and the Scotch, Dutch, Scotch-Irish, French and German settlers, who were of the Protestant faith, were their natural allies. It is important to a clear understanding of the influence of Westminster in American Colonial history to know that the majority of the early settlers of this country from Massachusetts to New Jersey inclusive, and also in parts of Maryland, Virginia, and the Carolinas, were Calvinists.” — William H. Roberts in Philip Vollmer, John Calvin: Theologian, Preacher, Educator, Statesman (1909), pp. 202-203

Speaking of the Scotch-Irish, Charles L. Thompson wrote:

Did they abandon homes that were dear to them in Scotland first and then in Ireland? It was done at the call of God. They wanted homes for themselves and their children; but it was only that in them there might be a free development of the faith for which their fathers and they had suffered. Nor was their religion a thing of either forms or sentiment. It was grounded in Scripture. The family Bible was the charter of their liberties. To seek its deepest meanings was their delight. They, therefore, brought to to their various settlements in the new world a knowledge of the Calvinism which they had found in their Bibles, and a devotion to the forms in which it found expression giving definite doctrinal character to all their communities — character by which their various migrations may be easily traced. Whether in Nova Scotia, in Pennsylvania, in Kentucky and Tennessee, or wherever their pioneer footsteps led them, the stamp of their convictions, from which no ‘wind of doctrine’ and no ‘cunning craftiness’ could draw them, is seen in all their social life and on all their institutions. Almost universally they were Presbyterians and they are the dominant element in the Presbyterian Church today.

Alike among the Puritans, the Dutch and the Scotch-Irish, it was Calvinism which was the prevailing doctrine. Its relation to the life of our republic has often been recognized. — Charles L. Thompson, The Religious Foundations of America (1917), pp. 242-243

Loraine Boettner, in a section on Calvinism in America, quotes George Bancroft in regards to the American War of Independence:

With this background we shall not be surprised to find that the Presbyterians took a very prominent part in American Revolution. Our own historian Bancroft says: “The Revolution of 1776, so far as it was affected by religion, was a Presbyterian measure. It was the natural outgrowth of the principles which the Presbyterianism of the Old World planted in her sons, the English Puritans, the Scotch Covenanters, the French Huguenots, the Dutch Calvinists, and the Presbyterians of Ulster.” So intense, universal, and aggressive were the Presbyterians in their zeal for liberty that the war was spoken of in England as “The Presbyterian Rebellion.” An ardent colonial supporter of King George III wrote home: “I fix all the blame for these extraordinary proceedings upon the Presbyterians. They have been the chief and principal instruments in all these flaming measures. They always do and ever will act against government from that restless and turbulent anti-monarchial spirit which has always distinguished them everywhere.” When the news of “these extraordinary proceedings” reached England, Prime Minister Horace Walpole said in Parliament, “Cousin America has run off with a Presbyterian parson.” — Loraine Boettner, The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination (1932), p. 383

Speaking of Calvinism’s influence on America, H. Gordon Harold wrote:

Now back of every great movement lie its proponents. Who were the people that fostered rebellion and revolution in the New World? Who spoke openly against the tyrannies and indignities they experienced? Who stepped forward with ready hearts, willing to die in resistance to the injustices meted out to them in the wilderness of this remote continent? They were mostly as follows: Huguenots from France; men of the Reformed faith, presbyterians of the Continent, who had come from the Palatinate, Switzerland, and the Low Countries; Lutherans who had fled the agonies of the Thirty Years’ War; German Baptists who had endured persecution; and Presbyterians and Seceders (ultra-Presbyterians) from Scotland and Ulster; also the Puritan Congregationalists from England. Practically all of these were Calvinists, or neo-Calvinists, and a large number of them were Ulster-Scotch Presbyterians. — H. Gordon Harold in Gaius J. Slosser, ed., They Seek a Country: The American Presbyterians (1955), pp. 151-152

Douglas F. Kelly had this to say about the “Presbyterian Rebellion” of 1776:

The gibe of some in the British Parliament that the American revolution was “a Presbyterian Rebellion” did not miss the mark. We may include in “Presbyterian” other Calvinists such as New England Congregationalists, many of the Baptists, and others. The long-standing New England tradition of “election day sermons” continued to play a major part in shaping public opinion toward rebellion toward England on grounds of transcendent law. Presbyterian preaching by Samuel Davies and others had a similar effect in preparing the climate of religious public opinion for resistance to royal or parliamentary tyranny in the name of divine law, expressed in legal covenants. Davies directly inspired Patrick Henry, a young Anglican, whose Presbyterian mother frequently took him to hear Davies.” — Douglas F. Kelly, The Emergence of Liberty in the Modern World: The Influence of Calvin on Five Governments From the 16th to the 18th Centuries (1992), pp. 131-132

At Log College Press, in appreciation of this great Calvinistic heritage which was bequeathed to 21st century Americans by Geneva and those who were inspired by her to come to these shores, we wish you and yours a very happy Fourth of July! And if we have not already “taxed” our readers’ patience without their consent (this blog post is admittedly longer than most), in the spirit of the day, we offer more to read from the following blog posts from the past. Blessings to you and yours!

Calvin on the Edge of Eternity

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It was not the head but the heart which made him a theologian, and it is not the head but the heart which he primarily addresses in his theology. – B.B. Warfield, John Calvin: The Man and His Work (1909)

The great Reformer John Calvin died on this day in history, May 27, 1564, in Geneva, Switzerland. He was only 54 years old; although he had suffered many maladies, yet had he accomplished so much in his lifetime to effect Reformation in the areas of worship, theology and civil government; in Geneva, Europe and even across the Atlantic, in sending missionaries to Roman Catholic France and to the New World; and inspiring settlers who risked all to follow them.

Today, we recall his final days as told by some authors on Log College Press who admired this great man.

Thomas Cary Johnson, John Calvin and the Genevan Reformation (1900), p. 87:

He preached for the last time on the 6th of February, 1564; he was carried to church and partook of the communion for the last time on the 2d of April, in which he acknowledged his own unworthiness and his trust in God's free election of grace and the abounding merits of Christ; he was visited by the four syndics and the whole Little Council of the republic on the 27th of April, and addressed them as a father, thanking them for their devotion, begging pardon for his gusts of temper, and exhorting them to preserve in Geneva the pure doctrine and government of the gospel; he made a similar address to all the ministers of Geneva on the 28th and took an affectionate leave of them; he had these ministers to dine in his house on the 19th of May, was himself carried to the table, ate a little with them and tried to converse, but growing weary had to be taken to his chamber, leaving with the words, 'This wall will not hinder my being present with you in spirit, though absent in the body.' [William] Farel (in his eightieth year) walked all the way to Geneva from Neuchatel to take leave of the man whom he had compelled to work in Geneva, and whose glorious career he had watched without the least shadow of envy.

With the precious word of God, which he had done so much to make plain to his own and all subsequent ages, in his heart and on his tongue, he died on the 27th of May, 1564.

Thomas Smyth, Calvin and His Enemies: A Memoir of the Life, Character, and Principles of Calvin (1856), pp. 77-82, elaborates on the story of the “last act” in Calvin’s life:

Let us, then, before we take our leave, draw near, and contemplate the last act in the drama of this great and good man's life. Methinks I see that emaciated frame, that sunken cheek, and that bright, ethereal eye, as Calvin lay upon his study-couch. He heeds not the agonies of his frame, his vigorous mind rising in its power as the outward man perished in decay. The nearer he approached his end, the more energetically did he ply his unremitted studies. In his severest pains he would raise his eyes to heaven and say, How long, Lord! and then resume his efforts. When urged to allow himself repose, he would say, 'What! would you that when the Lord comes he should surprise me in idleness?' Some of his most important and laboured commentaries were therefore finished during this last year.

On the 10th of March, his brother ministers coming to him, with a kind and cheerful countenance he warmly thanked them for all their kindness, and hoped to meet them at their regular Assembly for the last time, when he thought the Lord would probably take him to himself. On the 27th, he caused himself to be carried to the senate-house, and being supported by his friends, he walked into the hall, when, uncovering his head, he returned thanks for all the kindness they had shown him, especially during his sickness. With a faltering voice, he then added, 'I think I have entered this house for the last time,' and, mid flowing tears, took his leave. On the 2d of April, he was carried to the church, where he received the sacrament at the hands of [Theodore] Beza, joining in the hymn with such an expression of joy in his countenance, as attracted the notice of the congregation. Having made his will on the 27th of this month, he sent to inform the syndics and the members of the senate that he desired once more to address them in their hall, whither he wished to be carried the next day. They sent him word that they would wait on him, which they accordingly did, the next day, coming to him from the senate-house. After mutual salutations, he proceeded to address them very solemnly for some time, and having prayed for them, shook hands with each of them, who were bathed in tears, and parted from him as from a common parent. The following day, April 28th, according to his desire, all the ministers in the jurisdiction of Geneva came to him, whom he also addressed: 'I avow,'' he said, 'that I have lived united with you, brethren, in the strictest bonds of true and sincere affection, and I take my leave of you with the same feelings. If you have at any time found me harsh or peevish under my affliction, I entreat your forgiveness.'  Having shook hands with them, we took leave of him, says Beza, 'with sad hearts and by no means with dry eyes.'

'The remainder of his days,' as Beza informs us, 'Calvin passed in almost perpetual prayer. His voice was interrupted by the difficulty of his respiration; but his eyes (which to the last retained their brilliancy,) uplifted to heaven, and the expression of his countenance, showed the fervour of his supplications. His doors,' Beza proceeds to say, 'must have stood open day and night, if all had been admitted who, from sentiments of duty and affection, wished to see him, but as he could not speak to them, he requested they would testify their regard by praying for him, rather than by troubling themselves about seeing him. Often, also, though he ever showed himself glad to receive me, he intimated a scruple respecting the interruption thus given to my employments; so thrifty was he of time which ought to be spent in the service of the Church.'

On the 19th of May, being the day the ministers assembled, and when they were accustomed to take a meal together, Calvin requested that they should sup in the hall of his house. Being seated, he was with much difficulty carried into the hall. 'I have come, my brethren,' said he, 'to sit with you, for the last time, at this table.' But before long, he said, 'I must be carried to my bed;' adding, as he looked around upon them with a serene and pleasant countenance, 'these walls will not prevent my union with you in spirit, although my body be absent.' He never afterwards left his bed. On the 27th of May, about eight o'clock in the evening, the symptoms of dissolution came suddenly on. In the full possession of his reason, he continued to speak, until, without a struggle or a gasp, his lungs ceased to play, and this great luminary of the Reformation set, with the setting sun, to rise again in the firmament of heaven. The dark shadows of mourning settled upon the city. It was with the whole people a night of lamentation and tears. All could bewail their loss; the city her best citizen, the church her renovator and guide, the college her founder, the cause of reform its ablest champion, and every family a friend and comforter. It was necessary to exclude the crowds of visitors who came to behold his remains, lest the occasion might be misrepresented. At two o'clock in the afternoon of Sabbath, his body, enclosed in a wooden coffin, and followed by the syndics, senators, pastors, professors, together with almost the whole city, weeping as they went, was carried to the common burying ground, without pomp. According to his request, no monument was erected to his memory; a plain stone, without any inscription, being all that covered the remains of Calvin.

Such was Calvin in his life and in his death. The place of his burial is unknown, but where is his fame unheard?

The actual precise location of John Calvin’s grave is unknown, but this spot in the Cimetière de Plainpalais in Geneva honors his memory.

And thus a great man lived and died, although unwilling to have his earthly remains become a shrine, yet leaving a legacy that many still cherish.

Note: This is an updated version of a post that was first published on May 27, 2018.

Samuel Davies' Communion Tokens

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The practice of employing communion tokens represents a chapter of church history well worth studying. Their use predates the Reformation by many centuries, but it was in the Protestant Reformation that usage of communion tokens really became part of Reformed church history. Walter L. Lingle, in his introduction to Mary McWhorter Tenney’s classic study of Communion Tokens (1936) [not yet available on Log College Press], writes of the significance of communion tokens.

The Communion token stood for something. It was usually a small piece of metal which served as a ticket of admission to the Communion table. As the Communion season approached preparatory services were held. The people were examined by the ministers and elders as to their knowledge of the way of life and as to their way of living. Only those who were approved receive the tokens and only those who had tokens could approach the Communion table. People took their religion seriously in those days.

Mrs. Tenney writes of the origin of this practice in the early church and traces its reappearance in the Reformation to Geneva, Switzerland in 1560 where John Calvin and Pierre Viret helped to bring back the custom as a way of keeping the Lord’s Supper from being profaned by the scandalous and the profane (p. 17).

Used throughout Europe, especially in Scotland, the custom of employing communion tokens was transplanted to America as Protestants migrated there, particularly in the 18th century. In 1747, Presbyterians in Virginia were small in numbers but scattered throughout the center of the British and Anglican colony. The labors of Francis Makemie on the Eastern Shore a half century previously had born fruit, but when Samuel Davies was sent by the Presbytery of New Castle (Delaware) that year as a missionary to Virginia, at that time very spiritually dry, he was used by the Lord as part of a Great Awakening which was then spreading over the land. Davies would ultimately help to organize seven churches in five counties with very little in the way of additional manpower. (We have written previously of how Davies had to ride on horseback over a wide parish and once got lost in the woods.)

George Pilcher writes that “a prominent facet of Davies’ pastoral work [was] his use of tokens….Virginia Presbyterians adhered to this [Protestant] practice closely, identifying it with the process of catechetical instruction.” He goes on to say (Samuel Davies: Apostle of Dissent in Colonial Virginia, p. 93) that

In using tokens, Davies was following the established customs of Scottish Presbyterianism and apparently was trying to make his practice conform to this claim of being a member of the Church of Scotland. But instead of using the Presbyterians’ traditional small stamped metal disks, the New Light minister distributed engraved cards that allowed him to present longer inscriptions or passages of his own poetry pertinent to the event, such as:

Do this says Christ ‘till Time shall end,
In Memory of your dying Friend.
Meet at my Table and Record
The Love of Your departed Lord.

The cards also were probably less expensive than metal disks, although they were made from steel engravings, which no doubt had to come from England. Davies placed a high value on these cards and exercised painstaking care in their preparation.

Samuel Davies’ paper communion token used at the Polegreen Church, Hanover, Virginia. Source: Presbyterian Historical Society, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Union Seminary, Richmond, Virginia.

The story is told in James W. Alexander, The Life of Archibald Alexander, pp. 180-181, of how Mr. and Mrs. John Morton, members of the Anglican Church, were moved to attend an “action sermon” preached by Davies, whereupon, in the middle of the service, Mr. Morton called on Rev. Davies to admit him to the sacrament, and after further examination by the minister, Mr. Morton was given a communion token and allowed to participate.

The communion tokens employed by Davies were part of an historic tradition that was in widespread use in his day among Presbyterians, but they were remarkable in that they were made of paper rather than metal and also in their use of sacramental poetry by Davies himself.*

They represent a special facet of a bygone Protestant and Presbyterian tradition which illustrates how seriously the duty of fencing the table was taken and what a privilege it is to being admitted to the table of the Lord. As we look back on this bit of church history, consider how important these little paper tokens were to Davies and his flock of Virginia Presbyterians as emblems of Christ’s love to them, which made them precious indeed.

* “A Token For the Sacrament” appears in Richard Beale Davis, ed., Collected Poems of Samuel Davies, 1723-1761 (1968), p. 157.

De Witt Talmage: Seek the God of the Pleiades and Orion

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Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion (Amos 5:8).

Some of Thomas De Witt Talmage’s sermons are so rich in word-pictures that they appear to us as a bright as the night sky far away from any electric lights. A case in point comes from his discourse on “The Pleiades and Orion” in New Tabernacle Sermons (1886).

A country farmer wrote this text—Amos of Tekoa. He plowed the earth and threshed the grain by a new threshing-machine just invented, as formerly the cattle trod out the grain. He gathered the fruit of the sycamore-tree, and scarified it with an iron comb just before it was getting ripe, as it was necessary and customary in that way to take from it the bitterness. He was the son of a poor shepherd, and stuttered; but before the stammering rustic the Philistines, and Syrians, and Phoenicians, and Moabites, and Ammonites, and Edomites, and Israelites trembled.

Moses was a law-giver, Daniel was a prince, Isaiah a courtier, and David a king; but Amos, the author of my text, was a peasant, and, as might be supposed, nearly all his parallelisms are pastoral, his prophecy full of the odor of new-mown hay, and the rattle of locusts, and the rumble of carts with sheaves, and the roar of wild beasts devouring the flock while the shepherd came out in their defense. He watched the herds by day, and by night inhabited a booth made out of bushes, so that through these branches he could see the stars all night long, and was more familiar with them than we who have tight roofs to our houses, and hardly ever see the stars except among the tall brick chimneys of the great towns. But at seasons of the year when the herds were in special danger, he would stay out in the open field all through the darkness, his only shelter the curtain of the night, heaven, with the stellar embroideries and silvered tassels of lunar light.

What a life of solitude, all alone with his herds! Poor Amos! And at twelve o'clock at night, hark to the wolf's bark, and the lion's roar, and the bear's growl, and the owl's te-whit-te-whos, and the serpent's hiss, as he unwittingly steps too near while moving through the thickets! So Amos, like other herdsmen, got the habit of studying the map of the heavens, because it was so much of the time spread out before him. He noticed some stars advancing and others receding. He associated their dawn and setting with certain seasons of the year. He had a poetic nature, and he read night by night, and month by month, and year by year, the poem of the constellations, divinely rhythmic. But two rosettes of stars especially attracted his attention while seated on the ground, or lying on his back under the open scroll of the midnight heavens—the Pleiades, or Seven Stars, and Orion. The former group this rustic prophet associated with the spring, as it rises about the first of May. The latter he associated with the winter, as it comes to the meridian in January. The Pleiades, or Seven Stars, connected with all sweetness and joy: Orion, the herald of the tempest.

Talmage goes on to say:

In the first place, Amos saw, as we must see, that the God who made the Pleiades and Orion must be the God of order. It was not so much a star here and a star there that impressed the inspired herdsman, but seven in one group, and seven in the other group. He saw that night after night and season after season and decade after decade they had kept step of light, each one in its own place, a sisterhood never clashing and never contesting precedence. From the time Hesiod called the Pleiades the "seven daughters of Atlas" and Virgil wrote in his Aeneid of "Stormy Orion" until now, they have observed the order established for their coming and going; order written not in manuscript that may be pigeon-holed, but with the hand of the Almighty on the dome of the sky, so that all nations may read it. Order. Persistent order. Sublime order. Omnipotent order.

What a sedative to you and me, to whom communities and nations sometimes seem going pell-mell, and world ruled by some fiend at hap-hazard, and in all directions maladministration! The God who keeps seven worlds in right circuit for six thousand years can certainly keep all the affairs of individuals and nations and continents in adjustment. We had not better fret much, for the peasant's argument of the text was right. If God can take care of the seven worlds of the Pleiades and the four chief worlds of Orion, He can probably take care of the one world we inhabit.

Truly, what a great comfort it is to place our trust in the One who creates and governs the stars, as well as the Earth upon which we live.

In your occupation, your mission, your sphere, do the best you can, and then trust to God; and if things are all mixed and disquieting, and your brain is hot and your heart sick, get some one to go out with you into the starlight and point out to you the Pleiades, or, better than that, get into some observatory, and through the telescope see further than Amos with the naked eye could—namely, two hundred stars in the Pleiades, and that in what is called the sword of Orion there is a nebula computed to be two trillion two hundred thousand billions of times larger than the sun. Oh, be at peace with the God who made all that and controls all that—the wheel of the constellations turning in the wheel of galaxies for thousands of years without the breaking of a cog or the slipping of a band or the snap of an axle. For your placidity and comfort through the Lord Jesus Christ I charge you, "Seek Him that maketh the Seven Stars and Orion."

Our preacher continues further:

Oh, what a mercy it is that in the text and all up and down the Bible God induces us to look out toward other worlds! Bible astronomy in Genesis, in Joshua, in Job, in the Psalms, in the prophets, major and minor, in St. John's Apocalypse, practically saying, "Worlds! worlds! worlds! Get ready for them!" We have a nice little world here that we stick to, as though losing that we lose all. We are afraid of falling off this little raft of a world. We are afraid that some meteoric iconoclast will some night smash it, and we want everything to revolve around it, and are disappointed when we find that it revolves around the sun instead of the sun revolving around it. What a fuss we make about this little bit of a world, its existence only a short time between two spasms, the paroxysm by which it was hurled from chaos into order, and the paroxysm of its demolition.

And I am glad that so many texts call us to look off to other worlds, many of them larger and grander and more resplendent. "Look there,' says Job, "at Mazaroth and Arcturus and his sons!" "Look there," says St. John, "at the moon under Christ's feet!" "Look there," says Joshua, "at the sun standing still above Gibeon!" "Look there," says Moses, "at the sparkling firmament!" "Look there," says Amos, the herdsman, "at the Seven Stars and Orion!" Don't let us be so sad about those who shove off from this world under Christly pilotage. Don't let us be so agitated about our own going off this little barge or sloop or canal-boat of a world to get on some "Great Eastern" of the heavens. Don't let us persist in wanting to stay in this barn, this shed, this outhouse of a world, when all the King's palaces already occupied by many of our best friends are swinging wide open their gates to let us in.

There is a reason why the Scriptures call us to look heavenward, at the celestial. In the words of John Calvin, “Job's intent here is to teach us to be astronomers” (commentary on Job 9). Although given dominion over this beautiful blue globe, and called to till the ground and give a good account of our stewardship, we who are created in the image of God are called to not be satisfied with the earthly and temporal, but to long for the heavenly and eternal. We are called to seek the God of the Pleiades and Orion. Read Talmage’s full sermon on this topic and many more here, and pause to meditate upon not only the wonders of creation, especially in the skies above, but to ponder the love of our God for such as we.

When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? (Ps. 8:3-4)

A Reformation Day Remembrance

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To commemorate what is arguably the greatest event in church history since Pentecost, Log College Press wishes to highlight select works by early American Presbyterians which relate to the 504th anniversary of the Reformation:

  • Archibald Alexander (1772-1851) — The Doctrine of Original Sin as Held by the Church, Both Before and After the Reformation (1830) and Martin Luther at the Diet of Worms (1836) — These articles speak to important issues and moments related to the Protestant Reformation.

  • James Waddel Alexander (1804-1859) — Martin Luther Incognito (1836) and The Reformation in Hungary and Transylvania (1837) — The second article covers an important but less well-known aspect of the Reformation; the first is a translation from Philip Konrad Marheineke’s History of the German Reformation dealing with the period between Luther’s appearance at the Diet of Worms and his return to the Castle Wartburg.

  • Henry Martyn Baird (1832-1906) — Theodore Beza: The Counsellor of the French Reformation, 1519-1605 (1899) – The classic biography of the French Reformer Theodore Beza, who became Geneva’s spiritual leader after the death of John Calvin.

  • William Maxwell Blackburn (1828-1898) — Aonio Paleario and His Friends, With a Revised Edition of "The Benefits of Christ's Death" (1866) — This is an interesting work which contains both a biography of the Italian Reformer, Paleario, and an edited version of the great Italian spiritual classic that was long attributed to him (modern scholarship now attributes authorship of “The Benefit of Christ” to Benedetto Fontanini, also known as Benedetto da Mantova (1495-1556)). — William Farel, and the Story of the Swiss Reform (1867) — A fascinating look at the life of the Swiss Reformer, William Farel, who with his friend John Calvin, so influenced Geneva and the world. —Ulrich Zwingli (1868) — The life of another great Swiss Reformer, Ulrich Zwingli.

  • Ezra Hall Gillett (1823-1875) —The Life and Times of John Huss (1864) — This is a good introduction to the Bohemian (Czech) proto-Reformer, John Huss.

  • Joel Tyler Headley (1813-1897) — Luther and Cromwell (1850) — Two famous Reformers and the parallels in their stories.

  • Thomas Cary Johnson (1859-1936) — John Calvin and the Genevan Reformation (1900) — An important biography of the great French Reformer and spiritual leader of Geneva, John Calvin. — Martin Luther: Who Was He, That the World Should Remember Him From Time to Time With Praise to God? (1909-1910) - A valuable sketch of the great Reformer.

  • Frederick William Loetscher, Sr. (1875-1966) — Luther and the Problem of Authority in Religion Parts 1-2 (1917) — Loetscher addresses (on the 400th anniversary of the Reformation) a fundamental issue with which the Reformers wrestled.

  • William Carlos Martyn (1841-1917) — The Life and Times of Martin Luther (1866) — A great 19th century biography of the German Reformer. —The Dutch Reformation (1868) – A good overview of the Reformation in the Netherlands.

  • John William Mears (1825-1881) — The Beggars of Holland and the Grandees of Spain: A History of the Reformation in the Netherlands, From A.D. 1200 to 1578 (1867) — This is another comprehensive look at the Dutch Reformation, and in particular, what lead up to it.

  • Samuel Miller (1769-1850) — Introductory Essay to Charles de Viller's An Essay on the Spirit and Influence of the Reformation (1833) — As Miller writes, “The Reformation from Popery is a theme which can never grow old.”

  • Thomas Ephraim Peck (1822-1893) — Martin Luther (1895) — This biographical lecture about the great Reformer was originally delivered in 1872, and is here found in Vol. 1 of Peck’s Miscellanies.

  • Richard Clark Reed (1851-1925) — Calvin’s Contribution to the Reformation (1909) — This was Reed’s part in the Southern Presbyterian Church’s celebration of the 400th anniversary of John Calvin’s birth.

  • William Childs Robinson (1897-1982) — The Reformation: A Rediscovery of Grace (1962) — Valuable alumni lectures delivered at Columbia Theological Seminary on various aspects of the Reformation.

  • Robert Fleming Sample (1829-1905) — Beacon-Lights of the Reformation; or, Romanism and the Reformers (1889) — The story of the long combat against Romanism.

  • David Schley Schaff (1852-1941) — Martin Luther and John Calvin, Church Reformers (1917) — Written for the 400th anniversary of the Reformation, the younger Schaff highlights the two great Reformers.

  • Philip Schaff (1819-1893) — Calvin’s Life and Labors (1875) — The elder Schaff looks at the life and legacy of the French Reformer. — History of the Christian Church, Vol. 6 (1888, 1904) and History of the Christian Church, Vol. 7 (1892) — These volumes cover the history of the German and Swiss Reformation.

  • Thomas Smyth (1808-1873) - Calvin and His Enemies: A Memoir of the Life, Character, and Principles of Calvin (1856) — An important memoir of one the greatest Reformers, which covers challenging aspects of his life and career, including the case of Servetus.

  • Joseph Ross Stevenson (1866-1939) — The Reformation: A Revival of Religion (1917) — A reminder of what reformation means.

  • Cornelius Van Til (1895-1987) — Review of Martin Luther, The Bondage of the Will (1931) — A fresh look at a classic of Christian literature.

  • B.B. Warfield (1851-1921) — John Calvin: The Man and His Work (1909) — Warfield’s homage to the French Reformer on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of Calvin’s birth. — The Ninety-Five Theses in Their Theological Significance  (1917) — Originally published in The Princeton Theological Review in honor of the 400th anniversary of the Reformation, this is a fascinating study of the document by Martin Luther that launched the Reformation on October 31, 1517. — The Theology of the Reformation (1917) — Warfield looks at the key doctrines that figured in the thinking of Martin Luther. — Review of four works by D. Hay Fleming: The Story of the Scottish Covenants (1905); The Scottish Reformation (1905); The Reformation in Scotland (1910); and The Last Days of John Knox (1914) — An appreciation of the writings of a great Reformation scholar.

  • Robert Alexander Webb (1856-1919) — The Reformation and the Lord’s Supper (1917) — Webb looks at a crucial aspect of worship that was important to the Reformation.

  • Julia McNair Wright (1840-1903) — Her series of biographies for young people published in 1870 includes sketches of George Wishart, John Knox, Martin Luther, Queen Margaret, John Calvin, Renée, William Tyndale, Richard Baxter, John Huss and Gaspard de Coligni.

We have much reason to be thankful for the men and women both of the 16th centuries and those more recent who all contributed to the cause of Reformation in their own ways. From Log College Press, we wish you a Happy Reformation Day, and happy reading!

Note: This blog post was originally published on October 31, 2017, and has been edited and expanded.

William B. Sprague: An American Collector

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Do you have a hobby? Are you a pastor with a passion for something slightly outside your vocation? We have written previously about pastors who were collectors of antiquities. William Buell Sprague was such a pastor.

Early in life, Sprague was given by a widow a collection of manuscript sermons preached by her late husband. He was ten years old at the time. A decade later he served in Virginia as the private tutor of Major Lawrence Lewis, nephew of George Washington, from 1815 to 1816. In this capacity, he came into possession of some of Washington’s personal correspondence — a happy providence that strengthened what became a lifelong hobby of (in fact, a self-described “mania” for) collecting autographs and letters from the hands of famous contemporaries and luminaries of the past. He also acquired an extensive collection of books and pamphlets.

It was from Judge Bushrod Washington, another nephew of the first American President and keeper of his papers, that Sprague acquired a batch of 1,500 manuscript letters from George Washington’s personal papers, on the condition that he leave copies of each letter in replacement. From this seed, Sprague was able to develop a full set of autographs by each of the 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence, and a full set of autographs by each of Washington’s generals. It is believed that, as a pioneer in the field, he was the first person ever to complete a full collection of the Signers, which he had acquired by 1834. By the time he died, he owned three complete such sets of the Signers’ autographs.

His collection included autographs of Augustine, John Calvin, Theodore Beza, Philip Melanchthon, John Wesley, John Bunyan, Oliver Cromwell, Richard Baxter, William Wordsworth, Presidents of the United States, cabinet officials, Moderators of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, college presidents (he wrote a series of 84 articles on American college presidents for the New York Observer), and many others.

One particular letter written by Sprague to President James Madison sheds light on his efforts to obtain certain notable autographs.

Albany, NY. December 12. 1831.

Dear Sir,

I fear you will think, and not without good reason, that I am presuming too much upon your kindness in troubling you with one more inquiry in connexion with my favorite pursuit of collecting autographs. I have at length succeeded, tho’ not without great difficulty in obtaining a letter or some other document in the hand writing of each of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, with the exception of Button Gwinnett, and I have the prospect of being able soon to procure something (at least a signature) of his. I am now attempting the same thing in respect to the Signers of the Federal Constitution, and have already succeeded to a considerable extent. Among those in which I am deficient is John Blair of Virginia. Will you, My dear Sir, if my requests on this unimportant subject are not already past endurance, be so good as to inform me to whom of his descendants or correspondents I may apply for a letter or note from him, with the prospect of success. I have a letter from a person of the same name who was Govr of Virginia several years before; and whom I at first identified with the Signer; but I have since discovered my mistake. I have only to say in apology for troubling you about this matter, that I could think of no other person who would be likely to have it in his power to give me the information; and I confess I have presumed a little upon my recollection of your past indulgence. With every sentiment of perfect veneration, I am, Dear Sir, Yr most obedt and obliged,

William B. Sprague

In the process of building his collection, which has been estimated to include somewhere between 40,000 to 100,000 autographs overall, Sprague corresponded with many other fellow-collectors, including Joseph Harrison Hedges of Philadelphia and Rev. Thomas Raffles of Liverpool, England. The correspondence of Sprague was a key feature in the development of a later biographical project, his magnum opus, the 9 vols. (one other left in manuscript) of the Annals of the American Pulpit. The letters he received constituted a great part of that work.

Ultimately, much of Sprague’s autograph collection was obtained by the Historical Society of Philadelphia. Around 20,000 of Sprague’s pamphlets were donated to the Princeton Theological Seminary Library; 8,000 were donated to the Andover Theological Seminary; 2,000 were donated to Union Theological Seminary in New York; and many were also donated to Yale, his alma mater. Other beneficiaries include the New York State Library, the Connecticut Historical Society Library; the Historical Society of Pennsylvania; the Wisconsin Historical Society, the New York Historical Society, and the American Antiquarian Society.

Some portions of Sprague’s autograph collection have been auctioned off, even in recent days. His own signatures on letters and sermons are not infrequently available for purchase on Ebay. He has been criticized for a willingness to expunge certain comments from letters by unorthodox persons of interest, such as Benjamin Franklin, but even though he was free with the scissors, and sometimes incurred the wrath of librarians who opposed his efforts to obtain all that he could for his personal collection, the greater part of his legacy is the found in the preservation of numerous historical documents and signatures, many of which he donated to institutions without any profit motive, or desire for fame, which otherwise might have been lost to history.

Sources consulted for this article include:

  • Draper, Lyman Copeland, An Essay on the Autographic Collections of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence and of the Constitution (1889);

  • Jenkins, Charles F., “The Completed Sets of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence,” The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, vol. 49, no. 3, 1925, pp. 231–249. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/20086575;

  • Moore, Charles, A Biographical Sketch of the Rev. William Buell Sprague (1877)

  • Mulder, John M., and Stouffer, Isabelle, “William Buell Sprague: Patriarch of American Collectors.” American Presbyterians, vol. 64, no. 1, 1986, pp. 1–17. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/23330916; and

  • O’Leary, Derek Kane, “William Buell Sprague and the Trouble With Antiquarianism in the Early U.S.” (2019).

Calvin's Institutes at Log College Press

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Now, my design in this work has been to prepare and qualify students of theology for the reading of the divine word, that they may have an easy introduction to it, and be enabled to proceed in it without any obstruction. For I think I have given such a comprehensive summary, and orderly arrangement of all the branches of religion, that, with proper attention, no person will find any difficulty in determining what ought to be the principal objects of his research in the Scripture, and to what end he ought to refer any thing it contains. — John Calvin, Preface to the 1559 edition of the Institutes of the Christian Religion (1841 ed.)

One of the great classic works in Reformed Christian literature is the Institutes of the Christian Religion by the French-Swiss theologian John Calvin. First published in Latin in 1536, with subsequent editions in Latin and French, the final authoritative Latin edition approved by its author came out in 1559. It’s importance as a guide to the Christian faith can be measured in how many times it has been republished, including in America. Perhaps more than any other single book, Calvin’s Institutes has influenced and shaped the Protestant Reformation and Protestantism in general.

Today, in the English-speaking world, the most commonly used translations are those by Ford Lewis Battles (edited by John T. McNeill, 1960) and Henry Beveridge (1845), although more recent. translations from the 1541 French edition of the Institutes (Calvin’s own translation of the 1539 Latin Institutes into French) by Elsie Anne McKee (2009) and Robert White (2014) are gaining in popularity. Older English translations by Thomas Norton (1561) and John Allen (1813) continue to have their respective admirers; Calvin scholar Dr. Richard Muller is said to prefer Allen’s over the rest.

Although the first American edition was published in 1816, it was not until overtures by John C. Backus and Robert J. Breckinridge on behalf of their Baltimore congregations, with financial assistance, led the Presbyterian Board of Publication to issue its own edition of Allen’s translation in 1841 with an introduction by William M. Engles, editor of the Board, along with editorial assistance by his brother Joseph P. Engles.

Title page of the 1841 edition of Calvin’s Institutes.

Title page of the 1841 edition of Calvin’s Institutes.

In 1936, a new edition of Allen’s translation was published by the Presbyterian Board of Christian Education. It has some features worthy of note. Included are B.B. Warfield’s article on The Literary History of the Institutes (first published in 1909) and An Account of the American Editions by Thomas C. Pears, Jr.

Title page of the 1936 edition of Calvin’s Institutes.

Title page of the 1936 edition of Calvin’s Institutes.

It is hoped that we might be able to add Hugh T. Kerr’s A Compend of the Institutes of the Christian Religion (1939) at some point in the future. Meanwhile, the 1841 and 1936 editions of Calvin’s Institutes, with prefatory material by Engles, Warfield and Pears are fully available to read at Log College Press. Allen’s translation of Calvin’s magnum opus is a treasure appreciated by American Presbyterians since the 19th century, and we are pleased to make it accessible to our 21st century readers as well.

It has pleased God that Calvin should continue to speak to us through his writings, which are so scholarly and full of godliness, it is up to future generations to go on listening to him until the end of the world, so that they might see our God as he truly is and live and reign with him for all eternity. — Theodore Beza, Life of John Calvin

Resources on Calvinism at Log College Press

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And I have my own private opinion that there is no such a thing as preaching Christ and him crucified, unless you preach what now-a-days is called Calvinism. I have my own ideas, and those I always state boldly. It is a nickname to call it Calvinism; Calvinism is the gospel, and nothing else. I do not believe we can preach the gospel, if we do not preach justification by faith, without works; nor unless we preach the sovereignty of God in his dispensation of grace; nor unless we exalt the electing, unchangeable, eternal, immutable, conquering, love of Jehovah; nor do I think we can preach the gospel, unless we base it upon the peculiar redemption which Christ made for his elect and chosen people; nor can I comprehend a gospel which lets saints fall away after they are called, and suffers the children of God to be burned in the fires of damnation after having believed. Such a gospel I abhor. The gospel of the Bible is not such a gospel as that. We preach Christ and him crucified in a different fashion, and to all gainsayers we reply, "We have not so learned Christ." (Charles Spurgeon, Sermon no. 98, New Park Street Pulpit 1:100)

It is no novelty, then, that I am-preaching; no new doctrine. I love to proclaim these strong old doctrines, which are called by nickname Calvinism, but which are surely and verily the revealed truth of God as it is in Christ Jesus. By this truth I make a pilgrimage into the past, and as I go, I see father after father, confessor after confessor, martyr after martyr, standing up to shake hands with me. Were I a Pelagian, or a believer in the doctrine of free-will, I should have to walk for centuries all alone. Here and there a heretic of no very honorable character might rise up and call me brother. But taking these things to be the standard of my faith, I see the land of the ancients peopled with my brethren - I behold multitudes who confess the same as I do, and acknowledge that this is the religion of God’s own church. (Charles Spurgeon, Sermon on Election 1:551)

Although Calvinism (which Charles Spurgeon has described as “the gospel, and nothing else”) permeates the works of American Presbyterians on numerous topics, and we have pages dedicated to the topics of Systematic Theology the Westminster Standards, there are particular resources on Calvinism to be found at Log College Press which we aim to highlight today. These may be worth bookmarking for future study by the student of the doctrines of grace.

Calvinism is also known by the acrostic TULIP, which is intended to make the so-called ‘Five Points of Calvinism’ easier to remember. It was the Synod of Dort (1618-1619) in The Netherlands which articulated the Calvinistic Five Points in response to the Arminian Remonstrants. And it was Loraine Boettner who popularized (and modified) the TULIP acrostic summarizing those Five Points in The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination (1932), but it was Cleland Boyd McAfee who is believed to have coined it in the first place c. 1905. We have noted this previously, but it is worth mentioning again.

The history of McAfee’s utilization of TULIP as an aid to teaching the doctrines of grace was perhaps first recorded by William H. Vail in an important 1913 article as was discussed previously here. What’s particularly interesting about Vail’s historical study of the Five Points is that is draws from multiple authorities, including the Synod of Dort, Jonathan Dickinson, and several living (at that time) leading clergymen.

William H. Vail’s chart showing the Five Points of Calvinism compared historically. A represents the list derived from Abbott’s Dictionary of Religious Knowledge; B comes from Dr. Francis Landey Patton; C is from Dr. Hugh Black; D is from the Rev. G…

William H. Vail’s chart showing the Five Points of Calvinism compared historically. A represents the list derived from Abbott’s Dictionary of Religious Knowledge; B comes from Dr. Francis Landey Patton; C is from Dr. Hugh Black; D is from the Rev. George B. Stewart; and E is from the Rev. Isaac N. Rendall.

The Five Points, says Mr. Vail, “as formulated by the Synod of Dort, according to two authorities, are as follows:

1. Personal, Gratuitous Election to Everlasting Life.
2. Particular Redemption.
3. Depravity, Native and Total.
4. Effectual Calling, or Re generation, by the Holy Spirit.
5. Certain Perseverance of Saints unto Eternal Life.

1. Divine Predestination.
2. The Redemption of Men through the Death of Christ.
3. Total Depravity.
4 Redemption through Grace.
5. Perseverance of Saints.”

The list from Jonathan Dickinson is as follows:

1. Eternal Election. Ephesians i. 4, 5.
2. Original Sin. Romans v. 12.
3. Grace in Conversion. Ephesians ii. 4, 5.
4. Justification by Faith. Romans iii. 25.
5. Saints' Perseverance. Romans viii. 30.

The TULIP list from Cleland B. McAfee, as noted by Vail, is as follows:

1st, T stands for Total I)epravity.
2d, U “ “ Universal Sovereignty.
3d, L -- “ Limited Atonement.
4th, I -- “ irresistible (, race.
5th, P -- “ Perseverance of the Saints.

Jonathan Dickinson covered this ground in The True Scripture Doctrine Concerning Some Important Points of Christian Faith (1741).

Robert L. Dabney wrote on The Five Points of Calvinism (1895) [not yet available at Log College Press] and identified them as follows:

1.. Original Sin
2. Effectual Calling
3. God’s Election
4. Particular Redemption
5. Perseverance of the Saints

The works by Dickinson and Dabney have been republished by Sprinkle Publications in 1992 as one combined volume.

Loraine Boettner in 1932 wrote: “The Five Points may be more easily remembered if they are associated with the word T-U-L-I-P; T, Total Inability ; U, Unconditional Election; L, Limited Atonement; I, Irresistible (Efficacious) Grace; and P, Perseverance of the Saints.” This has become the standard meaning of the TULIP acrostic.

Other resources to be found at Log College Press which concern Calvinism either historically or theologically considered include:

  • Ashbel Green Fairchild, The Sovereignty of God, Especially in Election; The Great Supper: or, An Illustration and Defence of Some of the Doctrines of Grace; and What Presbyterians Believe;

  • Abel M. Fraser, Calvinism: A Bible Study;

  • John L. Girardeau, Calvinism and Evangelical Arminianism;

  • A.A. Hodge, Calvinism;

  • Samuel Miller, Introductory Essay to the Thomas Scott’s Articles of the Synod of Dort (available in print here); Presbyterianism the Truly Primitive and Apostolical Constitution of the Church of Christ (available in print here); and Mole-Hills and Mountains, or The Difficulties of Calvinism and Arminianism Compared;

  • Nathan L. Rice, God Sovereign and Man Free: Or, The Doctrine of Divine Foreordination and Man's Free Agency, Stated, Illustrated and Proved From the Scriptures;

  • W.G.T. Shedd, Calvinism: Pure and Mixed - A Defence of the Westminster Standards;

  • William D. Smith, What is Calvinism?; and

  • B.B. Warfield, Calvinism and Calvinism: The Meaning and Uses of the Term; and Calvinism.

There are additional works on the subject that Log College Press hopes to add in the future such as Robert Hamilton Bishop, An Apology For Calvinism; and Samuel A. King, Presbyterian Doctrines, as Contained in the Five Points of Calvinism. And many more are already on the site relating to the thought of both John Calvin and Augustine. Also, be sure to consult, David N. Steele, et al., The Five Points of Calvinism: Defined, Defended, and Documented.

It is a core belief of historic Presbyterianism that people who are saved are saved by grace alone and not by works (Eph. 2:8-9). This is a reflection of both God’s sovereignty and man’s inability to save himself. The works referenced above concerning the doctrines of grace, and many more not mentioned by name here, are resources to take up and study by those who wish to better understand historic doctrine, which is, in the words of Spurgeon, “no novelty…no new doctrine,” but simply the fundamental teaching of God’s Word on soteriology. To God be the glory!

Recent Additions to Log College Press -- January 28, 2021

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As we approach 10,000 separate works available to read for free online at Log College Press, we wish to keep our readers apprised of some recently-added highlights.

  • Caleb Cook Baldwin (1820-1911) and his wife Harriet Fairchild Baldwin (1826-1896) were American Presbyterian missionaries to China. Together they served Chinese Christians for almost five decades, and translated much of the Bible into the Fuzhou (Foochow) dialect. Mrs. Baldwin’s poems were published posthumously, and her pencil sketches are a joy to behold.

  • John Armor Bingham (1815-1900) was a friend of Titus Basfield (whose correspondence was destroyed sadly in the 1990s). He is known to history as a lawyer who participated in the trial of the conspirators involved in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, a prosecutor in the impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson, and as the primary author of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

  • Alexander Latimer Blackford (1829-1890) was an American Presbyterian missionary and the first moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Brazil.

  • Amos Dresser (1812-1904) was a Presbyterian minister, abolitionist and pacifist. He was once publicly beaten in Tennessee for carrying abolitionist literature and advocating their contents, a story recounted in his famous Narrative.

  • Edward Payson Durant (1831-1892) was a ruling elder to whom A.A. Hodge gives credit for inspiring Hodge to write his commentary on the Westminster Confession of Faith.

  • Mary Augusta McConnell Palmer (1822-1888) was the wife of Benjamin Morgan Palmer.

  • Elizabeth Lee Allen Smith (1817-1898) was the wife and biographer of Henry Boynton Smith. She is also known for her hymn translations, including that of I Greet Thee Who My Sure Redeemer Art, attributed sometimes to John Calvin (this attribution is disputed).

  • Lewis French Stearns (1847-1892) was the son of Jonathan French Stearns. Lewis served as a professor at Bangor Theological Seminary in Maine, and was greatly mourned when he died in his early 50s.

  • Hermann Warszawiak (1865-1921) was a born a Polish Jew, but after his conversion to Christ, his heart was set on missions to the Jews who lived in New York City.

  • Loyal Young (1806-1890) and Watson Johnston Young (1838-1919) were father and son Presbyterian ministers. Samuel Hall Young, the famous missionary to Alaska, was another son of Loyal Young. Loyal’s commentary on Ecclesiastes was a noteworthy contribution to Biblical exegesis. Both Loyal and Watson were poets as well.

  • Many additional writings by Lyman Hotchkiss Atwater, Albert Barnes, Francis Landey Patton, Henry Boynton Smith, and others have been added in recent weeks as well.

As always, we are grateful for the suggestions of our readers for people and works to add to the site. And as Log College Press continues to grow, keep checking back to see what’s new. Tolle lege!

B.B. Comegys on the Christian family's library

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Books are the windows through which the soul looks out. A house without books is like a room without windows. No man has a right to bring up his children without surrounding them with books, if he has the means to buy them. It is a wrong to his family. He cheats them. Children learn to read by being in the presence of books. The love of knowledge comes with reading and grows upon it. And the love of knowledge, in a young mind, is almost a warrant against the inferior excitement of passions and vices. . . .A little library, growing larger every year, is an honorable part of a young man's history. It is a man's duty to have books. A library is not a luxury, but one of the necessaries of life. — Henry Ward Beecher

A prominent and successful Philadelphia banker, a ruling elder, and one of the key individuals who led the Presbyterian Church to officially embrace the liturgical calendar, Benjamin Bartis Comegys was also a great lover of books. He amassed a great personal library and published a fascinating Tour Round My Library (1893), which reflects the philosophy of Henry Ward Beecher above, which Comegys quoted.

In this little book, Comegys proposes to give the reader a “chatty” description and tour of his personal library, setting the stage first with his ideas about the value of building a good, solid library for the Christian family. In the preface, he writes:

There are few lives so busy that some intervals cannot be found for the indulgence of a taste for art, science or literature. For most of my life I have been engaged in an occupation laborious, exacting and full of responsibilities. But from my early youth I have been a lover of books, and though I make no claim to scholarship, the cultivation of a taste for general literature has been one of the chief pleasures of my life. The companionship of books has been, and is, among my most cherished companionships, and I love them as I love my friends.

The love of books has led me to the gathering of some such as I cared most to have, and which were within my means; and the “intervals,” which have always been the evenings, have given me opportunities for reading and sometimes for writing.

True to the adage of Augustine (quoted by John Calvin in his Preface to the Institutes) — “I profess to be one of those who, by profiting, write, and by writing profit.” (Augustine, Epist. 7.) — Comegys was not only a reader but a writer, many of whose published works have recently been added to Log College Press.

Comegys also writes that the study of the Scriptures was a major goal in the building of his library as he acquired Bible commentaries and ultimately taught a class on the Bible. “Yet in a well-selected library that part ordinarily is the most valuable which contains books written to interpret the Holy Scriptures.” His body of published writings reflects a particular interest in both contributing to the work of the church, and to teaching and counseling the young.

A library bought for the purpose of filling a room, large or small, with books, even if well selected as to authors, subjects and binding, is not a library in the truest and best sense. A library for the family should be the growth of many years. Begun with a few books over the mantel shelf, and growing to fill a cupboard or two, then overflowing to some temporary shelves, it grows until a bookcase is needed; then another and another, until the room itself scarcely contains its treasures. Children must be provided with books, picture-books at first, then stories well chosen, then histories, such as the admirable series of histories and biographies by the Abbotts; then large histories, then fiction, then poetry, then books for Sunday reading, of which there is a vast field most attractive: for a household that is brought up to make a distinction between Sunday reading and every-day reading, will be none the worse for it when the children are grown, even if some people do sneer at such a distinction; then polite letters generally, then books of reference, never intended to be read, then dictionaries, then encyclopedias.

A library formed on some such plan, the needs of the family being the motive for getting the books, may be years and years before its accumulations are large; but every book so purchased will have a history of its own, every book will be loved for its own sake, its author will somehow become as a personal friend and visitor in the house — and no book, the reading of which would bring a blush to the cheek if read aloud, will find a place in that library.

The value of a library does not depend on the number of books it contains. The readers of “Ten Thousand a Year,” Dr. Warren’s charming novel, will not fail to recall the attempts of Tittlebat Titmouse to gather a library. This ridiculous character was, in this quest, a type of man whom some of us have seen in our country.

Comegys goes on to discuss principles of wisdom in the selection of the best books in various genres of literature, history and theological study, highlighting some of his favorite and most relied-upon. He also speaks to the reader about the joy of traveling via books without even leaving one’s library. And in a sense he takes the reader to places far and near, through ages of time long and short, by means of a little “tour round my library.”

Our tour guide then writes:

But first let me describe the room which I call my library. An irregularly shaped room with a deep, wide bay-window on the south and another window down to the floor: a deeper alcove and two windows on the north: the shelves on the west side broken by a wide fire-place and a mantel reaching almost to the ceiling, and a fine old German cabinet: a room wainscoted throughout with wood; no plaster, paint or paper; the ceiling of dark yellow pine set in deep panels, with pendants of dark walnut.

The spaces between the windows and all the rest of the wall are covered with shelves — the highest range being within easy reach, and over the shelves are placed busts of some of my favorite authors. In the middle of the room is the broad, strong table, that can bear any load of books — so firm that it does not shake under its sometimes heavy load. Across one corner of the room, quite away from the doors and the fire-place, is a most tempting lounge, with its pillows, the other furniture being the easy armchairs, all leather-covered, and the chair without arms, but with nearly straight back, which is always drawn up to the table, and which is my work-chair.

A glimpse of the library of B.B. Comegys.

A glimpse of the library of B.B. Comegys.

The writer almost becomes a poet, reflecting the poetic treasures found in his library, as he paints a picture with words. In following chapters, Comegys waxes nostalgically about special books, favorite authors and places to which he has traveled. Speaking of Sir Walter Scott, he is transported — along with the reader — to places in Scotland where Scott once lived, and where Comegys has traveled — to relive memories and experiences. The books on his shelves act in effect as a time travel device.

A second view of Comegys’ library.

A second view of Comegys’ library.

Other chapters follow which speak of authors such as Rev. John Todd (1800-1873) and Arthur Penrhyn Stanley (1815–1881), Dean of Westminster. The author is “chatty,” as he said, when telling us of the authors who have impacted him and which grace his library.

Third view of Comegys’ library.

Third view of Comegys’ library.

A library, in the view of Comegys, is a place where family, art, comfort, and edification unite, grow together, and leave deep and warm impressions that stir the heart, mind and soul. The Christian reader — even in the 21st century — will benefit from this remarkable tour of a library, which was so notable that it founds its way to the Smithsonian.

Comegys Collection
In 1966, the Smithsonian's Museum of History and Technology (now the National Museum of American History) set up an exhibition which featured the 19th-century library room of Benjamin B. Comegys (1819-1900), president of the Philadelphia National Bank, with the original wall panels, books, objects, and other furnishings. The exhibition was taken down in 1984 and the books were transferred to the Smithsonian Institution Libraries' Dibner Library. The works in this collection reflect the particular interests of Benjamin Comegys: religious and moral subjects, titles in English literature, and youth education. As it gives insight into the social and cultural concerns of the era, the Comegys collection is an important research tool to Museum staff and historians in general. The collection also contains a number of extra-illustrated books: works containing illustrations bound into the existing pages that contained images relevant to the text. This interesting aspect of book collecting became quite popular in the 1800s.

Even in the age of digital books — which we love at Log College Press, and strive to assemble for the benefit of our e-readers, along with our hardcopy publications — there is something special about the type of library that Comegys describes. Whether one’s library is a good collection of paper or digital writings, the goal of edifying the family is a timeless principle that Comegys articulates and represents. Not every library will look like his, and his Anglican leanings show in many of his particular selections, but all Christians do well to heed his general advice on how to build a good family library. Come and take that tour with Comegys here.

Girardeau on "the corner-stone of the Presbyterian system"

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The light of nature showeth that there is a God, who hath lordship and sovereignty over all, is good, and doth good unto all, and is therefore to be feared, loved, praised, called upon, trusted in, and served, with all the heart and with all the soul, and with all the might. But the acceptable way of worshipping the true God is instituted by Himself, and so limited by His own revealed will, that He may not be worshipped according to the imaginations and devices of men, or the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representation, or any other way not prescribed in the holy Scripture (Westminster Confession of Faith 21:1).

When John L. Girardeau addressed the Synod of South Carolina at Purity Presbyterian Church, in Chester, S.C., on October 24, 1885, one particular point that he made resonates even today. We are ever prone to “relax” our principles and let our guard down in matters which are of the utmost importance. And as John Calvin has said, that how God is worshipped is the primary component of the substance (or essence) of Christianity itself (The Necessity of Reforming the Church), it is understood that the mode of Christian worship is indeed of the utmost importance. Hear Girardeau’s words then, as quoted by John T. Chalmers in his essay on Ten Reasons Why the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church Adheres to the Exclusive Use of the Inspired Psalter in the Worship of God (1900).

We are, in some respects, relaxing in our adherence to the great principle, that whatsoever is not explicitly commanded in the Scriptures, or cannot be deduced from them by good and necessary consequence, is forbidden — a principle which may be characterized as the corner-stone of the Presbyterian system. We have professedly, appropriated it as ours. In the department of doctrine it has been maintained by us, and in that of government progress has happily been made in its application. But in the department of worship there is a growing tendency to slight it, and the experience of the Church has proved that its abandonment in one sphere is sure to produce its relinquishment in others. There is imminent danger just here, and it is the solemn duty of the young men of this Synod to subject this controlling principle, for which our fathers contended unto blood, to a full and careful study, and then fearlessly to give it that thorough-going application which its supreme importance demands. If not, as surely as water runs down hill, so surely will our Church lapse into defection from her venerable testimonies.

It is not claimed that Girardeau himself adhered to exclusive psalmody as Chalmers did (Girardeau did adhere to a cappella worship). But the words of Girardeau here are consistent with what the Westminster Confession of Faith teaches, which all Presbyterians affirm, in one version or another. In the worship of God, only that which is commanded or may be legitimately deduced by good and necessary consequence is acceptable to Him. Whenever Christians depart from this rule, as Girardeau notes, the Church has lapsed from the Word of God and her great Reformed creedal testimonies. When Christians recover this principle, it is hoped that, by the mercy and blessing of God, Reformation will surely follow.

The Protestant Reformation in the Writings of 19th Century American Presbyterians

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To commemorate what is arguably the greatest event in church history since Pentecost, Log College Press wishes to highlight select works by early American Presbyterians which relate to the 503rd anniversary of the Reformation:

  • Archibald Alexander (1772-1851) — The Doctrine of Original Sin as Held by the Church, Both Before and After the Reformation (1830) and Martin Luther at the Diet of Worms (1836) — These articles speak to important issues and moments related to the Protestant Reformation.

  • James Waddel Alexander (1804-1859) — Martin Luther Incognito (1836) and The Reformation in Hungary and Transylvania (1837) — The second article covers an important but less well-known aspect of the Reformation; the first is a translation from Philip Konrad Marheineke’s History of the German Reformation dealing with the period between Luther’s appearance at the Diet of Worms and his return to the Castle Wartburg.

  • Henry Martyn Baird (1832-1906) — Theodore Beza: The Counsellor of the French Reformation, 1519-1605 (1899) – The classic biography of the French Reformer Theodore Beza, who became Geneva’s spiritual leader after the death of John Calvin.

  • William Maxwell Blackburn (1828-1898) — Aonio Paleario and His Friends, With a Revised Edition of "The Benefits of Christ's Death" (1866) — This is an interesting work which contains both a biography of the Italian Reformer, Paleario, and an edited version of the great Italian spiritual classic that was long attributed to him (modern scholarship now attributes authorship of “The Benefit of Christ” to Benedetto Fontanini, also known as Benedetto da Mantova (1495-1556)). — William Farel, and the Story of the Swiss Reform (1867) — A fascinating look at the life of the Swiss Reformer, William Farel, who with his friend John Calvin, so influenced Geneva and the world. —Ulrich Zwingli (1868) — The life of another great Swiss Reformer, Ulrich Zwingli.

  • Ezra Hall Gillett (1823-1875) —The Life and Times of John Huss (1864) — This is a good introduction to the Bohemian (Czech) proto-Reformer, John Huss.

  • Thomas Cary Johnson (1859-1936) — John Calvin and the Genevan Reformation (1900) — An important biography of the great French Reformer and spiritual leader of Geneva, John Calvin. — Martin Luther: Who Was He, That the World Should Remember Him From Time to Time With Praise to God? (1909-1910) - A valuable sketch of the great Reformer.

  • Frederick William Loetscher, Sr. (1875-1966) — Luther and the Problem of Authority in Religion Parts 1-2 (1917) — Loetscher addresses (on the 400th anniversary of the Reformation) a fundamental issue with which the Reformers wrestled.

  • William Carlos Martyn (1841-1917) — The Life and Times of Martin Luther (1866) — A great 19th century biography of the German Reformer. —The Dutch Reformation (1868) – A good overview of the Reformation in the Netherlands.

  • John William Mears (1825-1881) — The Beggars of Holland and the Grandees of Spain: A History of the Reformation in the Netherlands, From A.D. 1200 to 1578 (1867) — This is another comprehensive look at the Dutch Reformation, and in particular, what lead up to it.

  • Samuel Miller (1769-1850) — Introductory Essay to Charles de Viller's An Essay on the Spirit and Influence of the Reformation (1833) — As Miller writes, “The Reformation from Popery is a theme which can never grow old.”

  • Thomas Ephraim Peck (1822-1893) — Martin Luther (1895) — This biographical lecture about the great Reformer was originally delivered in 1872, and is here found in Vol. 1 of Peck’s Miscellanies.

  • Richard Clark Reed (1851-1925) — Calvin’s Contribution to the Reformation (1909) — This was Reed’s part in the Southern Presbyterian Church’s celebration of the 400th anniversary of John Calvin’s birth.

  • David Schley Schaff (1852-1941) — Martin Luther and John Calvin, Church Reformers (1917) — Written for the 400th anniversary of the Reformation, the younger Schaff highlights the two great Reformers.

  • Philip Schaff (1819-1893) — Calvin’s Life and Labors (1875) — The elder Schaff looks at the life and legacy of the French Reformer. — History of the Christian Church, Vol. 6 (1888, 1904) and History of the Christian Church, Vol. 7 (1892) — These volumes cover the history of the German and Swiss Reformation.

  • Thomas Smyth (1808-1873) - Calvin and His Enemies: A Memoir of the Life, Character, and Principles of Calvin (1856) — An important memoir of one the greatest Reformers, which covers challenging aspects of his life and career, including the case of Servetus.

  • Joseph Ross Stevenson (1866-1939) — The Reformation: A Revival of Religion (1917) — A reminder of what reformation means.

  • B.B. Warfield (1851-1921) — John Calvin: The Man and His Work (1909) — Warfield’s homage to the French Reformer on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of Calvin’s birth. — The Ninety-Five Theses in Their Theological Significance  (1917) — Originally published in The Princeton Theological Review in honor of the 400th anniversary of the Reformation, this is a fascinating study of the document by Martin Luther that launched the Reformation on October 31, 1517. — The Theology of the Reformation (1917) — Warfield looks at the key doctrines that figured in the thinking of Martin Luther.

  • Robert Alexander Webb (1856-1919) — The Reformation and the Lord’s Supper (1917) — Webb looks at a crucial aspect of worship that was important to the Reformation.

  • Julia McNair Wright (1840-1903) — Her series of biographies for young people published in 1870 includes sketches of George Wishart, John Knox, Martin Luther, Queen Margaret, John Calvin, Renée, William Tyndale, Richard Baxter, John Huss and Gaspard de Coligni.

We have much reason to be thankful for the men and women both of the 16th centuries and those more recent who all contributed to the cause of Reformation in their own ways. From Log College Press, we wish you a Happy Reformation Day, and happy reading!

Note: This blog post was originally published on October 31, 2017, and has been edited and expanded.

Happy birthday to John Calvin!

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If you are Reformed, you probably know something about John Calvin. He is widely recognized as the author of the Institutes of Christian Religion (1536, 1559), and as the leader of the Reformed wing of the Reformation (in contrast to Martin Luther’s Lutheran wing). He was born in Noyon, France on July 10, 1509. Today is his birthday, and thus, Log College Press is celebrating with select resources about the man and his theology. Consider these works for an in-depth study of the man and his legacy.

John Calvin.jpg

As Calvin would say,

I have always been exceedingly delighted with the words of Chrysostom, “The foundation of our philosophy is humility;” and still more with those of Augustine, “As the orator, when asked, What is the first precept in eloquence? answered, Delivery: What is the second? Delivery: What the third? Delivery: so, if you ask me in regard to the precepts of the Christian Religion, I will answer, first, second, and third, Humility (Institutes 2.2.11).

As Reformed Christians, we do not exalt Calvin beyond measure, but we are thankful for the grace of God that accomplished so much good in his life. He was a very humble man, and that is seen in the writings referenced above which explore his life and many contributions to the world, and to the kingdom of God. We remember a good man today who was born over 500 years ago.

This is the Happy Day! - Émile Doumergue on the Church of the Psalms

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In April 1902, at Geneva, Switzerland, a lecture was given by a man described later by Lorraine Boettner as the the author of “the most exhaustive and authoritative work ever published on [John] Calvin” - Émile Doumergue. Seven years later, on the occasion of Calvin’s 400th birthday, this address on “Music in the Work of Calvin” was translated and published by B.B. Warfield. It highlights not only a tremendous appreciation on the part of Calvin for Biblical aesthetics in worship, but also how very foundational one particular aspect of the arts was to the Calvinistic branch of Christendom - the Psalter. One extract is here given, but the entire address is very much worth reading (found here).

Here we are, gentlemen, on a fine afternoon in May, 1558, on the great promenade of the students of Paris, the Pré-aux-Clercs, on the banks of the Seine. Some students are singing the Psalms, and their singing is so fine that their comrades gather and sing with them. The same scene is repeated the next day. Only, the lords of the court — Chatillon, Condé, the King of Navarre — mingle with the singers. It is a procession of seven or eight hundred people which unrolls itself, and the immense and delighted crowd listens with transport. What is it? The apparition of the Psalm, sung in chorus — “that unexpected harmony”, as Michelet puts it, “that sweet, simple and strong singing, so strong as to be heard a thousand leagues away, so sweet that everyone thought he heard in it the voice of his mother”. And while to the echoes of the Pré-aux-Clercs, there were answering the echoes of the Pré Fichaut of Bourges or of the promenades of Bordeaux, the old historian of the University of Paris, Bulee, said: “In the singing of the Psalms, the Protestants laid the foundations of their religion”; and Florimond de Raemond said: “It is from this event [the apparition of the Psalms] that the Church of Calvin may be dated” — the Church of the Psalms.
…
From that moment, the Psalms have been indissolubly bound up with the life, public and private alike, of Calvinists, and, as has been remarked, it would be possible to make a calendar, in which all the salient events of the history of French Protestantism should be recalled by a verse of a Psalm.

Here is that famous verse, for example, of Psalm 118:

This is the happy day
That God Himself did make;
Let us rejoice alway
And in it pleasure take.

Now, in describing the battle of Coutras (1587), won by Henry of Navarre, the son of Jeanne d’Albret, from the Duke de Joyeuse and the Catholic army, D’Aubigne expresses himself thus:

“Of the two artilleries, the last to come, that of Huguenots, was the first in position, and commenced to play before nine o’clock. Laverdin, seeing the damage which it did, rode towards his general and cried out, while still some distance off: ‘Sir, we are losing by waiting: we must open up.’ The response was: ‘Monsieur the Marshal speaks the truth.’ He returned at a gallop to his place, gave the word and charged.

“On the other side, the King of Navarre having had prayer offered throughout the army, some began to sing the Hundred-and-eighteenth Psalm: ‘This is the happy day.’ Many Catholics of the White-Cap cried out loudly enough to be heard: ‘S’Death! They are trembling, the poltroons; they are making confession.’ Vaux, lieutenant of Belle-garde, who had more frequently rubbed knees with these people and who alone rallied for the combat, said to the Duke: ‘Sir, when the Huguenots take this figure, they are ready to lay on with a will.’ ” And some hours later the victory was theirs.

But this same song, “This is the happy day”, has sustained the Calvinists in other combats, more dangerous, more difficult. It is heroic to cast ourselves at a gallop without fear into the midst of the battle. It is more heroic, laid on a bed of agony, to receive, calm and smiling, the assault of the last enemy which man has to conquer on this earth. Such a hero, the author whose narrative we have just read showed himself. His widow relates: “Two hours before his death, he said with a joyful countenance and a mind peaceable and content, ‘This is the happy day’.” There is something more heroic still. Listen! Far from the excitement of the combat, unsustained by the affections and care of friends, face to face with the mob howling with rage and hate, on the scaffold, at the foot of the gallows, here are the martyrs of the eighteenth century, — the Louis Rancs, the Frangois Benezets, the Frangois Rochettes,' — who, with their glorious souls, raise towards the heavens where their Saviour listens to them, the song of triumph: “This is the happy day!”

The Psalms in the heart of the Bible were at the heart of Biblical worship as envisioned and practiced by John Calvin. To join with him in singing such praise to God — oh, this is the happy day!

Chaney's Planetarium

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James McDonald Chaney (1831-1909) was a Presbyterian minister best-known for authoring William the Baptist. This fictional dialogue between an immersionist and a Presbyterian minister remains a classic presentation of the Biblical view of baptism.

Chaney, James McDonald photo.gif

However, Chaney was a man of varied interests. Besides William the Baptist and its sequel, Agnes, Daughter of William the Baptist, or The Young Theologian, he wrote other works of science fiction, such as Poliopolis and Polioland, or A Trip to the North Pole (1900) and Mac or Mary, or The Young Scientists (1900) [these works are not yet available at Log College Press, although the former can be read online here].

Moreover - in the vein of John Calvin who wrote “Let us mark well Job's intent here is to teach us to be astronomers, so far as our capacity will bear… [for] God intends to make us astronomers, so far as each man’s capacity will bear it” (Sermon 33 on Job 9:7-15) - Chaney invented a small-scale planetarium. It is described for us here in an 1896 publication.

Source: The Observer (March 1896), p. 123.

Source: The Observer (March 1896), p. 123.

A “greatly improved” edition of this planetarium is pictured in another journal the following year.

Source: Popular Science (January 1897), p. vi.

Source: Popular Science (January 1897), p. vi.

It is not known by this writer whether any of Chaney’s planetariums still exist. But his love of science remains an inspiration to those who heed the counsel of Ovid, as quoted by John Calvin: “While other animals look downwards towards the earth, he gave to man a lofty face, and bade him look at heaven, and lift up his countenance erect towards the stars” (Calvin’s commentary on Isaiah 40:26).

John Calvin's Grave: A poem by Samuel J. Fisher

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Samuel Jackson Fisher (1847-1928) was a leading African-American Presbyterian minister in his day, who served as the pastor of the Swissvale Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for 35 years; served as a long-time member of the faculty of Chatham University (then known as the Pennsylvania College for Women; served as President of the Presbyterian Board of Missions to the Freedmen; and who authored many articles, as well as a volume of poetry dedicated to his deceased wife: The Romance of Pittsburgh or Under Three Flags, and Other Poems. We have extracted here one poem which is especially noteworthy; a tribute to the great Reformer who was buried in Geneva, Switzerland, in an unmarked grave.

John Calvin’s Grave

In fair Geneva, near the arrowy Rhone,
John Calvin sleeps,—his grave without a stone.
Unmarked, unknown, yet near the busy street
Which echoed often to his hurrying feet.
While far away he saw those peaks of snow,
The Alps, so radiant in the sunset glow.
And watched Mt. Blanc's upsoaring dome,
Like some huge billow with its crest of foam,
Fit type of him, whose vast majestic mind
In moral grandeur towers o'er mankind.
Around that peak the tempests whirl and lower
And crackling lightnings blaze in hateful power,
Yet pass, and leave it stainless, strong and pure.
So from his foes his fame emerged secure;
And tho' against his work fierce hatred ranged.
Unmoved he stood, in power and aim unchanged.
Frail was his body, and, though racked with pain.
On, on he toiled, ne'er pausing to complain.
Strong were his friendships, pure his love and home;
Christ filled his heart, and not foul passion's foam.
No fear of Pope, — no dread of earthly kings
Turned his calm eyes from truth and heavenly things.
Humbled he spoke of God's wide sovereignty.
Yet taught the lowliest peasant to be free;
And while he bowed before God's boundless plan.
To souls oppressed he taught the rights of man.

Oh, clear-eyed student of the Holy Word,
Thy plea for freedom tyrants trembling heard!
Oh, wide-browed thinker of God's lofty thought,
What growth of nations have thy strong words wrought!
Thine was the task to magnify God's laws.
And trace for each event its first and only cause,
Breaking man's pride by views of God's control,
Yet sure God's child was every human soul.
And he who knelt most humbly to his God,
Secure in faith could walk unblanched abroad.
Thy words made gentle women fear no shame,
They nerved the martyr to await the flame.
From heart to heart they passed around the world,
Till kings were faced, or from their thrones were hurled.
Rest, noble Calvin, take thy well-earned sleep.
Thy fame far time shall undiminished keep.
In that low grave thy fragile body lies,
But God has writ thy name across the skies!

To Catch Sight of the Ineffable Vision

Have you visited the Compilations page at Log College Press recently? We are adding special volumes by multiple authors as we can. One such gem that is very much worth downloading and studying with care is the 1909 Calvin Memorial Addresses.

In May 1909, the Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUS) assembled in Savannah, Georgia, to honor the 400th anniversary of the birth of the French Reformer, John Calvin. It was on this occasion that a gavel was presented to the Moderator of the General Assembly. That gavel was made from a timber of wood obtained from the tower of the St. Pierre Cathedral in Geneva from which John Calvin preached. It was a fitting tribute to a man whom we admire because he, it seems, had "caught sight of the ineffable Vision." In the Calvin Memorial Addresses delivered on that occasion, B.B. Warfield (1851-1921) gave a description of Calvinism and what it means to be a Calvinist, a description that resonates a century on: 

"The Calvinist, in a word, is the man who sees God. He has caught sight of the ineffable Vision, and he will not let it fade for a moment from his eyes—God in nature, God in history, God in grace. Everywhere he sees God in His mighty stepping, everywhere he feels the working of His mighty arm, the throbbing of His mighty heart. The Calvinist is therefore, by way of eminence, the supernaturalist in the world of thought. The world itself is to him a supernatural product. not merely in the sense that somewhere, away back before all time, God made it, but that God is making it now, and in every event that falls out. In every modification of what is, that takes place, His hand is visible, as through all occurrences His “one increasing purpose runs”. Man himself is His— created for His glory, and having as the one supreme end of his existence to glorify his Maker, and haply also to enjoy Him for ever. And salvation, in every step and stage of it, is of God. Conceived in God’s love, wrought out by God’s own Son in a supernatural life and death in this world of sin, and applied by God’s Spirit in a series of acts as supernatural as the virgin birth and the resurrection of the Son of God themselves—it is a supernatural work through and through. To the Calvinist, thus, the Church of God is as direct a creation of God as the first creation itself. In this supernaturalism, the whole thought and feeling and life of the Calvinist is steeped. Without it there can be no Calvinism, for it is just this that is Calvinism....But let us make no mistake here. For here, too, Calvinism is just Christianity. The supernaturalism for which Calvinism stands is the very breath of the nostrils of Christianity; without it Christianity cannot exist. And let us not imagine that we can pick and choose with respect to the aspects of this supernaturalism which we acknowledge—that we may, for example, retain supernaturalism in the origination of Christianity. and forego the supernaturalism with which Calvinism is more immediately concerned, the supernaturalism of the application of Christianity. Men will not believe that a religion, the actual working of which in the world is natural, can have required to be ushered into the world with supernatural pomp and display. These supernaturals stand or fall together....This is what was meant by the late Dr. H. Boynton Smith, when he declared roundly: 'One thing is certain,—that Infidel Science will rout everything excepting thoroughgoing Christian orthodoxy. . . . The fight will be between a stiff thoroughgoing orthodoxy and a stiff thoroughgoing infidelity. It will be, for example, Augustine or Comte, Athanasius or Hegel, Luther or Schopenhauer, J. S. Mill or John Calvin.' This witness is true....Calvinism thus emerges to our sight as nothing more or less than the hope of the world."