Facing the Enlightenment and Pietism: Archibald Alexander and the Founding of Princeton Theological Seminary. By Lefferts A. Loetscher. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1983. x + 303 pp. $35.00.

This chapter discusses Old Princeton in its broad intellectual and historical contexts, especially the engagement of Princeton faculty with European religious scholars. The Princeton professors used German and European scholarship extensively in their work, including in their defences of Calvinism. The chapter addresses some of the challenges that the Princeton professors faced in the context of modernity, and provides details regarding their reliance on a transatlantic community of evangelical scholars who were familiar with the Enlightenment Bible and issues tied to the rise of modern universities. A transatlantic reading supports an examination of scientific theological efforts on the part of Princeton-based scholars, and underscores their links with evangelical European scholars. The chapter shows how current research on the academic work and defence of traditional Calvinist ideas that emerged from Princeton Theological Seminary in the nineteenth century benefits from a broader historical context that includes the influx of European ideas.

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The Enlightenment Bible in Antebellum America (1812–1831): Archibald Alexander’s Appraisal

Unio Cum Christo ◽

10.35285/ucc2.1.2016.art10 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

pp. 127

Author(s):

ANNETTE G. AUBERT

Keyword(s):

Nineteenth Century ◽

Biblical Studies ◽

Central Position ◽

Theological Seminary ◽

Founding Father ◽

Research Attention ◽

Antebellum America ◽

Biblical Scholarship ◽

The Enlightenment ◽

Princeton Theological Seminary

Abstract: This essay addresses the pioneering biblical scholarship of Archibald Alexander (1772–1851), the founding father of Princeton Theological Seminary, in the contexts of biblical criticism and the academic Bible that were being discussed and created at German universities. Alexander was among the ﬁrst nineteenth-century American Presbyterian professors to interact with innovative research emerging from Europe, especially the work of Johann David Michaelis (1717–1791). He is worthy of research attention for establishing a central position for Princeton Theological Seminary in the ﬁeld of biblical studies, as well as for interacting with the creators of the Enlightenment Bible while defending Calvinist theology and epistemology.

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Reviewing and Responding to the Thought of Choan-Seng Song

Occasional Bulletin of Missionary Research ◽

10.1177/239693937700100302 ◽

1977 ◽

Vol 1 (3) ◽

pp. 9-15

Keyword(s):

Biblical Studies ◽

Recent Book ◽

Theological Seminary ◽

World Council Of Churches ◽

Christian Mission ◽

World Council ◽

Christian Literature ◽

Princeton Theological Seminary ◽

Theological Thought ◽

Academic Year

Choan-Seng Song, formerly Professor of Theology and Principal of Tainan Theological College in Taiwan and now Associate Director of the Commission on Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches in Geneva, is among the most stimulating of present-day Asian theologians. Dr. Song has become increasingly well known to missiological circles in North America through his service as a visiting professor at Princeton Theological Seminary during the academic year 1976–77. His book Christian Mission In Reconstruction: An Asian Attempt was first published in Madras by the Christian Literature Society of India in 1976. Orbis Books has scheduled an American edition to appear in the fall of 1977. The Occasional Bulletin of Missionary Research invited D. Preman Niles, Professor in the field of Biblical Studies at the Theological College in Pilimatalawa, Sri Lanka, and Charles C. West, the Stephen Colwell Professor of Christian Ethics at Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey to write brief articles on “Reviewing and Responding to the Thought of Choan-Seng Song.” Although Dr. Song's recent book is intended to be a particular focus of those two reflections, they go beyond it to a wider consideration of his theological thought. In turn, Dr. Song was invited to submit a “reaction-to-the-reactions.” The three articles follow in that order.

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A Conversation

Theology Today ◽

10.1177/004057368404100101 ◽

1984 ◽

Vol 41 (1) ◽

pp. 1-6

Author(s):

Thomas W. Gillespie ◽

Hugh T. Kerr

Keyword(s):

San Francisco ◽

New Testament ◽

Graduate School ◽

Theological Education ◽

Theological Seminary ◽

New Testament Studies ◽

Claremont Graduate School ◽

Princeton Theological Seminary ◽

Presbyterian Churches

We welcome to this issue which begins Volume XLI, Thomas W. Gillespie as Chairman of the Editorial Council of THEOLOGY TODAY. A Californian who has come East, Dr. Gillespie is the newly elected President of Princeton Theological Seminary and Professor of New Testament. He is a graduate of George Pepperdine College, Princeton Seminary, and the Claremont Graduate School, where he received the doctorate in New Testament studies. He has served as the minister of the Garden Grove and Burlingame Presbyterian Churches, and as Adjunct Professor at San Francisco and Fuller Seminaries and at New College Berkeley. In church affairs, Dr. Gillespie has been active in local and national committees on ecumenism and theological education.

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