History of the Christian church (Volume 5) online

in 1 8 ID. The Scotch Presbyterian divisions were im-
ported into this country, and augmented in this
period, to be lessened in the one succeeding. The
Dutch and German Reformed Churches made steady
progress in Church consciousness, in organization,
missions, and education. They increased through
emigration, but showed little of the aggressiveness
and enterprise of the Methodist and Baptist Churches.
As a whole, in spite of division, the Presbyterian
Churches, while not gaining as fast as the more Evan-
gelistic Churches, deepened the intellectual, moral,
and spiritual life of the communities, and laid, in
these years, strong foundations of enduring usefulness.
As before mentioned, the Plan of Union of iSoi,
while greatly increasing the Presbyterian Church,
Old and brought into it a large Congregational
New School element. This school sympathized with
Presbyterians, j^^ Taylor's modification of Calvinism,
known as the New Haven Theology ; they supported
the American Board in their contributions for foreign
missions, leaned toward a more Congregational polity,
and were decidedly Antislavery in opinion. AH these
things were an offense to the conservative Presby-
terians, which could not be atoned for by a marvel-
ously rapid and progressive growth. Indeed, the
growth increased the offense. In a few years more
the power would forever depart from the conservative
majority. In the years 1 830-1 836, inclusive, the New
School had the majority in the General Assembly
every year except in 1835. Two causes increased



The Christian Church in America, 281

this apprehension. One was the failure to convict
the New School men of heresy.

Rev. Albert Barnes, in 1829, preached a sermon
denying the imputation of Adam's sin to his posterity;
and in 1830 he became pastor of the First Presby-
terian Church in Philadelphia. A protest was made
against his installation, and the Presbytery con-
demned the sermon in 1830. The General Assembly,
in 1 83 1, declared that the Presbytery should be satis-
fied with Mr. Barnes's statements. In 1832, George
Duffield was tried, but escaped with a warning. In
1833, Edward Beecher, J. M. Sturdevant, and William
Kirby, of Illinois College, were tried by the Illinois
Presbytery for New School teaching, and acquitted.
In 1835 a prosecution of Lyman Beecher, of the Lane
Theological Seminary, at Cincinnati, met with the
same fate. In 1836, Albert Barnes was again before
the Presbytery, Synod, and General Assembly on
charges. The Synod of Philadelphia suspended Mr.
Barnes for a year. To this suspension Mr. Barnes
bowed, and occupied his family pew in his own
Church each Sunday for the year; henceforth the
hearts of the people of Philadelphia were his own.

The second cause of apprehension was the changed
attitude of the conservatives, and of the Southern
Churches in particular, in regard to slavery. It had
been looked upon as a necessary evil, and one that,
in the course of time, with the advance of Christian
liberty and civilization, would pass away; a consum-
mation for which all good people looked, and mean-
while endured it for a season. But slavery became
profitable through the invention of the cotton-gin,



282 History of the Christian Church,

and the laws of the Slave States, instead of looking
toward the emancipation of the slaves, tightened their
shackles and formed about the system every possible
defense. This change became evident from 1820. In
1833, Rev. James Smylie, a Presbyterian minister in
Mississippi, preached a sermon in which he declared
slavery was authorized by Christian Scripture, and
was of permanent validity and under the highest
religious sanction. The hard, mechanical theory of
inspiration which raised the Old to the level of the
New Testament favored this view, just as it did in the
polygamy of the Mormons. This teaching soon made
a revolution in the opinions and attitude toward all
efforts for the abolition, gradual or otherwise, of Ne-
gro slavery in the Christian Churches in the South.
This was shown in two ways: First, the system of
slavery grew worse. Free people of color could not
live in the South, and every obstacle was thrown in
the way of emancipation, and new soil was sought for
slavery in Texas, and through the results of the Mex-
ican War, and efforts were openly avowed to take
possession of Cuba or Central America and to reopen
the slave trade with Africa. Secondly, there was an in-
creased irritation, rising to rage and violence, which
demanded instant suppression, as the price of ecclesias-
tical or political union, of any expression of opinion
or political agitation which aimed at the abolition of
slavery. In 1837 a proslavery mob murdered, at Al-
ton, 111., Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy, a Presbyterian min-
ister. These things had not yet ripened for the evil
and disastrous harvest; but they were growing and
potent now.

In this situation the General Assembly met in



The Christian Church in America. 283

Philadelphia in 1837. It was found to have an Old
School majority. This was in part accidental, as the
New School majority of the year previous had repu-
diated the Presbyterian Western Foreign Missionary
Society in the interests of the American Board. This
action was felt to be unwise, and contributed to the
reversal of the majority of 1836. Another cause for
that reversal was, that the Union Theological Sem-
inary of New York was founded in January, 1836.
The Faculty of Princeton, with all their immense in-
fluence, fearing a New School rival institution, hav-
ing hitherto been neutral, now went over to the Old
School.

The majority saw they had the power ; they feared
they might not have another opportunity ; they did
not scruple to make the utmost of it.

First, they passed a repeal of the Plan of Union.
Then they resolved, by a vote of 132 to 105, that the
Synods and Presbyteries formed under that Plan
ceased to be a part of the Presbyterian Church. This
" exscinded," or cut off, the Synods of the Western Re-
serve, Utica, Geneva, and Genesee, and the Presby-
teries in five other Synods. Thus were cut off 533
Churches and 100,000 members. Whatever may be
our opinions in regard to the original differences, it
will be difficult for fair-minded men to approve the
method of this high-handed ex post facto legislation.
One can but ask, What must be the theory of the
Church with which such action could be consistent?
The General Assembly then resolved to establish a
Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions. In August,
1837, the New School Churches met in Convention at
Auburn, and founded a New School General As-



284 History of the Christian Church,

sembly, which met in 1838 and annually thereafter
until the reunion in 1869. In 1840 the Old School
had 126,583 members, and the New School 102,060.
Many conservative Presbyterians who did not approve
of the action at Philadelphia, yet did not sever their
accustomed relations, and remained with the Old
School Church. On the other hand, the powerful
Presbytery of New York joined the New School As-
sembly.

In 1850 the Old School reported 2,595 churches,
1,926 ministers, and 207,754 communicants; the New
School reported 1,568 churches, 1,473 ministers, and
139.796 members. The United South remained in
the Old School Church, while in 1850 the New School
General Assembly declared slaveholding a matter of
discipline w^hen not excused by special circumstances,
quite a distance from abolition.

Reformed and Associate Presbyterians.

The Reformed Presbyterians dated back to the
battle of Bothwell's Bridge, in 1679, and were known
as Cameronians or Covenanters. The Associate Pres-
byterians seceded from the Scotch Church in 1.733, o^
account of the abuse of Church patronage. In 1747
the Associate Church was divided into Burgher and
Anti-Burgher, because of the acceptance or rejection
of the burgher oath. In June, 1782, the Burgher and
the Anti-Burgher Churches in America united ; in Oc-
tober, 1782, the Reformed and Associate Churches in
New York united to form the Associate Reformed
Church. But these union eflforts only brought further
divisions. In 1798 was formed the New Reformed
Presbytery, which rejected the union with the Asso-



The Christian Church in America. 285

ciate Church, and the original Associate Presby-
tery, 1782, which did likewise. In Scotland, in 1795,
came a further division of the Associate Church. On
account of a differing interpretation of chapter xxxiii
of the Westminster Confession as to the perpetual
obligation of the Solemn League and Covenant, both
the Burgher and Anti-Burgher Churches divided into
Old lyights and New Lights.

In 1820 the Burghers and Anti-Burgher Churches
united to form the United Secession Church. Professor
Paxton thereupon drew off and founded the Church of
the ** Original Seceders." In 1 820-1 832 the American
Associate Church joined these Original Seceders. The
Original Seceders in Scotland joined the Free Church
of Scotland in 1852. Finally in America the Asso-
ciate Reformed and Associate Churches united in
1858 to form the United Presbyterian Church. The
Associate Reformed Church established a mission at
Damascus in 1844, transferred to Cairo in 1853. ^"^
1850 the Reformed General Synod of North America
had 63 churches, 43 ministers, and 6,500 commu-
nicants. The Reformed Synod of North America had
50 churches, 33 ministers, and 6,000 communicants.
The Associate Church had 214 churches, 120 minis-
ters, and 1,800 communicants. The Associate Re-
formed Church had 332 churches, 219 ministers, and
26,340 communicants.

ThK CUMBRRI.AND PRESBYTERIANS.

The Cumberland Presbyterian Church was born
of the great revival of 1801. When proceedings were
taken against the ministers engaged in that revival
work, certain Presbyterian ministers withdrew from



286 History of the Christian Church.

the jurisdiction of the Synod. On February lo, 1810,
Finis Ewing, Samuel King, and Samuel McAdow
founded the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. James
McGready and William McGee, Presbyterian minis-
ters, who had been prominent in the Great Revival,
joined the new organization. In 18 13 the first Synod
was organized. A Confession of Faith and a Catechism
were adopted in 1816. In 1825 Cumberland College
was founded at Princeton, Ky. In 1842 it was re-
moved to Lebanon, Tenn., and called Cumberland
University. The first General Assembly was held
at Princeton, Ky., in 1829. Great revivals were held
in Pennsylvania, 1 828-1 831, and soon the Church
spread to Texas. Waynesburg College, in Pennsyl-
vania, was founded in 1850. The Cumberland Pres-
byterian was founded in 1830, and The Cumberland
Presbyteria7i Quarterly Review in 1 845. The doctrine
of the Church is Arminian, and its spirit evangelistic.
In 1850 it had 500 churches, 450 ministers, and 75,-
000 members. In 1800 there were in the United
States 500 churches, 300 ministers, and 40,000 com-
municants of the Presbyterian Churches. Of all
branches of the Presbyterians there were, in 1850, 5,322
churches, 4,264 ministers and 487,691 communicants.
Among the leaders of the Presbyterian Church in
this era of strife none stood higher in reputation and

influence than Charles Hodge (1797-1878).
Ho^'e* ^^ ^^^ born in Philadelphia, where his

father was an eminent physician. In 1815
he graduated from Princeton; four years later he
graduated from the Theological Seminary connected
with the same institution. He served as a pastor
from 1 819 to 1823, but in May, 1820, was chosen As-



The Christian Church in America, 287

sistant ProfCvSSor in Greek and Hebrew. From that
date he remained connected with Princeton Theolog-
ical Seminary. In 1822 he was made full Professor
of Biblical and Oriental I^iterature. In 1822 he
founded The Biblical Repertory^ which, in 1829, was
changed to The Princeton Review. From 1825 to
1829 he was in Europe, where he studied in Paris,
Halle, and Berlin. In 1835 he published his "Com-
mentary on Romans," which was reissued in 1866.
In 1840 appeared his "Constitutional History of the
Presbyterian Church." In 1771-72 was published his />
"Systematic Theology," in three volumes. This is
the standard Old School Presbyterian Theology. In
1872 he celebrated his fifty years' jubilee as a pro-
fessor. A professorship in his name in the seminary
to which he had given his life, was endowed with
$50,000. He himself was given $15,000 from friends
and alumni.

A very different man was Albert Barnes (1798-
1870). He graduated from Hamilton College in 1820,
and from Princeton Theological Seminary

^ •' Albert Barnes.

in 1824. He was pastor at Morristown,
N. J., 1 824-1 830, and at First Church, Philadelphia,
1 830-1 870, though emeritus after 1867. In 1832 he
published " Notes on the Gospels." Afterward he pub-
lished eleven volumes of the "Practical Notes" on
the New Testament, and eight on the Old Testament,
— Job, Isaiah, Daniel, and Psalms. Of these, more
than a million volumes have been sold. Albert Barnes
was a true Christian, a genuine reformer, and an un-
daunted gentleman.

An abler man of perhaps not less influence in the
Church was Gardiner Spring (i 785-1 873). He was



288 History of the Christian Church.

born at Newburyport, Mass., and was at Yale, 1799-
1805, when he graduated. He studied law, and then

went to Bermuda as a teacher. After re-
*Sp'rina'^ turning North he again went to Bermuda,

and after accumulating $1,500 he returned
finally, and was admitted to the bar in 1808. The
same year he joined the Church. He heard Dr. John
M. Mason preach a great Commencement sermon at
Yale from the text, " The poor have the gospel
preached to them," and resolved to preach that gos-
pel. He was ordained in 18 10, and the same year
called to the pastorate of the Brick Church in New
York, where he remained until his death sixty-three
years later. Dr. Spring was devoted to Sabbath Re-
form and to every good work. He was a stanch Pres-
byterian and Calvinist, and an earnest patriot and
Christian. Mention only can be made of the great Old
and New School protagonists, Dr. Judkin and Dr.
Beaman, of Troy.

Dr. E. G. Robinson (i 794-1863) was the ablest
Biblical scholar of America in the first half of the

nineteenth century, and one of the ablest in
Row^nson * ^^^ couutry of that time. His father was

a Congregational pastor in Stonington,
Conn., where his son was born. Edward graduated
at Hamilton College in 181 6. After a little time spent
in the study of law he returned to his Alma Mater as
tutor, 18 17-182 1. In 1818 he married Miss Kirkland,
who died the next year. In 1822 he went to An-
dover, where he published the first eleven books of the
Iliad with notes. From 1823 to 1826 he was assistant
to Professor Moses Stuart. In 1825 he published a
translation of Wahl's *' Clavis Philologica of the New



The Christian Church in America. 289

Testament." He spent 1 826-1 830 in Europe, mainly
at Gottingen, Halle, and Berlin. He heard Tholuck,
Neander, and especially Ritter. At Halle, in 1828, he
married the daughter of Professor Jacobi. On his re-
turn he was elected Professor of Biblical Literature at
Andover, and served from 1830 to 1833. In 1833 he
published an edition of Calmet's "Dictionary of the
Bible," and the next year a smaller edition for popu-
lar use; in 1833, also, a translation of Buttman's
" Greek Grammar." From 1835 to 1837 he lived in
Boston, engaged in literary work. In 1834 he pub-
lished an edition of Newcome's ** Harmony of the
Gospels." In 1836 appeared two significant works, a
translation of Gesenius's ** Hebrew Lexicon of the Old
Testament," and Robinson's "Greek-English Lexicon
of the New Testament." Three editions of the latter
were published in England up to 1850. These greatly
added to the resources of English-speaking clergy-
men. In 1837 he was called to the professorship of
Biblical Literature in the Union Theological School,
with the privilege of absence in Europe at his own ex-
pense. In 1 837-1 838 he was in Germany and Palestine.
His visit to Palestine with the companionship of Dr.
Eli Smith, a Presbyterian missionary and fine Arabic
scholar, formed an epoch in our knowledge of that
country.

The years 1839 and 1840 were spent in Berlin, pre-
paring for publication his " Biblical Researches in Pal-
estine," which appeared in English and German, and
has remained ever since the standard work on that
subject among all scholars. A new and enlarged edi-
tion appeared in 1856. In 1845, I^^- Robinson pub-
lished his "Greek Harmony of the Gospels," and the
19



290 History of the Christian Church.

next year the same work in English. In 1851 he
again visited Germany and Palestine, and in 1865 ap-
peared his " Physical Geography of Palestine." In
1862, with impaired eyesight, hoping in vain for aid,
he made his final visit to Germany, and died in New
York in 1863. Dr. Robinson honored American schol-
arship. He made all scholars and travelers in Pales-
tine his debtors, and added to the efficiency of all
English-speaking students who read Hebrew and
Greek through his " Lexicons," though these are now
superseded, while he aided English readers with his
Biblical Dictionary and " Harmony of the Gospels."
More than any other man he laid the foundation of
American Biblical scholarship, and made it respected
in Europe.

Dutch Reformed.

In 1850 the Dutch Reformed Church had 286
churches, 299 ministers, and 33,780 communicants.
In these years it made a splendid missionary record.
John Scudder, M. D., went to India as a missionary
in 1 82 1, and labored in Madras and Madura. His
seven sons grew up and entered upon missionary
labor in India. There he died in 1855. Jacob D.
Chamberlain labored in this mission most successfully
for fifty years. Cornelius A. V. Van Dyck went to
the Beyrout Mission in 1840. In company with Dr.
Eli Smith he made, in the Arabic tongue, one of the
best versions of the Bible ever published. The Chris-
tian Intellige7icer was founded in 1829.

This Church has a high average of learning and effi-
ciency in its ministry, but such a man as George W. Be-
thune (1805-1862) would honor any Church. He was



The Christian Church in America. 291

born in New York, and graduated at Dickinson Col-
lege in 1822. Afterward he studied at Princeton
Theological Seminary. He was ordained
in 1825, and the same j^ear he went to Sa- ^Bethunr''
vannah as a seaman's chaplain. In 1826-
1830 he was pastor at Rhinebeck, N. Y.; 1 830-1 834 at
Utica; 1834-1848 at Philadelphia; 1848-1859 at Brook-
lyn. Dr. Bethune was a poet, a genial gentleman, an
accomplished orator, and a devout Christian. Some of
his hymns are found in almost all collections. His
"Orations and Discourses" attest his power. His last
great speech was at the Union Square meeting, April
20, 1 86 1, a never-to-be-forgotten occasion. He died
at Florence in 1862, and left poorer the land he loved.

The German Reformed Church.

The history of the German Reformed Church in
these years centers around its theological seminary.
In 1825 it was opened, in connection with Dickinson
College, with Lewis Meyer (i 783-1 849) as professor.
James Ross Reilly, of Irish and German parentage,
in 1825, visited Germany and Switzerland, and col-
lected $6,669 for the seminary. Jacob C. Bercher
collected $10,000 in this country for the same purpose.
This started the institution. In 1829 it was removed
to York, Pa. In 1835 Marshall College was founded
at Mercersburg, Pa. Frederick Augustus Ranch, a
pupil of Daub and graduate of Heidelberg, was its
first president. Worn out with excessive study, this
able and pious man died in 1841. The Theological
Seminary was removed from Dickinson College to
Mercersburg in 1837. In 18 17 there had begun to be
English preaching in the congregations of the Church ;



292 History of the Christian Church.

but now, for a wonder, an American by birth and lan-
guage, was called to the presidency of the college and
to the charge of the Theological Seminary. John W.
Nevin (i 803-1 888) moved the waters at Mercersburg
very much as John H. Newman did at Oxford. He
graduated at Union College in 1821, and from Prince-
ton Theological Seminary in 1826. He taught Dr.
Hodge's classes while he was absent in Europe in
1 826-1829. I^ 1828 he was licensed to preach, and
the same year called as Professor of Hebrew to the
Allegheny Theological Seminary of the Associate Re-
formed Church; there he remained until 1840. In
that year he came to Mercersburg.

In 1843, Dr. Nevin published "The Anxious Bench"
against prevalent revival methods. In 1846 his " Mys-
tical Presence " and * 'Anti-Christ, or Spirit of Sect
and Schism," made evident his High Church teach-
ing. He edited the Mercersburg Review in 1 848-1 853.
Dr. Nevin resigned his professorship in 1857. His
" Heidelberg Catechism " showed his sense of historic
continuity. The movement did not lack the extrava-
gances and loss of its Oxford contemporar5\ The
Evangelical spirit was antagonized, and not a few
went over to Rome. For a while the Reformed Church
suffered loss, but in the end it gained in Church con-
sciousness and wakened Christian activity.

The great gain to American scholarship from the
German Reformed Church, at this time came with its

Phiiipschafi. ^^^^i^S ^\vX\V Schaff (1820-1893), a gradu-
' ate of Berlin, to a professorship at Mercers-
burg in 1844. Like Nevin, he held to the doctrine of
historic development, but with a grounding of histor-
ical knowledge and a soberness of judgment to which



The Christian Church in America. 293

the former could lay no claim. The ceaseless literary
activity of Dr. Schaff made German thought, and,
above all, the historic method, familiar to American
readers. The University of Berlin, in 1893, called
Dr. Schaflf's "Church History" ''the most notable
monument of universal historical learning produced
by the school of Neander." The publishing-house
was founded in 1848, and Heidelberg College at Tiffin,
Ohio, in 1850. In 1850 there were 600 churches, 260
ministers, and 70,000 communicants in this Church.

The Lutherans.

The factors in the growth of the Lutheran Church
in this country were the increase of learning and emi-
gration, the work of the General Synod, and the found-
ing of the Synods of Buffalo and Missouri. The Ger-
man emigration, which was 1,000 yearly in 1820, 2,000
in 1830, and 30,000 in 1840, mounted up to 83,000 in
1850. This, of course, opened a great field before the
Lutheran Church in this country.

The General Synod was formed in 182 1. It stood
for the independent existence of the Lutheran Church
in America as against absorption by the German Re-
formed and Episcopalians. It included nearly two-
thirds of the Lutherans in America. It founded the
Theological Seminary at Gettysburg in 1826, and the
Pennsylvania College for English Lutherans, of which
C. P. Krauth, Sr., was president, 1834-1850. Witten-
berg Theological Seminary was founded at Sprmg-
field, Ohio, in 1845. 'The Ohio Synod founded the
Theological Seminary at Columbus in 1831, and in
connection with it the Capital University in 1850. The
Evangelical Review was founded at Gettysburg in 1849-



294 History of the Christian Church,

In 1830 was formed the Sunday-school Union; in
1837, the Educational Society, and the same year the
Home Missionary Society. The Pittsburg Orphan
Home and Deaconess Institute, now at Rochester,
Pa., was founded by Dr. Passavant in 1849. After
1837 the lyUtherans of the General Synod contributed
to foreign missions through the American Board.
The first I^utheran foreign missionary from America
was Charles Frederick Heyer (i 799-1 873). He was
born in Helmstadt, Germany, and came to America in
1807. He began work at Guntur, and among the
Telugus in India in 1842.

The Buffalo Synod of the Lutheran Church was

founded by Johannes A. A. Grabau (1804- 18 79), pastor

of St. Andrew's Church at Erfurth, Ger-

synod! many. He was imprisoned for refusing to

conform to the Union Agenda of Prussia,

and came to America in 1839. The Buffalo Synod

was formed in 1845.

Martin Stephan, born in 1777, was pastor of St.

John's Church in Dresden, and a rigid Lutheran. He

had great influence over men, and in 1839,

'^*'%ynod!"" ^t t^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^^ hundred souls, with six
ministers, he came to New Orleans. Soon
after their arrival it became evident that Stephan was
a bad man. Two brothers, Revs. O. H. and C. F.
Walther, went up the Mississippi to St. Louis, and
then to Perry County, Mo. There, in 1839, they
opened a gymnasium in a log house with three teach-
ers. In 1 84 1, C. F. Walther removed to vSt. Louis,