WTJ 74 (2012): 1-31
HISTORICAL AND THEOLOGICAL STUDIES
THE REV. DR. RICHARD B. GAFFIN JR.: SANCTILIBRITHEOLOGICUS MAGNUS WESTMONASTERIENSIS
P et er A. L il l b a c k
hile Scripture forbids us to venerate any mere mortal (Rev 19:10), Paul in Rom 12:7 declares, “Pay to all what is owed to them ... respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.” There are many reasons that warrant a tribute to the Rev. Dr. Richard B. Gaffin, Jr., in 2011, the seventy-fifth year of his fruitful life. These reasons include his godly and gentlemanly char- acter, his extensive academic contributions, his faithful and scholarly church- manship, and his gracious humility that permeates his productive writing. Here we honor Dr. Gaffin in the spirit of Heb 13:7, “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.”
I. Summary of the Impact of the Ministry of Dr, Gaffin
The ministry of Dr. Richard B. Gaffin, Jr., is interwoven with Westminster Theological Seminary1 and the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.2 Indeed, 2011 is the seventy-fifth birthday of both the OPC and Dr. Gaffin. Further, 1965 is the year of Dr. Gaffin’s ordination in the OPC as well as his first teaching year at Westminster. And January 1, 2012, is the seventy-fifth anniversary of the death ofj. Gresham Machen,3 the founder of Westminster4 and the moving
Peter A. Lillback is President of Westminster Theological Seminary. This article is an expansion of a tribute written for 8 K ] [ A; ’ ] 2 ’K·[; & in 2011 in honour of Dr. Richard B. Gaffin upon his 75 th birthday. BK [ UKA’N IYK·’? BN &E’ EAI&BK? BN 7’I&‘A;I&’K -E’BjBRA0[j 2’‘A;[K?n I’’ The Orthodox Presby־ t teñan Churchn 1936-1986 a6EAj[]’jJEA[y gB‘‘A&&’’ NBK &E’ PAI&BKA[; BN &E’ 8K&EB]BV 6K’IU?&’KA[; gEYK0En tusbin 1 te FS BK [ IY‘‘[K? BN &E’ EAI&BK? BN &E’ 8K&EB]BV 6K’IU?&’KA[; gEYK0E I’’ AUA]Sn fetbS־ 1 x[KI]’; zKA&’In àx[0E’; ]A’] BN J;’Y‘B;A[ A; &E’ zA;&’K BN tu1f zEAj’ IA;Rj’E[;]’]j? [&&’‘J&A;R &B K[jj? E[;]NYjI BN IYJJBK&’KI A; &E’ c[qB&[Ié[; AKB;A0 ’;] &B [ jAN’ ]’]A0[&’] &B UKA;RA;R gEKAI&A[;A&? &B &E’ 0’;&’KI BN 0Yj&YK’! a(’BKR’ x[KI]’;n Fundamentalism and American Culture: The Shaping of Twentieth-Century Evangelicalism, 1870-1925 D8VNBK]y 8VNBK] 4;A·’KIA&? 6K’IIn tusvkn tu iS F x[0E’;εI ’;&K? A;&B &E’BjBRA0[j 0B;NjA0& zA&E àjAU’K[jAI‘! BK à‘B]’‘ &E’BjBR?! U’R[; zA&E EAI []]K’II B; 9B·S 1n tu tn &B &E’ 3YjA;R ,j]’KIε TIIB0A[&AB; BN gE’I&’K 6K’IU?&’K? zEA0E z[I JYUjAIE’] [I àHAU’K[jAI‘ BK gEKAI&A[;A&?n! ThePñnceton Theological Review v atu iy u1ettfS x[0E’; ’VJj[A;I A; EAI JK’N[0’ &B EAI IYUI’5Y’;& UBBqn Christianity and Liberalism, à-E’ A;&’K’I& zA&E zEA0E &E’ JYUjAIE’] []]K’II z[I K’0’A·’] E[I ’;0BYK[R’] &E’ [Y&EBK &B Y;]’K&[q’ [ ‘BK’ ’V&’;IA·’
1 2 WESTMINSTER THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL force for the establishment of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.5 Dr. Gaffin was bom in 1936 in Peiping, China, modern-day Beijing, to parents serving as missionaries with the Independent Board of Foreign Missions and soon thereafter until their retirement with the Committee on Foreign Missions of the newly formed Orthodox Presbyterian Church.6 His father-in-law was the accom- plished Westminster Old Testament professor, Dr. E. J. Young.7 As a Westminster Seminary student and the twenty-second professor to have signed the Faculty Book at Westminster, he knew five of the original faculty: Van Til, Kuiper, Stone- house, Woolley, and Murray.8 Wilson and Machen had died; MacRae and Allis had resigned. Gaffin knew Kuiper when he was a student at Calvin College, when Kuiper was President of Calvin Seminary. The young Richard Gaffin also encoun- tered Westminster’s other early faculty members who preceded him (Young, Skilton, Kline, Clowney, Knudsen, Shepherd, Adams, Davis, Sloat). Beyond these, he has known all of the fifty-four professors whose signatures follow his.9 His focus on biblical theology has enabled him to excel in New Testament biblical exegesis as well as systematic theology. He occupied the Charles Krahe Chair of Biblical and Systematic Theology until his retirement. His forty-five years of teaching at Westminster have impacted some 3,000 students. He has been honored as an Emeritus Professor by the Richard B. Gaffin Lectures on Theology,
JK’I’;&[&AB; BN &E’ I[‘’ IYUL’0&S! 7’I&‘A;I&’K -E’BjBRA0[j 2’‘A;[K? c’[; g[Kj -KY’‘[; zKA&’I A; EAI NBK’zBK] &B &E’ ;’z ’]A&AB; BN Christianity and Liberalism a(K[;] 3[JA]Iy ,’K]‘[;In vvuin àx[0E’; IY‘‘’] YJ EAI &E’IAI A; [ j’&&’K &B The British Weekly, 2’J&’‘U’K ttntu F y Z-E’ &KY&E AI &E[& &E’ ‘[;ANBj] K’jARABYI jAN’ BN &E’ JK’I’;& ][?n ]’IJA&’ A;&’KjB0qA;R BN &E’ UK[;0E’I [;] ‘Y0E A;&’K;’e &AB;n ]B’I ;B& IJKA;R NKB‘ B;’ KBB& UY& NKB‘ &zBS 8;’ KBB& AI gEKAI&A[;A&?h &E’ B&E’K AI [ ;[&YK[jAI&A0 BK [R;BI&A0 ‘B]’K;AI‘ zEA0En ]’IJA&’ gEKAI&A[; A;NjY’;0’I A; ]’&[Ajn AI NY;][‘’;&[jj? EBI&Aj’ &B &E’ gEKAI&A[; N[A&Eε! aJS AViS TjIB I’’ c[KK?j (S P[K&n Defending the Faith:J. Gresham Machen and the Crisis of Conservative Protestantism in Modern America al[j&A‘BK’y :BE;I PBJqA;I 4;A·’KIA&? 6K’IIn tuuFiS o 2’’ 3BU’K& C gEYK0EAjjn Lest We Forget: A Personal Reflection on the Formation of The Orthodox Presbyterian Church a6EAj[]’jJEA[y gB‘‘A&&’’ NBK &E’ PAI&BKA[; BN -E’ 8K&EB]BV 6K’IU?&’KA[; gEYK0En ;S]iS BK’AR; xAIIAB;I z[I &E’ AIIY’ &E[& Yj&A‘[&’j? NBK0’] &E’ UK’[q־ b -E’ p;]’J’;]’;& lB[K] BN U’&z’’; cKS x[0E’; [;] &E’ 6K’IU?&’KA[; gEYK0ES 2’’ gEYK0EAjjn Lest We Forget, f1NNSh cS (S P[K& [;] :BE; 3S xY’&E’Kn Seeking a Better Country: 300 Years ofAmerican Presbyterianism a6EAjjAJIUYKRn 9S:S y 6K’IU?&’KA[; d 3’NBK‘’]n vvfin tuse v h P[K&n Defending the, Faith, toteofntb1ebFh x[KI]’;n Funda- mentalism and American Culturen tu h 9’] lS 2&B;’EBYI’n J Gresham Machen: A Biographical Memoir ag[KjAIj’n 6[Sy l[;;’K BN -KY&En tusfin Fs eubS f àcKS ,S :S wBY;R Dz[Ik JKBN’IIBK BN 8j] -’I&[‘’;& NKB‘ tu1b Y;&Aj EAI ]’[&E A; tubsS P’ E[] [ 0B‘‘[;] BN ‘BK’ &E[; &EAK&? j[;RY[R’I [;] zKB&’ [ &EK’’e·BjY‘’ 0B‘‘’;&[K? B; pI[A[ES PAI Thy Word Is Truth a tuofi z[I J’KE[JI &E’ ‘BI& IAR;ANA0[;& UBBq YJEBj]A;R &E’ A;’KK[;0? BN 20KAJ&YK’ &B &E[& ][&’ U’0[YI’ E’ A;IAI&’] &E[& 20KAJ&YK’ ]’NA;’ A&I Bz; 0E[K[0&’KS P’ U’jA’·’] z’ E[·’ A; &E’ lAUj’ [ EAI&BK? BN &E’ zBKq BN K’]’‘J&AB;n [ IA;Rj’n ’·’KeY;NBj]A;R I&BK?n [;] [jj J[II[R’I A; [jj UBBqI KB‘ Westminster Theological Seminary: The Whole־ !BN &E’ lAUj’ ‘YI& U’ Y;]’KI&BB] A; jARE& BN &EAI N[0&S Counsel of God a6EAj[]’jJEA[y 7’I&‘A;I&’K 2’‘A;[K? 6K’IIn vvbin VAAS BK &E’ U’RA;;A;RI BN 7’I&‘A;I&’K 2’‘A;[K?n I’’ 2&B;’EBYI’n Machen, FFbebsS־ s &] 0Yj&? 2AR;[&YK’ lBBq AI IAR;’] U? ’[0E ;’z N[0Yj&? ‘’‘U’K]־ ?u -E’ 7’I&‘A;I&’K 2’‘A;[K &E’ UB[K] BN &KYI&’’I ‘’’&A;R [& zEA0E &E’ ‘’‘U’K AI ’j’0&’] &B &E’ N[0Yj&?S T N[0IA‘Aj’ z[I K’0’;]? BK [; A;&KB]Y0&AB; &B IB‘’ BN &E’ ’[Kj? N[0Yj&? BN 7-2n I’’ Westminster־ JKA;&’] NBK I’‘A;[K? YI’S Theological Seminary: The Whole Counsel of God. 7EAj’ ‘[;? N[0Yj&? ‘’‘U’KI BN 7’I&‘A;I&’K [K’ ;[‘’] A; &EAI [K&A0j’n A& AI ;B& JBIIAUj’ &B A;0jY]’ &E’‘ [jjS 9B IjARE& AI A;&’;]’] &E’K’U?S RICHARD B. GAFFIN, JR. 3
Culture and Missions, which have been endowed in perpetuity. His teaching has taken him around the globe to numerous academic institutions and missionary centers. His students, friends, and colleagues have honored his vast and impor- tant contributions to their lives and to Reformed theology with the publication of a festschrift, Resurrection and Eschatology: Theology in Service of the Church.10 His service as presbyter in the OPC has been faithful, extensive, and marked by high standards of quality, setting a record in length of committee service that will not soon be matched. He was elected as moderator of the fifty-first General Assembly of the OPC in 1984 and has served well over twenty times as a commis- sioner. He has been a longstanding member of both the OPC’s Committee on Foreign Missions and its Committee on Ecumenicity and Interchurch Relations.11 Dr. Gaffin has written over 100 published articles and written or edited ten books.12 His teaching and writing have been marked by an extensive integration of orthodoxy and Reformed confessionalism with a thoroughgoing biblical the- ology and rigorous exegesis. His appreciation for the importance of historical theology is seen in his studies of Calvin and the Dutch theologians Kuyper, Bavinck, Ridderbos, and Vos. He has been a perceptive critic of liberal theology in the arenas of hermeneutics, Gospels and Paul studies, systematic theology, biblical theology, and New Testament introduction. His theological contribu- tions have touched a wide range of theological concerns including union with Christ, justification, the Holy Spirit, the Sabbath, resurrection, and eschatology. He has sought to apply biblical theology and Reformed theology to the Christian life, to the church, and to missions. He has been a vigorous participant in the theological debates that have impacted Westminster including the controversies over the doctrine ofjustification, theonomy, and the doctrine of Scripture.
II. The Ministry of Dr. Gaffin in the Context of Westminster Seminary
There are ten distinct phases of Dr. Gaffin’s career at Westminster Theologi- cal Seminary from his student days to his retirement. Each of these will be briefly considered.
tv H[;’ (S -AJ&B; [;] :’NNK’? gS 7[]]A;R&B;n ’]ISn Resurrection and Eschatology: Theology in Service of the Church a6EAjjAJIUYKRn 9S:Sy 6K’IU?&’KA[; d 3’NBK‘’]n vvsiS tt gNS àp;&KB]Y0&AB;y T -KAUY&’ &B 3A0E[K] lS ([NNA;n :KSn! A; AUA]Sn VA VAAS BK [ 0B‘JK’E’;IA·’ UAUjABRK[JE? BN cKS ([NNA;εI zKA&A;RIn I’’ AUA]Sn offesbS p;0jY]’] A; &EAI־ t 0BY;& AI &E’ NBK&E0B‘A;R UBBq 0Be’]A&’] U? 3A0E[K] lS ([NNA;n :KSn [;] 6’&’K TS HAjjU[0qn Thy Word Is Still Truth: Westminster Seminary εI Doctrine ofScripture in Historical Context, &B U’ JYUjAIE’] U? 6K’IU?&’γ KA[; 8c 3’NBK‘’]S c’K’q 7S PS -EB‘[IεI ’;]BKI’‘’;& BN &E’ N’I&I0EKAN& NBK cKS ([NNA; AI K’j’·[;& E’K’S P’ zKA&’In à-E’I’ 0E[J&’KI K’·’[j &E’ ’I&’’‘ zA&E zEA0E cKS ([NNA; AI E’j]S -EBI’ BN YI A; &E’ 3’NBK‘’] 0B‘‘Y;A&?n J[K&A0Yj[Kj? ZJKBN’IIAB;[jε &E’BjBRA[;I jAq’ ‘?I’jNn [K’ A;]’U&’] &B cKS ([NNA; A; z[?I &E[& zBYj] JKBU[Uj? ’‘U[KK[II EA‘S p& E[I;ε& U’’; EAI zKA&&’; BY&JY& IB ‘Y0E a&EBYRE 0KY0A[j [;] A;]AIJ’;I[Uj’n &EAI E[I U’’; K’j[&A·’j? I‘[jjih K[&E’Kn A& E[I U’’; EAI 5YA’&n K’IBjY&’ ]’e N’;I’ BN BK&EB]BV? KBB&’] A; ’;·A[Uj’ ’V’R’&A0[j IqAjjI &E[& 0B;&A;Y’I &B 0E[jj’;R’ YIS P’ AI [ 5YA’& RA[;& A; [ &E’BjBRA0[jj? HAjjAJY&A[; zBKj] &B zEB‘ z’ Bz’ [; A‘‘’;I’ [‘BY;& BN RK[&A&Y]’ [;] K’IJ’0&S 7A&EBY& EA‘ z’ zBYj] U’ A‘‘’[IYK[Uj? &E’ JBBK’KS! -EAI [K&A0j’ [;] A&I jAI&A;R BN &E’ ‘[;? zKA&A;RI BN cKS ([NNA; ]B’I ;B& K’N’K’;0’ &E’ K’JBK&I &E[& E’ ‘[? E[·’ [Y&EBK’] [I [ ‘’‘U’K BN &E’ ’00j’IA[I&A0[j 0B‘‘A&&’’I B; zEA0E E’ I’K·’]S 4 WESTMINSTER THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
1. Gaffin’s Student Years at Westminster, 1958-1961
In 1958, Gaffin arrived on Westminster’s campus just as the faculty’s writings had begun to add to Machen’s substantial legacy.13 Stonehouse in 1941 had written the Witness of Matthew and Mark to Christ emphasizing the inseparable authority of Christ with the authority of the Gospels themselves.14 Woolley and Stonehouse had edited the Infallible Word in 1946. Van Til had written Why I Believe in God in 1948. Young’s Old Testament Introduction had appeared in 1949. The scholarly works continued to flow: Murray’s Baptism (1952) and Divorce (1953), Stonehouse ,s Biographical Memoir of Machen (1954), Murray’s Redemption Accomplished and Applied (1955), Van Til’s Defense of the Faith (1955), Murray’s Principles of Conduct (1957), and Young’s Thy Word is Truth (1957). 1958 was also the year the young Gaffin married Jean, Professor E. J. Young’s daughter. By 1961 Gaffin had completed his B.D. Central for the young Gaffin was the theological impact of Geerhardus Vos, the Princeton professor who had taught both Murray and Stonehouse. Vos did not join the new seminary, but retired from Princeton in 1932, two years after Murray left Princeton to join the newly formed Westminster faculty. Vos’s rela- tionship with Westminster deepened through the years. When Vos died in 1949, Westminster Apologetics Professor Cornelius Van Til preached at the graveside gathering.15 Vos defined biblical theology as the history of revelation or the his- tory of redemption that was to be expressed through careful biblical exegesis.16
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This became the hallmark of Murray as he developed the Vosian perspective.17 This became the methodological commitment of Gaffin as well.18 In 1962, shaped by the theological perspectives of Vos, Murray, and Stonehouse, Gaffin completed his Th.M. thesis, “Calvin and the Sabbath.” In 1962 and 1963, Gaffin studied at Georg-August Universität in Göttingen. Gaffin’s years at Göttingen solidified his agreement with Van Til’s critical assess- ment of liberal theology and neo-Orthodoxy.19 Professor Stonehouse died suddenly in 1962, creating a position for a New Testament scholar which the young Gaffin would eventually fill. In 1963, Gaffin’s lifelong friend and many- year Westminster colleague, Professor Norman Shepherd, joined the faculty at Westminster. Gaffin also published his first scholarly piece.20 The year 1964 saw the publication of Professor Edmund Clowney’s Called to Ministry. It was also the year when Meredith Kline resigned as a voting faculty member, although Kline continued to teach a course or two each academic year as a visiting faculty member until 1977. And the young Gaffin published his first study on the doctrine of Scripture, an area of lifelong theological concern.21 Gaffin began his career as a teaching fellow in New Testament the following year.
2. Gaffin as Teaching Fellow, 1965
The year 1965 brought two important first steps for Gaffin, his ordination in the OPC and the beginning of his teaching at Westminster, as a teaching fellow. This year also saw the formation of the Reformed Presbyterian Church Evan- gelical Synod. Teaching Fellow Gaffin continued to publish, authoring two reviews: review of R. Bultmann, The History of the Synoptic Tradition and review of H. Thielicke, Between Heaven and Earth.22
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3. Gaffin as Instructor of New Testament, 1966-1968
The early years of Gaffin’s teaching saw several generational shifts in the West- minster context. For thirty-seven years Westminster had followed a faculty gover- nance model and operated without a president. As Edmund P. Clowney became Westminster’s first president in 1966, the legacy of faculty leadership as had been provided by Machen and Van Til gave way to a shared faculty and administration governance under the guidance of a president. President Clowney led the semi- nary, and thus Instructor/Professor Richard B. Gaffin, Jr., from 1966 to 1982. There were other dramatic changes as well that shaped and impacted Gaffin’s experiences at Westminster. During these early years R. B. Kuiper died. Clair Davis became a faculty member, and C. John Miller began teaching at Westminster. 1967 saw the retirement of Gaffin’s exegetical and theological mentor, John Murray. In 1968 Karl Barth died, and faculty members and teachers Cornelius Van Til, John Frame, Norman Shepherd, and Dick Gaffin attended his memorial service at Princeton.23 More personally, 1968 saw the sudden passing of Gaffin’s father-in-law, E. J. Young, stalwart Old Testament professor and defender of the inerrancy of the Scriptures.24
4. Gaffin as Assistant Professor, New Testament, 1968-1972
Dr. Gaffin signed the Westminster Faculty Signature Book in 1968 becoming an Assistant Professor of New Testament. In 1969 he earned his Th.D. from West- minster with his dissertation entitled “Resurrection and Redemption: A Study in Pauline Eschatology.” During these years, he also published articles on topics that would become key emphases of his scholarly work: hermeneutics, Paul, New Testament theology, and the Sabbath.25 And noteworthy is his first study of his guiding theologian: “Geerhardus Vos and the Interpretation of Paul.”26