Everything about B B Warfield totally explained
Benjamin Breckinridge (B.B.) Warfield (
November 5,
1851 –
February 16,
1921) was the principal of
Princeton Seminary from
1887 to 1921. Some conservative
Presbyterians consider him to be the last of the great
Princeton theologians before the split in
1929 that formed
Westminster Seminary and the
Orthodox Presbyterian Church.
Early life
Warfield was born near
Lexington, Kentucky on November 5, 1851. His parents were William and Mary Cabell (Breckinridge) Warfield, originally from Virginia and quite wealthy. His maternal grandfather was the Presbyterian preacher Robert Jefferson Breckinridge (
1800-
1871), the son of
John Breckinridge, a former
United States Senator and
Attorney General. Warfield's uncle was
John C. Breckinridge, the fourteenth
Vice President of the United States, and a
Confederate general in the
American Civil War.
Wallis Simpson, the Duchess of Windsor, who married King
Edward VIII of the United Kingdom (and was largely responsible for his abdication of the throne in
1936), was a distant relative.
Education
Like many children born into a wealthy family, Warfield's childhood education was private. Warfield entered
Princeton University in
1868 and graduated in
1871 with high honors. Although Warfield studied
mathematics and
science in college, while travelling in Europe he decided to study theology, surprising even many of his closest friends. He entered
Princeton Seminary in
1873, in order to train for ministry as a
Presbyterian minister. He graduated in
1876.
Ministry
For a short time in 1876 he preached in Presbyterian churches in
Concord, Kentucky and
Dayton, Ohio as a "supply pastor" — the latter church calling him to be their ordained minister (which he politely refused). In late
1876 Warfield and his new wife moved to
Germany where he studied under
Ernst Luthardt and
Franz Delitzsch. Warfield was the assistant pastor of First Presbyterian Church in
Baltimore, Maryland for a short time. Then he became an instructor at Western Theological Seminary, which is now called
Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. He was ordained on
April 26,
1879.
In
1881 Warfield wrote a joint article with
A. A. Hodge on the
inspiration of the
Bible. It drew attention because of its scholarly and forceful defense of the inerrancy of the Bible. In many of his writings, Warfield attempted to demonstrate that the doctrine of
Biblical inerrancy was simply
orthodox Christian teaching, and not merely a concept invented in the
nineteenth century. His passion was to refute the
liberal element within Presbyterianism and within Christianity at large.
Throughout his life, he continued to write books and articles, which are still widely read today.
Marriage
In August of
1876 Warfield married Annie Pierce Kinkead. Soon afterward they visited
Germany. During their time there, Annie was struck by lightning and was permanently paralyzed. Benjamin continued to care for her until her death in
1915, managing to fit his work as a theologian with his role as caregiver. They had no children.
The actual events that led to Annie's paralysis are still unclear. Some believe that she may have suffered some form of mental or psychological disability.
Princeton
In 1887 Warfield was appointed to the
Charles Hodge Chair at
Princeton Theological Seminary, where he succeeded Hodge's son
A. A. Hodge. Warfield remained there until his death. As the last conservative successor to Hodge to live prior to the re-organization of Princeton Seminary, Warfield is often regarded as the last of the
Princeton theologians.
Bible
During his tenure, his primary thrust (and that of the seminary) was an authoritative view of the Bible. This view was held in contrast to the
emotionalism of the
revival movements, the
rationalism of
higher criticism, and the heterodox teachings of various
New religious movements that were emerging. The seminary held fast to the
Reformed confessional tradition — that is, it faithfully followed the
Westminster Confession of Faith.
Warfield believed that
modernist theology was problematic, since it relied upon the thoughts of the Biblical interpreter rather than upon the divine author of Scripture. He therefore preached and believed the doctrine of
sola scriptura — that the Bible is God's inspired word and is sufficient for the Christian to live his or her faith.
Much of Warfield's work centered upon the Bible's "
inspiration" by God — that while the
authors of the Bible were men, the ultimate author was God himself. The growing influence of modernist theology denied that the Bible was inspired, and alternative theories of the origin of the Christian faith were being explored.
After comparing
grammatical and
linguistic styles found within the Bible itself, modernist scholars suggested that because the human authors had clearly contributed to the writing of the biblical text, the Bible was written by people alone, not God. Warfield was a central figure in responding to this line of thinking by arguing that the supernatural work of the
Holy Spirit didn't lead to a form of "mechanical" inspiration (whereby the human authors merely wrote down what God dictated to them) but one in which the human author's intellect was fully able to express itself linguistically, while at the same time being supervised by the Holy Spirit to ensure its inspiration. This approach is essential to understanding the view of inspiration held by many Reformed and
Evangelical Christians today.
Studies in religious experience
Warfield was a conservative critic of much religious
revivalism that was popular in America at the time. He believed that the teachings and experience of this movement were too subjective and therefore too shallow for deep Christian faith. His book
Counterfeit Miracles advocated
cessationism over and against
miracles after the time of the
Apostles. Such attacks didn't go unnoticed, and even today Warfield is criticized by proponents of revivalism in the
Pentecostal and
Charismatic movements. For example,
Jack Deere wrote
Surprised by the Power of the Spirit with the intention of refuting
Counterfeit Miracles. Warfield's book was published before the worldwide spread of
Pentecostalism and addressed the issue of false claims to the possession of miraculous gifts under the headings, "
Patristic and Mediǣval Marvels", "Roman Catholic Miracles", "
Irvingite Gifts", "
Faith-Healing" and "
Mind-Cure".
His book
Perfectionism is a detailed critique of what he saw as false theories of
sanctification. It includes an analysis of the
Higher Life movement and the
Keswick movement, as well as a rebuttal of earlier schools of thought, such as that of
Asa Mahan and
Oberlin College, and in particular the theology of
Charles G. Finney.
Calvinism
Underpinning much of Warfield's theology was his adherence to
Calvinism as espoused by the
Westminster Confession of Faith. It is sometimes forgotten that, in his battles against Modernism on the one hand, and against revivalism on the other, he was simply expressing the Reformed faith when applied to certain situations.
It was Warfield's belief that the 16th century Reformers, as well as the 17th century Confessional writers, were merely summarizing the content and application of scripture. New revelations, whether from the minds of celebrated scholars or popular revivalists, were therefore inconsistent with these confessional statements (and therefore inconsistent with Scripture). Throughout his ministry, Warfield contended that modern world events and thinking could never render such confessions obsolete. Such an attitude still prevails today in many
Reformed churches and Christians who embrace
Calvinism.
» :
Calvinism is just religion in its purity. We have only, therefore, to conceive of religion in its purity, and that's Calvinism. (Selected Shorter Writings, I, p. 389)
Darwinism
“I don't think that there's any general statement in the Bible or any part of the account of creation, either as given in Genesis 1 and 2 or elsewhere alluded to, that need be opposed to evolution.” B. B. Warfield
Warfield's view of
Darwinism may appear unusual for a conservative of his day. He was willing to accept that
Darwin's theory might be true, but believed that God guided the process of evolution, and was as such
a
theistic evolutionist. His avid interest in amateur science was shared by many Victorian clerics and Warfield's views were not untypical.
Church politics
Unlike his contemporaries at Princeton, and perhaps due to his invalid wife, Warfield never cared much for churchmanship. While he was certainly supportive of political moves within various churches to strengthen and push conservative theology, he was never interested in the actual process itself, preferring to use his work at Princeton to influence future generations of Presbyterian ministers.
Influence and legacy
Along with
Abraham Kuyper and
Herman Bavinck, Warfield is acknowledged as one of the major influences on the thought of
Cornelius Van Til in the field of
apologetics.
Further Information
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