"Charles Hodge: The Pride of Princeton" by Andrew Hoffecker. A Review



Charles Hodge: The Pride of Princeton
W. Andrew Hoffecker
P&R Publishers
www.prpbooks.com
ISBN: 978-0875526584; November 2011; $19.99
5 of 5 Stars

A dear Methodist minister friend bought me a copy and sent it to me out of the blue. He knew I like all things theological and Presbyterian, and Charles Hodge fits right into that nook. What my friend didn’t know is that this volume was written by an enjoyable Church History professor I had in seminary. So, my pleasure in receiving the tome was expanded exponentially! “Charles Hodge: The Pride of Princeton” is a 464-page paperback, and the fifth volume in the American Reformed Biography series by P&R Publishing. W. Andrew Hoffecker is emeritus professor of church history at Reformed Theological Seminary, Jackson, Mississippi, and author of two books on worldview, as well as “Piety and the Princeton Theologians.” Hoffecker desires to show “that Charles Hodge manifested the attributes associated with Calvinistic confessionalism (strong adherence to creedal religion, liturgical forms, and corporate worship) as well as the characteristics of evangelical piety (the necessity of vital religion marked by conversion, moral activism, and individual pious practice)” (32). I think the author reached his goal in a highly readable way!

Hoffecker chronicles the life of Charles Hodge, beginning with the family legacy of Presbyterians and patriots. He moves on through Hodge’s fatherless homelife and pious upbringing. Then the author describes the mentors Hodge had, his educational advancements and accomplishments, his development as a “New Side” (embracing the warm piety of the First Great Awakening) and “Old School” (holding to the Westminster Confession of Faith and classic Presbyterianism) theologian, his role in the controversies of the nineteenth century, and the ways Hodge held at bay the rising theological aberrations infiltrating from Germany. Hoffecker’s concluding paragraph summarizes the whole volume: “While the term New Side-Old School Presbyterian might seem a contradiction if not an impossibility in principle, Charles Hodge managed to exhibit the best that each faction could offer in its heyday. Unabashed in his enthusiasm for sound orthodoxy coupled with Reformed piety, as churchman, theologian, controversialist, and writer on all matters of interest, he lived and worked as one of the nineteenth century’s most influential Presbyterians” (360).

Hoffecker has done an excellent job in giving readers a wholesome biography on Charles Hodge, without sugarcoating the blemishes and idiosyncrasies. For Presbyterians, and those interested in American antiquity, this volume will put some much-needed historical background and context on the table. For Presbyterian ministers, you will find many of our own modern internal conflicts have their roots in Hodge’s own day and will gain more discerning perceptions. I’m delighted that my Methodist minister friend thought enough of me to obtain a copy and send it to me. But on the off chance you don’t have a friend who will purchase you a copy, let me encourage you to snatch up one as soon as you can and dive in. You won’t be disappointed!

It appears that at this writing, the book is on sale for a fraction of it’s initial cost. If you would like to obtain a copy you may go here: https://www.prpbooks.com/book/charles-hodge

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"Was America Founded as a Christian Nation?" (Rev. Ed.) by John Fea. A Review

Image
  John Fea is a professor of history at Messiah University in Mechanicsburg, PA. A university founded in 1909 by the Brethren in Christ Church. He originally published "Was America Founded as a Christian Nation? A Historical Introduction" in 2011, and it was revised in 2016. This 328-page paperback is packed full with Colonial and American history, drawing from original sources to answer that question. It is a book written "for the historically minded and thoughtful reader who is looking for help in sorting" out this question, avoiding polemics (xix). Since we live in a sound-bite culture, Fea recognizes that it is difficult to have a sustained dialogue on this topic, but he makes a valiant effort toward having that sustained dialogue. The book reads fairly straightforward, and doesn't seem to get bogged down in the contentious mudpuddles or bogs. In the end, Fea seems to get his point across. To answer the reigning question if America was founded as a Christian...
Read more

Union with Christ - An Application

Image
  (This was my weekly letter to my congregation on Wednesday, 21 February 2024) This morning in my devotional reading, I was working through 1 Corinthians 8. Though I’ve read these words a huge number of times over the years, today one verse caused me to stop and take stock.  Paul wrote, “ Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ ” (1 Corinthians 8:12). What struck me is a couple of things. First, in God’s saving work, we are – by grace alone – united (hitched, bonded, ingrafted) to Christ so much so, that what happens to us happens to him, and what is his becomes ours (think of Galatians 2:20, for example). As Sinclair Ferguson put it, “through union with Christ all that is his by incarnation becomes ours through faith” (“The Christian Life,” 110). Let that percolate in your heart for a while. Your fear, anxiety, tears, and so forth, he feels. And his “ Peace, be still ” is yours. Second, the way we treat one an...
Read more

"Ah, Lord! We are Animated by Anger and Anxiety, Fear and Fury..."

Image
I hesitate to put this out there because of the combative environment we are in at present. But I think some souls will take courage from this, and some will also join with me as we get to the end of this little composition. I am struck by the words of God in Zechariah 8. As he rehearses the waywardness and faithlessness of his people in the past, he clearly declares that he " set every man against his neighbor " (8:10). That got me thinking long ago. I started putting the pieces together and realized that one of God's acts of judgment is division, setting a man against his neighbor. That's what happened when he divided his people into the northern tribes and southern tribes (see 1 Kings 11:26-40). Because of Solomon's turning aside, allowing his wives to turn his heart away from the God of his father, David, the Lord brings about a rift in God's people. And this pattern of divisive judgment runs throughout Scripture. On the other hand, truthful unity is the g...
Read more