American Presbyterians and Freemasonry

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Anyone who has followed the National Treasure saga (two movies starring Nicolas Cage and a Disney+ show that has recently aired) will recall the Masonic background to the plot, and may recall an adventure that took place in the graveyard at the Old Pine Street Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia (where Archibald Alexander* (1772-1851) once served as pastor). The question of the relationship between American Presbyterians and Freemasonry is raised by such a story, and it turns out the connections are rather intriguing.

As a secret society, Freemasonry has fallen under the condemnation of such denominations as the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America and the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. The RPCNA specifically targeted “secret oath-bound societies and orders” in the Covenant of 1871, declaring that they were “ensnaring in their nature, pernicious in their tendency, and perilous to the liberties of both Church and State.” W.M. Glasgow, in History of the Reformed Presbyterian Church (1888), wrote that “The Reformed Presbyterian Church has always excluded members of oath-bound secret societies from her Communion” (p. 135). The OPC officially expressed its disapprobation of Freemasonry in a 1942 report by a committee chaired by R.B. Kuiper titled “Christ or the Lodge?”, concluding that “membership in the Masonic fraternity is inconsistent with Christianity.” Other denominations have addressed (or continue to address) the issue membership of Christian in the Masonic fraternity, but not as decisively (see the 1987 report of the Ad-Interim Committee to Study Freemasonry in the Presbyterian Church in America, for example).

Freemasonry in America dates back to colonial times. At least nine signers of the 1776 Declaration of Independence were Freemasons, including Benjamin Franklin and Richard Stockton (1730-1781). At least nine signers of the 1787 U.S. Constitution were Freemasons, including George Washington.

Washington occasionally worshiped and attended Masonic meetings at the Old Presbyterian Meetinghouse in Alexandria, Virginia, where James Muir (1757-1820) served as pastor from 1789 to 1820. Muir also served as chaplain of the Masonic Lodge, and participated in the Masonic ceremonies that attended the death of Washington. William B. McGroarty writes that "The Old Meeting House is often spoken of as the Masonic Westminster Abbey, because of the number of distinguished Masons buried in and near it" (The Old Presbyterian Meeting House at Alexandria, Virginia, 1774-1874, p. 58).

William McWhir (1759-1851), a friend of Washington who taught some of Washington’s nephews at McWhir’s Alexandria academy preached a sermon at the Masonic Lodge in Alexandria on December 27, 1785 (source: The Lodge of Washington: A History of the Alexandria Washington Lodge, No. 22, A.F. and A.M. of Alexandria, Va. 1783-1876 (1876), p. 75).

Alexander MacWhorter (1734-1807) was a Freemason, and preached at Washington’s funeral (source: Steven C. Bullock, Revolutionary Brotherhood: Freemasonry and the Transformation of the American Social Order, 1730-1840 (1996), p. 176).

John Rodgers (1727-1811), first moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, delivered a sermon at a Masonic Lodge in 1779: Holiness the Nature and Design of the Gospel of Christ: A Sermon, Preached at Stockbridge, June 24, 1779, Before the Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, of Berkshire County, State of Massachusetts, and Published at Their Request [not yet available at LCP].

David Austin (1759-1831), who published four volumes of The American Preacher, also wrote Masonry in its Glory: or Solomon's Temple Illuminated: Discerned Through the Flashes of Prophetic Light, Now Darting Through the Region of the Blazing Star, to Lie at the Threshold of the Temple of God, During the Glory of the Latter Day: -- Waiting the Rays of the Seven Lamps, that the Light of its Existence Might Break Forth (1799) [not yet available on LCP, but it can be read here].

In 1794, David McClure (1748-1820), who also delivered a discourse at Washington’s funeral, preached two sermons at Masonic Lodges: A Sermon, Delivered at the Installation of the Morning-Star Lodge, of Free Masons: in East-Windsor, Connecticut, August 21, 1794; and A Sermon, Delivered at the Installation of Village Lodge, of Free Masons: in Simsbury, Connecticut, October 7th, 1794 [not yet available on LCP].

Samuel Miller (1769-1850), a Freemason, preached A Discourse Delivered in the New Presbyterian Church, New-York: Before the Grand Lodge of the State of New-York. And the Brethren of that Fraternity, Assembled in General Communication, on the Festival of St. John the Baptist, June 24th, 1795, a sermon that he sent to George Washington (Miller delivered a discourse upon Washington’s death as well). Miller’s son sheds valuable insight into Miller’s views on Freemasonry, which changed over time:

Before this date, probably soon after his settlement in New York, Mr. Miller joined the Masonic order; he seems to have taken, for years, an active part in its proceedings, and a deep interest in its prosperity: and he reached the dignity of a Royal Arch Mason. His discourse seems to prove, that his confidence had been already shaken, if not in some of the principles of the order, at least in its practical results. But whatever may be thus inferred as to his views of Masonry at this time, certain it is that subsequently — perhaps from the date of his removal to Princeton, where there was no Masonic lodge — he renounced all connexion with the order; at least he never attended their meetings; and that he distinctly, carefully, and emphatically advised his sons not to become Masons. Whether the abduction of Morgan, in 1826, which brought a reproach upon the institution from which it has never recovered, and probably sealed its doom in the United States, had any influence, even to deepen his disapprobation, cannot now, perhaps, be determined. But probably his more mature reflections satisfied him, that such a secret order was incompatible with the spirit of good civil government, and especially of free institutions; and that too easily it might be made a cloak for disorderly, seditious, and treasonable designs; might be abused to base party purposes: might become the active enemy of sound morals, pure Christianity, and the Church of Christ; while it must, naturally, ever prove, in some sort, and in a greater or less degree, a rival of that Church, by proposing its own principles as a sufficient religion, drawing men away from church intercourse and worship, and suggesting, by its very existence, that the institutions of Christianity were not adequate to the fulfilment of the grand philanthropic purposes, for which they were founded. If this order might interfere with the normal workings of the commonwealth, it might interfere much more with those of the Redeemer’s visible kingdom (Samuel Miller, Jr., The Life of Samuel Miller, D.D., LL.D., Vol. 1, p. 99).

Another Presbyterian who once took an active role in Freemasonry but later took on role in opposition to the Masonic Order is William Wirt (1772-1834). He took the first two degrees in the Masonic Rite at a lodge in Richmond, Virginia, but after the 1826 Morgan affair alluded to above (William Morgan had announced his intention to publish a book exposing the secrets of Freemasonry and was soon after abducted and murdered), Wirt was persuaded to accept the 1831 nomination for U.S. President from the Anti-Masonic Party. He was a reluctant nominee, and his campaign was unsuccessful. He died just a few years later.

Aaron Whitney Leland (1787-1871) delivered A Discourse Delivered on the 27th, December, 1815, Before the Grand Lodge of South-Carolina.

Hooper Cumming (1788-1825) preached an Independence Day sermon before a Masonic Lodge: A Sermon, Delivered at Schoharie, Before the Grand Lodge, at the Installation of Hicks Lodge No. 305, July 4th, 1818.

One of the first publications by Robert Jefferson Breckinridge (1800-1871) was A Masonic Oration: Delivered Before the Grand Lodge of Kentucky at Its Annual Communication in Lexington, on the 26th of August, A.D. 1828. He achieved the rank of Grand Orator of the Grand Lodge of Kentucky (source: John Winston Coleman, Masonry in the Bluegrass: Being an Authentic Account of Masonry in Lexington and Fayette County, Kentucky, 1788-1933 (1933), p. 208).

William Stephen Potts (1802-1852) published A Masonic Discourse, Delivered Before the Missouri Lodge, No. 1, on St. John's Day, at St. Louis, 1828 [not yet available on LCP].

U.S. President Andrew Jackson (1767-1845) was a well-known Freemason. “Jackson was initiated into Harmony Lodge No. 1 in Tennessee. He would be instrumental in founding other lodges in the state. He was the only President to have been a Grand Master of the state until Harry S. Truman in 1945 (source).

A biographical sketch of Obadiah Jennings (1778-1832) published in the Masonic Voice Review (Jan. 1859) indicates that not only was Jennings a dedicated Mason, but also that “Through the unbounded influence of Rev. Bro. Jennings, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, when the question of Masonry was presented to them, immediately postponed its consideration for two reasons: 1st. Because some of their own excellent Divines and members were Masons, and 2d. That they had not sufficient information upon the subject.”

John Matthews (1772-1848) delivered A Sermon Preached Before a Lodge of Freemasons [not yet available on LCP] (see William B. Sprague, Annals of the American Pulpit, Vol. 4, p. 294).

Colin McIver (1784-1850) was a member of and chaplain for the Masonic Order (source).

George Musgrave Giger (1822-1865, translator of Francis Turretin’s Institutes, was a Freemason while at Princeton. After his death a tribute was published: Proceedings of the Sorrow Lodge: and the Address Delivered in Honor of the Memory of Bro. George Musgrave Giger, D.D., December 20, 1865.

Thomas Rice Welch (1825-1886) was a prominent Mason in Arkansas (source).

Thomas Henry Amos (1826-1869) served as Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Masonic Lodge of Liberia, which he co-founded in 1867 (source: Cheryl R. Gooch, On Africa's Lands: The Forgotten Stories of Two Lincoln-Educated Missionaries in Liberia (2014), p. 119).

Jonathan Greenleaf (1785-1865) served as chaplain of the Grand Lodge of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (source: Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of the Most Ancient and Honorable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons, of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (1856), p. 115).

James Henley Thornwell II (1846-1907) was a Grand Secretary of the Masonic Order of the Eastern Star in South Carolina (source).

Arista Hoge (1847-1923), businessman and historian of the First Presbyterian Church of Staunton, Virginia, was a “Knight Templar Mason” (source).

John Simonson Howk (1862-1942) was a prominent Indiana Presbyterian minister and a member of a Masonic Lodge (source: Lewis C. Baird, Baird’s History of Clark County, Indiana (1909), p. 792),

The Belk Brothers were both prominent Freemasons. John Montgomery Belk (1864-1928) was a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason. He had also been active in Pythian ranks in former years (source). William Henry Belk (1862-1952) was a member of the Scottish and York Rite Masons  and the Order of the Mystic Shrine (source).

Lucien V. Rule (1871-1948), a Freemason, wrote Pioneering in Masonry: The Life and Times of Rob Morris, Masonic Poet Laureate; Together With the Story of Clara Barton and the Eastern Star (1920).

Ralph Earl Prime (1840-1920) was a Freemason from 1865 forward. In 1879, he served as District Deputy Grand Master of the Ninth Masonic District, comprised of Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess Counties in New York (source: Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of New York (1923), p. 19).

James Naismith (1861-1939), Presbyterian minister and inventor of basketball, was also a Freemason (source).

There were some notable opponents of Freemasonry within the early American Presbyterian Church. Lebbeus Armstrong (1775-1860) was very passionate on the subject and wrote The Man of Sin Revealed, or, The Total Overthrow of the Institution of Freemasonry: Predicted by St. Paul, and Now Fulfilling: Illustrated, and Proved, in a Sermon on II. Thessalonians, II. 8 (1829); Masonry Proved to be a Work of Darkness (1831), and William Morgan, Abducted and Murdered by Masons, in Conformity with Masonic Obligations: and Masonic Measures, to Conceal that Outrage Against the Laws: a Practical Comment on the Sin of Cain: Illustrated and Proved in a Sermon (1831) [Masonry Proved to be a Work of Darkness is available on LCP].

Charles G. Finney (1792-1875) published The Character, Claims and Practical Workings of Freemasonry (1869). In this book Finney aims to thwart the spread of Freemasonry and acknowledges having once been a Mason himself.

Several Presbyterian authors have written against secret societies generally, including Thomas Smyth (1808-1873), James McCosh (1811-1894), David MacDill (1826-1903), James Harper (1823-1913), Robert J. George (1844-1911) [see his Lectures on Pastoral Theology, Vol. 3] and H.H. George (1833-1914). Robert E. Thompson (1844-1924) has written on The Origin of Free Masonry (1871).

As we have already well exceeded the length of a normal LCP blog post, we will rest here having only highlighted some particular historical connections to Freemasonry within American Presbyterianism of special interest. Much more could be said and further avenues explored (for example, the note concerning Obadiah Jennings’ efforts to have the PCUSA General Assembly table the question of Masonry). It is both a mixed picture that we present and a controversial subject for many, but we have strived to represent individuals correctly and without going beyond what can be ascertained factually. We welcome any needful corrections as to the statements above. As to the merits or not of Freemasonry, we have not attempted to analyze its distinctive teachings in this article, but we would refer the reader to Kuiper’s Christ or the Lodge?, among the many resources already cited.

* We have not confirmed that Archibald Alexander was ever a Freemason. However, there is a hint that this may have been the case in James H. Moorhead, Princeton Seminary in American Religion and Culture (2012), p. 81: “Moreover, there was the example of Freemasonry — the secret society par excellence — which was growing dramatically at this time with its promise to promote benevolent ends for all. In any event, the secrecy of the Brotherhood was scarcely seen to be subversive by the faculty, who were sometimes party to it. As one student remarked, he was taken into the inner circle — ‘a wheel within a wheel’ — of the secret society — and on several occasions ‘Dr. Alexander…met with us in this inside organization, and we got from him a great deal of useful instruction and advice.’”

Introducing the Century Club at Log College Press

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Among the nearly 2,000 authors found at Log College Press there are at least three centenarians (Arthur Judson Brown [1856-1963, 106]; William Rankin III [1810-1912, 102]; and George Summey [1853-1954, 101]), as well as at least three authors who were 99 years old when they entered into their eternal rest (Littleton Purnell Bowen, David Caldwell, and Maria Fearing). But the Log College Press Century Club which we are introducing today has to do with something a little different.

To be a member of this club, there must be at least 100 works by (and sometimes about) the author on their particular pages. At this point in time, there are 27 such individuals in the LCP Century Club, as follows:

There are some other prolific writers who we anticipate may join this club at some point in the future, such as Isabella Macdonald Alden, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Finley Milligan Foster, Robert Jefferson Breckinridge and Cleland Boyd McAfee, to name a few. As the Lord gives us strength and ability, we continue to add works by these and many other writers. We still have our work cut out for us, especially, for example, with respect to T.L. Cuyler, who penned over 4,000 separate published articles. Meanwhile, if viewed as a snapshot of our most prolific authors, the LCP Century Club invites readers to explore a representative cross-section of early American Presbyterianism. We hope you will take this opportunity to see what’s available among these prolific writers’ pages (as well as those not-so-prolific), and to enjoy a visit to the past, which we trust will be a blessing to you in the present.

Davidson's Desiderata

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Early on in its history, in May 1853, a discourse was delivered at the Presbyterian Historical Society in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by Robert B. Davidson: Presbyterianism: Its True Place and Value in History (1854). After an overview of the history of Presbyterianism in Scotland and in early America, Davidson left his hearers with a list of things things desired or wanted in connection with the goal of preserving the history of Presbyterianism - a desiderata. This list was an inspired effort to steer the work of the Presbyterian Historical Society as it began to put into practice the vision of its founder, Cortlandt Van Rensselaer.

  1. Collections of pamphlets, tractates, controversial and other essays, bearing on the history of the Presbyterian church in this country, especially touching the Schism of 1741. These should be bound in volumes, and arranged in chronological order, handy for reference. No time should be lost in this work, for pamphlets are very perishable commodities, and speedily vanish out of sight. A copy of Gilbert Tennent’s Remarks on the Protest cannot now be obtained. One was understood by Dr. Hodge, when he wrote his History, to be in the Antiquarian Library, in Worcester, Mass., but the work is reported by the librarian as missing. This shows us that we should hoard old pamphlets and papers with Mohammedan scrupulosity, especially when there are no duplicates.

  2. Collections, like Gillies’, of accounts of Revivals, and other memoranda of the progress of vital religion. Such collections would be supplementary to Gillies’ great work, which does not embrace the wonderful events of the present century in America.

  3. Collections of memoirs of particular congregations, of which quite a number have been at various times printed, and which ought to be brought together and preserved.

  4. Collections of occasional Sermons, both of deceased and living divines. As old productions are of interest to us, so such as are of recent publication may interest posterity. Such collections would furnish good specimens of the Presbyterian pulpit, and might be either chronologically or alphabetically arranged.

  5. Collections of discourses delivered about and after the era of the Revolution. They would exhibit in a striking and favorable light the patriotic sympathies of the clergy at that period, as also the popular sentiment on the independence of the States, and their subsequent union under the present constitution.

  6. A similar collection of Discourses preached on the day of Thanksgiving in the year 1851, would be very interesting; exhibiting the various views held on the Higher Law, and the preservation of the Union, and also the value of the Pulpit in pouring oil on the strong passions of mankind.

  7. Biographical sketches of leading Presbyterian divines and eminent laymen. It is understood that one of our most esteemed writers is engaged in the preparation of a work of this sort, embracing the different Christian denominations. Whatever emanates from his elegant pen will be sure to possess a standard value; but it is thought, from the very structure of his projected work, such a one as is now recommended will not interfere with it, nor its necessity be superseded. Mark the stirring catalogue that might be produced, names which, though they that bare them have been gathered to their fathers, still powerfully affect us by the recollection of what they once did, or said, or wrote, and by a multitude of interesting associations that rush into the memory: Makemie, the Tennents, Dickinson, Davies, Burr, Blair, the Finleys, Beattie, Brainerd, Witherspoon, Rodgers, Nisbet, Ewing, Sproat, the Caldwells, S. Stanhope Smith, John Blair Smith, McWhorter, Griffin, Green, Blythe, J.P. Campbell, Boudinot, J.P. Wilson, Joshua L. Wilson, Hoge, Speece, Graham, Mason, Alexander, Miller, John Holt Rice, John Breckinridge, Nevins, Wirt. Here is an array of names which we need not blush to see adorning a Biographia Presbyterianiana. And the materials for most of the sketches are prepared to our hand, and only require the touch of a skilful compiler.

  8. Lives of the Moderators. There have been sixty-four Moderators of the General Assembly; and as it is usual to call to the Chair of that venerable body men who enjoy some consideration among their brethren, it is fair to infer that a neat volume might be produced. Many were men of mark; and where this was not the case, materials could be gathered from the times in which they lived, or the doings of the Assembly over which they presided.

  9. A connected account or gazetteer of Presbyterian Missions, both Foreign and Domestic, with sketches of prominent missionaries, and topographical notices of the stations. Dr. Green prepared something of this sort, but it is meagre, and might be greatly enlarged and enriched.

  10. Reprints of scarce and valuable works. It may be objected that we have already a Board of Publication, who have this duty in charge; but it is not intended to do anything that would look like interference with that useful organ. The Board are expected to publish works of general utility, and likely to be popular, and so reimburse the outlay; this society would only undertake what would not fall strictly within the Board’s appropriate province, or would interest not the public generally, but the clerical profession.

  11. A continuation of the Constitutional History of the Presbyterian Church to the present time. The valuable work of Dr. Hodge is unfinished; and whether his engrossing professional duties will ever allow him sufficient leisure to complete it is, to say the least, doubtful.

  12. Should that not be done, then it will be desirable to have prepared an authentic narrative of the late Schism of 1838; or materials should be collected to facilitate its preparation hereafter, when it can be done more impartially than at present. Dr. Robert J. Breckinridge did a good service in this way, by publishing a series of Memoirs to serve for a future history, in the Baltimore Religious and Literary Magazine.

  13. It might be well to compile a cheap and portable manual for the use of the laity, containing a compact history of the Presbyterian Church in America.

Other proposals on Davidson’s list include a history of the rise and decline of English Presbyterianism; a history of the French Huguenots; and a history of the Reformation in Scotland as well as biographical sketches of Scottish divines.

It is a useful exercise for those who share Davidson’s interest in church history to pause and reflect on the extent to which the goals that he proposed have been met. The Presbyterian Historical Society itself — located in Philadelphia — has certainly done tremendous legwork in this regard as a repository of valuable historical materials which has allowed scholars the opportunity to study and learn from the past. We are extremely grateful for the efforts of the Presbyterian Historical Society. Samuel Mills Tenney’s similar vision led to the creation of the Historical Foundation of the Presbyterian and Reformed Churches in Montreat, North Carolina. The PCA Historical Center in St. Louis, Missouri is another such agency that has done great service to the church at large as a repository of Reformed literature and memorabilia.

We do have access today to Gilbert Tennent’s Remarks Upon a Protestation Presented to the Synod of Philadelphia, June 1, 1741. By 1861, we know that a copy was located and deposited, in fact, at Presbyterian Historical Society. Though not yet available in PDF form at Log College Press, it is available for all to read online in html through the Evans Early American Imprint Collection here.

The biographical sketches then in progress that Davidson referenced in point #7 were carried through to publication by William B. Sprague. His Annals of the American Pulpit remain to this day a tremendous resource for students of history, yet, as Davidson wisely noted, though many writers have followed in Sprague’s footsteps on a much more limited basis, there is always room for more to be done towards the creation of a Biographia Presbyterianiana.

Regarding the Lives of Moderators (point #8), we are grateful for the labors of Barry Waugh of Presbyterians of the Past to highlight the men that Davidson had in mind. The lists and biographical sketches that he has generated are a very useful starting point towards achieving the goal articulated by Davidson, and help to bring to mind the contributions of Moderators to the work of the church.

There are a number of organizations that have taken pains to reprint older Presbyterian works of interest. Too many to list here, the contributions of all those who share this vision to make literature from the past accessible to present-day readers is to be applauded, including the efforts of Internet Archive, Google Books and others who digitize such works. We at Log College Press also strive to do this both with respect to reprints and our library of primary sources. For us, the past is not dead, primary sources are not inaccessible, and the writings of 18th-19th century Presbyterians are not irrelevant. It is worth noting that there are topical pages with growing resources available on Log College Press that highlight material on biographies, church history, the 1837 Old School / New School division, sermons and much more.

Much more could be said in regards to the extent to which organizations, historians and others have carried forward the goals articulated by Davidson. But for now we leave it to our readers to consider Davidson’s Desiderata, articulated over 150 years ago, and its connection to our shared interest in preserving the history and literature of early American Presbyterianism.

Breckinridge's Protest Against Instrumental Music in Worship

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In December 1851, Robert Jefferson Breckinridge was very ill. So much so that, when he was requested by friends to address an important theological-practical issue in the church he willingly did so, while recognizing that it might be his last contribution to the church. He deemed the particular issue worthy to take up the final strokes of his pen. As a matter of fact, Breckinridge would live for another two decades, but in this matter he left on record a very powerful protest against the use of instrumental music in the stated public worship of God.

Breckinridge’s testimony against musical instruments in worship led, he says, to him being excluded from some pulpits and also to him being reviled in some cases. For him, though, it was a matter of conscience — respecting fidelity to God’s Word and his ecclesiastical standards — to maintain this position in the face of opposition from some among his brethren. It was at the request of other brethren who were dealing with the question of organs being brought into their own congregations that Breckinridge prepared his 11-point statement.

This article is dated December 30, 1851. According to Thomas E. Peck — who interacted with it in General Principles Touching the Worship of God (1855) — Breckinridge’s article was first published the Presbyterian Herald (Danville, Kentucky) and then reprinted in Baltimore three years later. On Log College Press, we currently have two editions of Breckinridge’s paper: 1) a reprint from the February 1853 issue of The Covenanter, edited by James M. Willson; and 2) an 1856 reprint published in Liverpool, England. The former includes a concluding paragraph that is lacking in the latter.

Breckinridge makes clear in his paper that he is not arguing against the use of musical instruments outside of public worship on the Lord’s Day. He is only addressing the ecclesiastical use of musical instruments as an accompaniment to praise that is sung in worship. He also makes clear in his article that his intended audience is that of the Presbyterian community. It is not a paper written to address all objections to a cappella worship, but only those main objections or concerns that have been voiced by Presbyterians. Key to his argument is a “fundamental” principle [one that we know today by the term “regulative principle of worship”], which, in his words, “[rejects] every human addition to God’s word, God’s ordinances, and God’s worship.”

If something substantial is introduced into the worship of God, Breckinridge argues, positive Scriptural warrant that such a change is necessary — and not merely warrant that it is indifferent — is required.

Persons who seek, openly or covertly, to undermine or to corrupt the faith or practice of our church, founded upon that grand principle, as, for example, by the introduction of instrumental music into our churches, ought to be able to show much more than that such practices are indifferent. They ought to be able to show that they are necessary; for, if they are only indifferent, the positive, general, and long continued settlement of the sense, feelings, and faith of the church against them are reasons enough why offensive attempts should not be made to change the order of our worship, merely to bring in things indifferent; especially when thereby divisions, alienations, and strifes, and at last schism may be the result.

According to Breckinridge, the primary arguments against the introduction of musical instruments into public Christian worship are that it is contrary to God’s commanded ordinances of worship, and it is contrary to the standards of the Presbyterian Church. In numerating the ordinances of public worship commanded by God in the Christian era, and sanctioned by the Westminster formularies, we find reading and preaching of the Word of God, prayer, praise by singing, and benedictions. In opposition to this, Breckinridge highlight the Church of Rome’s efforts to suppress, corrupt and add to every one of these ordinances. Specifically, he points to the use of the organ in worship as a corruption of the ordinance of praise whereby the mechanical tends to the supplant the vocal and spiritual aspects of the ordinance.

Here, then, is the outline of the argument in its simplest form: The use of instrumental music, of any sort, in the stated public worship of God in Presbyterian congregations is, 1st, contrary to the ancient and settled character and habits of Reformed Christians, and especially of those holding the formularies of the Westminster Assembly, and involves defections and changes most deplorable to them: 2d, It is contrary to the covenanted standards of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, both in the general principles and spirit, and the particular definitions and provisions thereof, and involves a breach of covenant: 3d, It is contrary to the revealed will of God, as exhibited in the positive institutions for his public worship set up by himself; and involves rebellion against his divine authority.

He goes on to spend some time discussing the Jewish usage of musical instruments on extraordinary occasions related to the Temple, and denies that they made up part of the regular Temple worship, much less the worship performed in the synagogue. But as this aspect of their worship, to the extent that it took place, was ceremonial in nature, and as Christian worship is based on that which is moral and not ceremonial, Breckinridge warns against any attempt to return to the ceremonial form of worship that has been abrogated. He emphasizes that we ought to look to the New Testament for instruction on how Christians should worship, and in the New Testament there is no warrant for the use of musical instruments in public worship by Christians.

The important place which Breckinridge occupies in the history of the American Presbyterian church, and the importance of the particular question he addresses here makes this paper very much worthy of study by the serious Christian. Note that the fuller edition is the 1853 edition from The Covenanter (see also the editorial comments by Willson, which show that not everything Breckinridge says would be endorsed by this representative leader of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America, a denomination known for its a cappella worship). Both editions found on Log College Press are quite brief, as is, of course, the summary of Breckinridge’s position given above. His name is cited, though not this paper in particular, by John L. Girardeau in his own masterful treatise, Instrumental Music in the Public Worship of God (1888). See this writer’s paper from the Log College Review for a further look into historic Southern Presbyterian views on a cappella worship. Breckinridge’s 19th century Protest merits consideration by 21st century Christians today.

New Resources at Log College Press - June 15, 2022

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If you are a member of the Dead Presbyterians Society at Log College Press, you may have noticed some interesting new material added to the site. If you are not yet a member, perhaps the list below will whet your appetite.

In the month of April 2022, we added 650+ new works as well as 23 new authors. In May 2022, we added 512 new works and 40 new authors. At present, on Log College Press, we have over 14,000 works by over 1,900 authors.

Often we list the most interesting material first at the Early Additions page to give our members a sneak preview. Some works there at present include:

  • Articles by John Murray on The Theology of the Westminster Standards and The Fourth Commandment According to the Westminster Standards;

  • Correspondence by Robert J. Breckinridge to President Abraham Lincoln;

  • William B. McGroarty’s 1940 study of the history of The Old Presbyterian Meeting House at Alexandria [Virginia], 1774-1874;

  • Louis Voss’ 1931 survey of Presbyterianism in New Orleans and Adjacent Points;

  • A fascinating 1860 article by William S. Plumer titled Mary Reynolds: A Case of Double Consciousness;

  • David Ramsay’s 1789 Dissertation on the Manners of Acquiring the Character and Privileges of a Citizen of the United States; and

  • In 1848, a London edition of Matthew Henry’s famous commentary of the Bible (which was completed by other hands after his death after Henry finished his comments on Romans) was published which includes notes from Charles Hodge on Romans and notes from John Forsyth on the exposition of James (written originally by Samuel Wright).

Also, of note among many titles at the Recent Additions page:

  • Charles Paschal Telesphore Chiniquy (1809-1899), Fifty Years in the Church of Rome (1886) — Chiniquy was a Canadian-born Roman Catholic priest-turned Presbyterian minister who wrote about the errors of his former ways and the dangers of Roman Catholicism;

  • Reviews by John Forsyth of various volumes of William B. Sprague’s Annals of the American Pulpit — Sprague’s Annals are widely considered to be his magnum opus and Forsyth’s reviews are a valuable introduction to this remarkable set of biographical sketches;

  • David Holmes Coyner (1807-1892), The Lost Trappers (1847, 1855) - Coyner, a Presbyterian minister, wrote this volume as a true narrative of the wanderings of trapper Ezekiel Williams, who, according to Coyner, led twenty trappers up the Missouri River to the Rocky Mountains in 1807. One year later, seventeen of the twenty had died, and the three survivors decided to separate. Two started for Santa Fe, getting lost in the Rockies until they met a Spanish caravan bound for California, while Williams journeyed home by canoe on the Arkansas and Missouri rivers, though he was taken captive for a time by Indians in Kansas. Dismissed as fiction by some, modern scholarship has confirmed the factual basis for Coyner’s account;

  • David Joshua Beale, Sr. (1835-1900), Through the Johnstown Flood (1890) - This is a remarkable account of a major 19th century natural disaster by an eyewitness who lived through it;

  • Alexander McLeod, The Constitution, Character, and Duties, of the Gospel Ministry: A Sermon Preached at the Ordination of the Rev. Gilbert McMaster, in the First Presbyterian Church, Duanesburgh (1808) - This sermon by one noted Reformed Presbyterian minister at the ordination of another represents an important ecclesiological statement on the gospel ministry;

  • Eulogies on President George Washington by William Linn, David Ramsay and Samuel Stanhope Smith;

  • John Todd, An Humble Attempt Towards the Improvement of Psalmody: The Propriety, Necessity and Use, of Evangelical Psalms, in Christian Worship. Delivered at a Meeting of the Presbytery of Hanover in Virginia, October 6th, 1762 (1763) — This sermon on song in worship preached during the colonial era is a fascinating read;

  • William Edward Schenck, The Faith of Christ's Ministers: An Example For His People: A Discourse Commemorative of Benjamin Holt Rice, D.D., Preached in the First Presbyterian Church, Princeton, New Jersey, on Sabbath Morning, July 20, 1856 (1856);

  • Many works by Theodore L. Cuyler, J. Addison Alexander, James McCosh, Thomas De Witt Talmage, Henry Van Dyke, Jr., and numerous novels by Isabella Macdonald Alden, a prolific Presbyterian author, known best by her pen name, “Pansy,” written for young people primarily;

Also, take note of some works recently added to our Compilations page, such as:

  • The Constitution of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America Containing the Confession of Faith, the Catechisms, the Government and Discipline, and the Directory For the Worship of God (1789);

  • A Narrative of the Revival of Religion, in the County of Oneida [New York], Particularly in the Bounds of the Presbytery of Oneida, in the Year 1826 (1826);

  • The Testimony of the United Presbyterian Church of North America (1858);

  • Overture on Reunion: The Reports of the Joint Committee of the Two General Assemblies of 1866-7, and of the Special Committee of the (N. S.) General Assembly of 1868 (1868)

  • The Confessional Statement of the United Presbyterian Church of North America (1926) — This document dramatically changed the worship and government of the UPCNA; and

  • Many psalters published by UPCNA and the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (RPCNA).

There is much more that is new to explore on these and other pages at Log College Press, and of course all that is new is old, so if you appreciate old treasures, please dive in and enjoy. We are always growing, and dusting off antique volumes for your reading pleasure.

Calvin's Institutes at Log College Press

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Now, my design in this work has been to prepare and qualify students of theology for the reading of the divine word, that they may have an easy introduction to it, and be enabled to proceed in it without any obstruction. For I think I have given such a comprehensive summary, and orderly arrangement of all the branches of religion, that, with proper attention, no person will find any difficulty in determining what ought to be the principal objects of his research in the Scripture, and to what end he ought to refer any thing it contains. — John Calvin, Preface to the 1559 edition of the Institutes of the Christian Religion (1841 ed.)

One of the great classic works in Reformed Christian literature is the Institutes of the Christian Religion by the French-Swiss theologian John Calvin. First published in Latin in 1536, with subsequent editions in Latin and French, the final authoritative Latin edition approved by its author came out in 1559. It’s importance as a guide to the Christian faith can be measured in how many times it has been republished, including in America. Perhaps more than any other single book, Calvin’s Institutes has influenced and shaped the Protestant Reformation and Protestantism in general.

Today, in the English-speaking world, the most commonly used translations are those by Ford Lewis Battles (edited by John T. McNeill, 1960) and Henry Beveridge (1845), although more recent. translations from the 1541 French edition of the Institutes (Calvin’s own translation of the 1539 Latin Institutes into French) by Elsie Anne McKee (2009) and Robert White (2014) are gaining in popularity. Older English translations by Thomas Norton (1561) and John Allen (1813) continue to have their respective admirers; Calvin scholar Dr. Richard Muller is said to prefer Allen’s over the rest.

Although the first American edition was published in 1816, it was not until overtures by John C. Backus and Robert J. Breckinridge on behalf of their Baltimore congregations, with financial assistance, led the Presbyterian Board of Publication to issue its own edition of Allen’s translation in 1841 with an introduction by William M. Engles, editor of the Board, along with editorial assistance by his brother Joseph P. Engles.

Title page of the 1841 edition of Calvin’s Institutes.

Title page of the 1841 edition of Calvin’s Institutes.

In 1936, a new edition of Allen’s translation was published by the Presbyterian Board of Christian Education. It has some features worthy of note. Included are B.B. Warfield’s article on The Literary History of the Institutes (first published in 1909) and An Account of the American Editions by Thomas C. Pears, Jr.

Title page of the 1936 edition of Calvin’s Institutes.

Title page of the 1936 edition of Calvin’s Institutes.

It is hoped that we might be able to add Hugh T. Kerr’s A Compend of the Institutes of the Christian Religion (1939) at some point in the future. Meanwhile, the 1841 and 1936 editions of Calvin’s Institutes, with prefatory material by Engles, Warfield and Pears are fully available to read at Log College Press. Allen’s translation of Calvin’s magnum opus is a treasure appreciated by American Presbyterians since the 19th century, and we are pleased to make it accessible to our 21st century readers as well.

It has pleased God that Calvin should continue to speak to us through his writings, which are so scholarly and full of godliness, it is up to future generations to go on listening to him until the end of the world, so that they might see our God as he truly is and live and reign with him for all eternity. — Theodore Beza, Life of John Calvin

An Honorable Princeton Roll Call

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Among the addresses delivered at the 1912 Centennial celebration for Princeton Theological Seminary was one given by William Lenoard McEwan titled “Princeton in the Work of the Pastorate.” In this message highlighting the contributions of Princeton-educated men to the work of the ministry, he includes a roll call of names that are also highlighted here at Log College Press. Today’s post is an extract from that address with links to pages for these men so that the 21st century reader may better acquaint themselves with their lives and labors. It is just a partial snapshot — Princeton has contributed much, much more — but it is a way to recognize some important but often-neglected names from American Presbyterian history.

Indeed if there were time to revive the memories of those who are familiar with the great movements that are written in our history, the reading of the names of the men whose influence has been great in the time of crisis or through long years of service would be sufficient— James W. Alexander, John C. Backus, for forty-eight years in Baltimore; J. Trumbull Backus, for forty-one years in Schenectady, N.Y.; George D. Baker, for a score of years in Philadelphia; Albert Barnes, forty years in Philadelphia; Charles C. Beatty, for sixty years in Steubenville, Ohio; William Blackburn; Henry A. Boardman, for forty-seven years in Philadelphia; Rob't J. Breckinridge of Kentucky; James H. Brookes of St. Louis; T. W. Chambers, nearly half a century in New York City; William C. Cattell, Joseph Christmas, founder of the American Church in Montreal; Bishop T. M. Clark; Richard F. Cleveland (father of a president of the United States); Theodore L. Cuyler, for thirty years in Brooklyn; Doak of Tennessee; J. T. Duryea, Philemon H. Fowler, Sam'l W. Fisher, P. D. Gurley of Washington, D.C; Leroy J. Halsey, A. A. Hodge, C. W. Hodge, E. B. Hodge, F. B. Hodge, William H. Hornblower, William Henry Green, Charles K. Imbrie, pastor, secretary and editor; Sheldon Jackson, Bishop John Johns, M. W. Jacobus, S. H. Kellogg, John M. Krebs, of New York; John C. Lowrie, Willis Lord, Bishop A. N. Littlejohn, J.M. Ludlow, Erskine Mason, Bishop C. B. Mcllvaine, David Magie, George W. Musgrave, Thomas Murphy, N.G. Parke, R. M. Patterson, W. S. Plumer, S. I. Prime, William M. Paxton, George T. Purves, Nathan L. Rice, Rendall of Lincoln, David H. Riddle, Stuart Robinson, Charles S. Robinson, W. D. Snodgrass, William A. Scott, W. B. Sprague, J. G. Symmes, E. P. Swift, H. J. Van Dyke, C. Van Rensselaer, Charles Wadsworth.

In this one packed paragraph, the names are easily passed over but each one represents a part of the story of the Lord’s kingdom work in this country and in the world by means of “an able and faithful ministry” (to use Samuel Miller’s words) as taught at Princeton. We are thankful for these men and take note of them here at Log College Press, also intending to add more as we are able. To God be the glory for these faithful witnesses.

American Presbyterians in Europe

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St. Augustine, when he speaks of the great advantages of travelling, says, that the world is a great book, and none study this book so much as a traveller. They that never stir from home read only one page of this book. -- John Feltham, The English Enchiridion (1799)

Like many today who might be itching to travel again, American Presbyterians in the 19th century also sought the benefits of a long voyage, and Europe was one particular favorite destination. Among the life experiences of authors found at Log College Press, trips to Europe are a recurring theme, and our Travelogue page highlights this.

The letters, journals, books and poetry that resulted from such trips are a valuable historical record of life on one side of the pond as viewed through the eyes of residents from the other side. In today’s post, we take a closer look at these memorials of their experiences.

  • James Waddel Alexander — J.W. Alexander traveled to England, France, Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, Scotland on a six-month tour of Europe in 1851. He met Adolphe Monod in Paris. Later, in 1857, he returned to Europe and met Charles H. Spurgeon in England, and Thomas Guthrie in Scotland, while also visiting France, Germany, Switzerland and Belgium. His reports on these travel experiences are recorded in Forty Years' Familiar Letters, and also in James W. Garretson, Thoughts on Preaching & Pastoral Ministry: Lessons from the Life and Writings of James W. Alexander.

  • Joseph Addison Alexander — J.A. Alexander spent a year in Europe (1833-1834). Time was spent in England, France, Switzerland, Germany, and Italy. From diary extracts given in H.C. Alexander’s The Life of Joseph Addison Alexander, we learn many fascinating details about the people he met, and the poems he wrote, inspired by his European travels.

  • Henry Martyn Baird — Baird spent much of his childhood in France and Switzerland, and then after graduating from the University of New York, lived in Greece and Italy during 1851-1853, and studied at the University of Athens. Besides his many written studies of the French Huguenots, he authored Modern Greece: A Narrative of a Residence and Travels in that Country (1856).

  • Robert Baird — Baird visited Europe many times as recorded in H.M. Baird’s biography The Life of the Rev. Robert Baird, D. D. (1866). Baird himself wrote about his travels in Visits to Northern Europe (1841) and Old Sights With New Eyes (1854). His travels also enabled him to write with personal knowledge about Protestantism in Italy.

  • John Henry Barrows — Barrows’ world travels, detailed in A World Pilgrimage (1897), included England, France, Germany, Greece and Italy.

  • Robert Jefferson Breckinridge — R.J. Breckinridge was appointed by the PCUSA General Assembly to serve as its representative in Europe, leading to a trip to England, France, Germany, Switzerland and Italy. His travels are detailed in Memoranda of Foreign Travel (1839 and, in 2 vols., 1845).

  • George Barrell Cheever — Cheever’s journey though the French-Swiss Alps is recorded in Wanderings of a Pilgrim in the Shadow of Mont Blanc and the Jungfrau Alp (1848).

  • Theodore Ledyard Cuyler — Cuyler’s travels through England, France, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Greece, and the Czech Republic, are recorded in From the Nile to Norway and Homeward (1881).

  • George Duffield IV — Duffield’s travels were published in the Magazine of Travel during 1857, and later republished in Travels in the Two Hemispheres; or, Gleanings of a European Tour (1858).

  • Henry Highland Garnet — Garnet traveled to Europe in 1851, including England, Ireland Scotland and Germany. His speeches from some of those locations are found here.

  • Stephen Henry Gloucester — Gloucester, pastor of the Lombard Street Central Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, visited England and Scotland in 1847-1848. The record of his trip, and letters which he wrote home, can be found in Robert Jones, Fifty years in the Lombard Street Central Presbyterian Church (1894).

  • Charles Hodge — From 1826 to 1828, Hodge traveled to Europe, studying in Paris and and wrote a handwritten journal of his experiences (primarily in Germany) available to read here. See also A.A. Hodge’s The Life of Charles Hodge for more on these travels, including letters written to home.

  • Alexander McLeod — McLeod visited England and Scotland in 1830. His experiences are recounted in Samuel Brown Wylie’s Memoir of Alexander McLeod (1855). Wylie’s own trip to Europe in 1802-1803 is also discussed in this volume.

  • James Clement Moffat — Moffat recounts his experiences in the summer of 1872 in Song and Scenery; or, A Summer Ramble in Scotland (1874).

  • Walter William Moore — Moore recounts his experiences in England, Scotland, France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands in A Year in Europe (1904, 1905).

  • James W.C. Pennington — The “Fugitive Blacksmith’s” s travels to England, Scotland and Germany are detailed in Christopher L. Webber, American to the Backbone: The Life of James W. C. Pennington, the Fugitive Slave Who Became One of the First Black Abolitionists. He was the first African-American in Europe to be awarded the degree of Doctor of Divinity.

  • Samuel Irenaeus Prime — Prime’s travels were recorded in Travels in Europe and the East: A Year in England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Austria, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Syria, Palestine, and Egypt, 2 vols. (1855, 1856).

  • Joel Edson Rockwell — Rockwell’s journey through France, Germany, Italy, England, Scotland and Ireland is chronicled in Scenes and Impressions Abroad (1860).

  • William Buell Sprague — Sprague writes in the preface to his Visits to European Celebrities (1855), “In 1828, and again in 1836, I had the privilege of passing a few months on the continent of Europe and in Great Britain. In both visits, especially the latter, I was more interested to see men than things; and I not only made the acquaintance, so far as I could, of distinguished individuals as they came in my way, but sometimes made circuitous routes in order to secure to myself this gratification.” See also his Letters From Europe, in 1828 (1828).

  • Thomas De Witt Talmage — A world traveller, Talmage wrote Great Britain Through American Spectacles (1885); From the Pyramids to the Acropolis: Sacred Places Seen Through Biblical Spectacles (1892); and The Earth Girdled: The World as Seen To-Day (1896).

These are some of the men at Log College Press who spent time in Europe, and their writings often tell us about life abroad, and often inspired them in various ways, just as travels inspire us. It is human nature to want to travel, and if we are limited in our ability to do so at present, we can at least turn to others who have done so and be inspired by them.

The Southern Presbyterian Review at Log College Press

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As our friends at the PCA Historical Center, who have done much to aid students of history by indexing a valuable theological journal, have noted about The Southern Presbyterian Journal:

Published from June of 1847 through October of 1885, the Southern Presbyterian Review remains a significant publication for the study of the history, doctrine and polity of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S., a denomination more commonly known as the Southern Presbyterian Church. As one of its authors, John B. Adger noted, "Running from 1847 to 1885, its thirty-six volumes cover a very interesting term of years. Political, educational, moral, ecclesiastical, theological discussions were rife in those times. The war was coming on, and the ideas that led to it stirred men's minds and hearts."

At Log College Press, we have recently add all 36 volumes to the site for your reading pleasure. This journal included writings by Southern Presbyterian giants such as John B. Adger, Samuel J. Baird, Robert J. Breckinridge, Robert L. Dabney, John L. Girardeau, George Howe, Benjamin M. Palmer, Thomas E. Peck, William S. Plumer, Stuart Robinson, Benjamin M. Smith, Thomas Smyth, James H. Thornwell, B.B. Warfield, John L. Wilson, and others. Some additional contributors found within these pages include the Irish Presbyterian Thomas Witherow, the Scottish Presbyterian William Garden Blaikie and the German-born, New Orleans-based Jewish Rabbi Isaac L. Leucht. There is a wealth of discussion, and sometimes a diversity of views, on matters such as the office of the diaconate, church-state relations, baptism, Roman Catholicism, dancing, missions, church history, musical instruments in worship, poetry, preaching, the Christian Sabbath, evolution, eschatology, and much more.

Begin your reading here, and remember that some individual articles are found on the author pages at LCP, and some are not (or not yet). Thanks to Dr. Wayne Sparkman, author and subject indices are available at the PCA Historical Center. There is a veritable treasure trove of material here to download, digest and reference at your leisure. Enjoy!