Studies in REFORMED THEOLOGY AND HISTORY ARDENS *r VltfEMS Volume 3 Number 1 Winter 1995 PRINCETON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY Studies in REFORMED THEOLOGY AND HISTORY EDITORIAL COUNCIL CHAIR Thomas W. Gillespie EDITOR David Willis EDITORIAL COMMITTEE Barbara Chaapel Sang Lee Ronald de Groot Bruce McCormack Jane Dempsey Douglass Elsie McKee Nancy Duff Daniel Migliore William Harris John Wilson James Moorhead EDITORIAL COUNCIL Edward Dowey 1995 Wilhelm Neuser Dawn De Vries Jung Song Rhee Richard Gamble Thomas Torrance John Leith Nicholas Wolterstorff Brian Armstrong 1998 Heiko Oberman Fritz Biisser Janos Pasztor Brian Gerrish Leanne Van Dyk Robert Kingdon Nobuo Watanabe Irena Backus 2001 Bernard Roussel John de Gruchy Jean-Loup Seban 5 John Hesselink Willem van t Spijker William Klempa Michael Welker Editorial Offices Princeton Theological Seminary, P.O. Box 821, Princeton, NJ 08542-0803 fax (609) 497-7829 MEDIATING THE CENTER Charles Hodge on American Science, Language, Literature, and Politics Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016 with funding from Princeton Theological Seminary Library https://archive.org/details/studiesinreforme31prin MEDIATING THE CENTER Charles Hodge on American Science, Language, Literature, and Politics JOHN W. STEWART AM>tN$ r Vivws PRINCETON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY Studies in Reformed Theology and History is published four times annually by Princeton Theological Seminary. All correspondence should be addressed to David Willis, Editor, Studies in Reformed Theology and History, P.O. Box 821, Prince- ton, NJ 08542 0803, USA. Fax (609) 497-7829. MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSIONS Contributions to Studies in Reformed Theology and History are invited. Copies of printed and electronic manuscript requirements are available upon request from the Editor at the above address. COPYRIGHT AND PERMISSIONS No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, or by any means, without per- mission in writing from the publisher. Copyright © 1995 John W. Stewart. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. ISSN: 1067-4268 This book is printed on acid-free paper. 5 Contents Preface vi Abbreviations viii I Introduction 1 Charles Hodge’s Era 1 Perspectives on Hodge’s Personality and His Theology 7 II Charles Hodge and American Science 15 Formative Influences 1 The Princeton Paradigm 21 Hodge and Antebellum Science 28 Hodge and Darwinism 36 Postscripts on Hodge and Science 44 III Charles Hodge on Language and Literature 51 Hodge and Language 51 Hodge and Literature 59 IV Hodge and Antebellum Politics: Slavery and the Civil War 67 An Introduction to Hodge’s Political Discourse 67 Hodge and American Slavery 71 Hodge and the American Civil War 87 Postscript on Hodge’s Political Discourse about Slavery and the Civil War 109 Conclusions: Looking Forward 111 Preface At the outset I need to make two explanatory comments. First, I wrote this paper because of a continuing and wide-spread misunderstanding about Charles Hodge (1797-1878), especially among historians of American culture and among specialists in American Reformed tradition. That problem is com- pounded by the surprisingly sparse scholarship about this prominent nine- teenth-century theologian and influential ecclesial leader. My intention is to find a middle ground from which to address both cadres of scholars. One reason for the unfamiliarity about Hodge is attributable to the fact that schol- ars usually concentrate on Hodge’s three-volume Systematic Theology (1872) and bypass his 140 articles on a very wide range of topics in the less accessible The Biblical Repertory and Princeton Review. Hodge edited this sophisticated jour- nal between 1825 and 1868; unfortunately it is avoided more than it is con- sulted. 1 Consequently, when I reference Hodge’s journal, I have decided to include lengthier quotations than usually tolerated and have tried to provide the reader with extended analyses of a few of Hodge’s principal articles about American science, literature, and politics. I hope others will soon join me in a wider and more critical reassessment of this significant American theologian. 2 1 Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology , 3 vols. (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1872. In print. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1952; Cambridge, England: J. Clarke, 1938). Hereafter cited as ST. Hodge was a septuagenarian when he wrote this work. For history of this work, see David Willis-Watkins, “Hodge’s Systematic Theology,” American Presbyterians: Journal of Presbyte- rian History 66 (1988): 269-272. Along with an “association of gentlemen” in Princeton, Hodge served as editor of the Biblical Repertory (1825-1828) and its successor. The Biblical Repertory and Princeton Review , from 1825 to 1868. He wrote a short history of this journal in 1872 in the Biblical Repertory and Princeton Review: Index Volume (Philadelphia: Peter Walker, 1891), pp. 1-39. Here- after Hodge’s journal will be cited in footnotes as BRPK 2 Late in my research two excellent pieces of scholarship came to my attention. One was the very recent edition of Hodge’s What is Darwinism? with insightful introductory essays by its editors, Mark N. Noll and David N. Livingston. This new edition will nudge the religious con- troversies about Darwinism to new levels of sophistication. The other is a 1980 doctoral disserta- tion by David N. Murchie entitled “Morality and Social Ethics in the Thought of Charles Hodge.” While we differ in our approach and appraisal of Hodge, this is an excellent, careful study and deserving of publication and wider distribution. vi Preface vii Second, I have written this essay with two historigraphic interests on my mind. One seeks to address the contextualization of Charles Hodge. The few theologians or historians of doctrine who write about the Reformed tradition in nineteenth-century America interpret Hodge in a vacuum. I have tried, within the confines of a restricted space, to locate Hodge within his own cosmos, with attention to his particular cultural and political milieu. My other intention is to challenge those scholars who usually contend that Hodge’s theology and cultural awareness was simplistic, traditionalistic, fideistic, and somehow irrelevant. While I hope to initiate a revised estimate of Hodge, I do not seek to repristinate his way of doing Reformed theology. Finally, I need to offer two personal words. For reasons of economy, the footnotes will have to serve double duty as bibliographical references. Second, I want to acknowledge a few collaborators who have encouraged me along the way: James Turner, David Hollinger, James Moorehead, J. Wentzel van Huuysteen, Daniel Migliore, Richard Osmer, Donald E. Gordon, and Jack B. Rogers, to name only a few. I am especially indebted to librarians and archi- vists at Speer Library at Princeton Seminary and Firestone Library at Prince- 3 ton University . William O. Harris, Archivist at Speer Library has been of in- calculable help, as was his associate, Raymond Cannata. Denise Schwalb interrupted her work as a faculty secretary countless times to assist. Maureen Stewart, my wife, critiqued multiple drafts and her sharp editorial pen kept me from even more grammatical blunders, convoluted sentences, and aca- demic pretensions. I am especially appreciative for her unstinting help. I also want publicly to thank David Willis for his gentle encouragements, patience with exceeded deadlines, and insightful comments about Reformed theology, which he knows so well. John W. Stewart 3 Hereafter the “Hodge Papers” in the archives of Princeton University will be designated as APUL and the “Hodge Papers” in the archives of Speer Library, Princeton Theological Seminar)' will be designated as APTS. Abbreviations APTS “Hodge Papers” Archives of Hodge Papers, Speer Library, Princeton Theological Seminary. APUL “Hodge Papers.” Archives ofHodge Papers, Princeton University. BRPR The Biblical Repertory and Princeton Review LCH Archibald A. Hodge. Life of Charles Hodge. New York: Charles Scribner, 1880. ST Charles Hodge. Systematic Theology. 3 vols. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1872. In print, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1952; Cambridge, England: J. Clarke, 1938. I Introduction Charles Hodge’s Era Most appraisals of Charles Hodge (1797-1878) paint him as either comic or tragic: comic because of his intentionally provocative statement that “there never was a new idea” at Princeton Seminary; tragic because he failed to ap- propriate the currents of modern thought in the nineteenth century. Few his- torians contest the range and depth of his influence in American culture; 4 4 The late dean of historians of American religion, Sydney Ahlstrom, maintained that Ameri- can Reformed thought would have been entirely different without Hodge. Of Hodge Ahlstrom wrote: “Probably nobody in the country was so generously well-versed in all the sciences of theol- ogy.” Bruce Kuklick, a historian of American philosophical traditions, reminded his readers that Reformed theology is the longest intellectual tradition in American culture and claimed that Hodge was one of a triumvirate who “ruled Calvinistic theology” from the 1830s to the 1870s. According to Kuklick, however, Hodge was also one of the prime reasons for the demise of Ameri- can Calvinism. The historian of American culture, James Turner sees Hodge as a pivotal force in nineteenth-century discourse, albeit impoverished in religious resources and wanting in con- structive alternatives to America’s growing unbelief. Richard Cardwardine has given Hodge’s po- litical and social thought a significant role