Life's Golden Lamp: A Devotional

(Receive our blog posts in your email by clicking here. If the author links in this post are broken, please visit our Free PDF Library and click on the author’s page directly.)

A devotional prepared by Robert M. Offord (a minister in the Reformed Church in America and the editor of the New York Observer) in 1888 and published in 1889 is a remarkable resource. This writer was combing the bibliography of B.B. Warfield some time ago when it first came to his notice. A daily devotional by Warfield based on Hebrews 2:13 for January 13 — How Shall We Escape, If We Neglect So Great Salvation? — is included. The volume is titled Life’s Golden Lamp For Daily Devotional Use: A Treasury of Texts From the Very Words of Christ. 365 ministers contributed devotional meditations for every day of the year, and many of them were American Presbyterians who are found on Log College Press. Some ministers outside America were included, such as Charles Spurgeon and Adolph Saphir, both of London. Some were at the time serving as American missionaries in foreign lands. All of the contributors were generally Reformed and Calvinistic. Life’s Golden Lamp represents an anthology of Scriptural passages and devotional literature from around the world by men who were actively serving the kingdom on earth in 1888-1889.

In recent days, we have circled back to this particular devotional, and thus, many other extracts from this volume have been added to the site. The number of LCP author contributors is remarkable. Work is ongoing to identify all the Presbyterian ministers whose devotionals are included, but here is a partial list so far:

Each daily devotional includes a poetic composition, and the signature of the author of the devotional meditation. The whole volume is worth consulting, but we draw your attention to the fact that this 1889 yearly devotional contains at least 50 contributions by Log College Press authors, many of whom are luminaries of church history. It is a work that is filled with the sweet savor of Biblical piety, and we highly commend it to your consideration.

The Alexander Memorial

(Receive our blog posts in your email by clicking here. If the author links in this post are broken, please visit our Free PDF Library and click on the author’s page directly.)

On April 29, 1879, a dedication ceremony took place at the Miller Chapel at Princeton University, New Jersey. Memorial tablets were installed to honor the legacy of six men, leaders of Princeton Theological Seminary, who served the Church of Christ with distinction. It was a solemn dedication but also a celebration.

Source: Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, May 17, 1879, p. 177.

Source: Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, May 17, 1879, p. 177.

The six men honored were: 1) Archibald Alexander (1772-1851); 2) James Waddel Alexander (1804-1859); 3) Joseph Addison Alexander (1809-1860); 4) Samuel Miller (1769-1850); 5) John Breckinridge (1797-1841); and 6) Charles Hodge (1797-1878).

Source: Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, May 17, 1879, p. 177.

Source: Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, May 17, 1879, p. 177.

A book was subsequently published which is known as The Alexander Memorial (1879), which included addresses delivered on this special occasion by William Maxwell Patton on Archibald Alexander; Theodore Ledyard Cuyler on James W. Alexander; and William Cassady Cattell on Joseph Addison Alexander. This work is not currently available on Log College Press, but it is a treasure that highlights the legacy of these luminaries from the Alexander family.

Paxton speaks of Archibald thus:

These tablets, as I understand them, put honor not only upon the names which they bear, but also upon the Alumni of Princeton Seminary.

They tell to the world how much we loved these men, and simply to love such men is our highest praise.

Archibald Alexander needs no tablet to perpetuate his name. There is his monument. Princeton Seminary is the record of his fame. He projected it, cradled it, nurtured it. He chose and gathered around him the honored associates who helped him make it what it is. He watched over it for forty years. He commenced with three students, and lived to see the Seminary in its full grown maturity, its class-rooms crowded with one hundred and sixty candidates for the ministry. As long as the fame of Princeton Seminary endures, the name of Archibald Alexander will not be forgotten.

Cuyler spoke of James Waddel:

James W. Alexander lived on earth fifty-five years — every one of them busy to the brim. To condense them into ten minutes is like an attempt to cut Westminster Abbey on a cameo….Dr. Alexander was not only an accomplished Professor, and a most affluent preacher of the Word; he was also a voluminous author. He put more thoughts into type than any man who has ever lived in Princeton.

Cattell spoke of Addison:

“Taking him all in all,” said his life-long colleague — that great master upon whose memorial tablet, in our recent sorrow, we look with moistened eyes to-day, and who knew what greatness was — “taking him all in all,” said Dr. Charles Hodge, “he was certainly the most gifted man with whom I have ever been personally acquainted.”

Each of these men have bequeathed a legacy to the modern Church by not only the example of their personal piety, but also through their many edifying writings. We continue to build our own memorial tablets, as it were, to the Alexanders and others by adding their works to their respective pages. In the last week alone, 15 writings by James have been added. Be sure to explore these pages and benefit from the spiritual legacy of these honorable men.

Archibald Alexander
James Waddel Alexander
Joseph Addison Alexander
Samuel Miller
John Breckinridge
Charles Hodge