January 2017

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January 7: Eulogies Upon the Death of Machen

7 January, 2017 in January 2017 by archivist | No comments

Two eulogies published upon the death of Dr. J. Gresham Machen. One by a close friend, Dr. Clarence E. Macartney; the other by “S. M. R.”, who was perhaps the editor of The Presbyterian, in the mid-1930’s. (further research would be required to confirm this theory).

DR. MACARTNEY’S COMMENT ON THE DEATH OF DR. MACHEN

[as published in The Presbyterian, 7 January 1937.]

When I heard of the passing of Dr. Machen, the words of King David over Abner came to mind: “Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel?”

Dr. Machen was my classmate at Princeton and a firm friend through all the years that have passed since then. I am glad in this public way to testify to my affection for him, my admiration for his superb intellect, his pre-eminent scholarship, his magnificent courage, and his clear discernment of the spread of apostasy in the Christian Church.

He was the greatest theologian and defender of the Christian faith that the Church of our day has produced. More than any other man of our generation, Dr. Machen tore the mask from the face of unbelief which parades under the name of Modernism in the Christian Church.

He was not only a great scholar and thinker, but a man of remarkable power as an organizer. He leaves behind him three noble institutions which are his chief monument–Westminster Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, the Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Missions, and the Presbyterian Church of America.

To those who did not know him, Dr. Machen may have seemed austere and censorious. But those who had the privilege of his friendship knew him as a man of the widest culture and a delightful companion.

We shall see him no more in the flesh. His eloquent voice will not be heard again in the pulpits of the land. Yet, “he being dead, yet speaketh.” Like Paul, he kept the faith delivered unto the saints, and like Paul’s noble companion, Barnabas, “He was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost.”

Clarence Edward Macartney.


Dr. J. Gresham Machen

The speedy death after a brief battle with lobar pneumonia which closed the earthly career of Dr. Machen at the age of fifty-five, came to us as a great shock. Dr. Machen was a vigorous personality, a great scholar, yet a very humble and warm-hearted Christian. He endeared himself to his students, among whom the writer is happy to have been numbered at Princeton Seminary. He was the master of all the foremost writings of the destructive critics who did so much to undermine Christian faith, and he taught the riches of the Word with understanding as well as personal belief. He saw the poverty of the general position which was so popular a few years ago, but which has now left its votaries discomfited and bereft in the time of great need. He was a man of Reformation proportions. The Lord’s hand may now appear more plainly with the servant called home, either perpetating [sic] the denomination he started with greater power, or directing these noble men back to our own Church. Certainly we would welcome their return, as we will continue to respect them in their own endeavors.

S. M. R.

 

January 6: Rev. John Wilson

6 January, 2017 in January 2017 by davidtmyers | No comments

A Complaint by an Irish Presbytery
by Rev. David T. Myers

The facts are very sketchy on the Rev. John Wilson back in 1730.

What we do know is that he came to the middle colonies of America from Ireland sometime in the early seventeen hundreds from the Presbytery of Armagh in Ireland. Presenting his credentials as a minister of the Presbyterian convictions, he was immediately received by the presbytery. Without a call to a particular church, he began to preach at Lower Octorara in eastern Pennsylvania with much acceptance by the members of the congregation. As Richard Webster says in his History of the Presbyterian Church, he made “a strong party in his favor.”

It was then that the Presbytery of New Castle received a letter from the Irish Armagh Presbytery on January 17, 1730 regarding the Rev. Mr. Wilson. What was transmitted in that letter is lost to history, but it must have been unfavorable to Rev. Wilson as they resolved not to employ him in the visible church.

The written record of Richard Webster states that a misunderstanding arose between the congregation and the Presbytery. A local Judge of the New Castle County Court, the Honorable Robert Gordon, wrote to the Synod to interpose between the two units of Presbyterianism. They did, but to what results we are not informed.

However it must have been not too favorable to Rev. Wilson, as he moved to Boston, Massachusetts.

The only other record of him is that at the age of 66, Rev. Wilson died on this day, January 6, 1733, just three years after the original complaint came from the Irish Presbytery to the infant Presbyterian church in the colonies.

Words to Live By:
As this author said at the beginning of this post, there is much left unsaid in the written record. And whenever we hear of an issue between a Presbytery and a local church, or a Presbytery and a members of that lower court, it is a day of sadness over the lack of unity in the work of the Lord. Let us resolve to pray when we find ourselves in such a situation, or hear of others of God’s people when they find themselves in the midst of such conflict. Let us pray for clarity of vision for all sides, love for the brethren, and that the purity of Christ’s church would be preserved in the ongoing dispute.

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January 5: The Funeral of J. Gresham Machen

5 January, 2017 in Uncategorized by archivist | 6 comments

[excerpted from The Christian Beacon, 1.48 (7 January 1937)] :

Simplicity marked the funeral service of the Rev. Dr. J. Gresham Machen in the Spruce Street Baptist Church, Philadelphia, Tuesday morning, January 5, 1937.  More than an hour before the service, people began to arrive, and by the time the service was to be begin every available space was taken.  People were standing all about the church, and individuals were turned away.  A reserved section in the center of the church was held for the student pallbearers, the immediate relatives, and the directors of Westminster Seminary

At exactly 10:30, eight students of Westminster Theological Seminary, acting as pallbearers, carried into the church the casket which was blanketed with green smilax, and across the top red roses formed a cross.  The casket, unopened, was placed in front of the pulpit which was surrounded on every side with beautiful floral sprays.

The Rev. Edwin H. Rian, General Secretary of the Committee on Home Missions and Church Extension of the Presbyterian Church of America, and the Rev. R. B. Kuiper, professor of Homiletics in Westminster Seminary, had charge.  Not one word of eulogy was spoken.  His name was not mentioned.  The service opened by the congregation singing one of Dr. Machen’s favorite hymns, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.”  Mr. Rian read certain portions of Scripture—the 23rd Psalm, the 90th Psalm, and Job 19:23-25.  After one of the Seminary students sang a solo, the Rev. R. B. Kuiper led in a magnificently simple prayer which he followed by the reading of passages of Scripture—Romans 8:35-39; Matthew 5:10-12; Matthew 25:15, 20; Revelation 1:18,19; Revelation 2:7, 17, 26-28; Revelation 3:5, 12, 21; I Thessalonians 4:13, 14; 2 Timothy 4:2, 5-8; I Corinthians 15:20-28.

The congregation joined in singing the favorite hymn on which Dr. Machen had preached many ordinations for his students:

There is a green hill far away,
Without a city wall.
Where the dear Lord was crucified,
Who died to save us all.
We may not know, we cannot tell,
What pains he had to bear;
But we believe it was for us
He hung and suffered there.
He died that we might be forgiven,
He died to make us good,
That we might go at last to heaven
Saved by His precious blood.
There was no other good enough,
To pay the price of sin;
He only could unlock the gate
Of heaven and let us in
Oh dearly, dearly, has He loved,
And we must love Him, too,
And trust in His redeeming blood,
And try His works to do.

The benediction was pronounced and the two ministers led the procession from the building followed by the student pallbearers carrying the casket.  Familiar faces from all over the eastern part of the United States, and as far West even as Iowa, were seen.  These friends had come for a last farewell tribute to Dr. Machen.  The words of the Scripture spoke more eloquently of the true servant than any words the ministers might have said.  The deep affection in which he was held was manifested throughout the crowded church on every hand as people were unable to restrain the tears.  They loved him so much.

[end of transcript]

To give our readers another perspective on the funeral, there is this excerpt from a letter that Dr. Allan MacRae wrote to his mother on January 18th of that year :

At Dr. Machen’s funeral the Faculty were asked to act as honorary pallbearers. The service was held in a Church in West Philadelphia. It was a very simple service. The Church was packed beyond its capacity. After the service we all went down to Baltimore for the actual interment. It was a lovely day. this was very fortunate since a January day in Baltimore can be extremely disagreeable for an outdoor service.
I find it hard to realize that Dr. Machen has gone. The first day after the funeral, it was my turn to lead Chapel. Every time I looked at the front row I could see his empty seat, and every time there was a sound at the door it was hard not to believe that he was coming in. Frequently he used to come in during the Chapel Service and stand in the hallway until its conclusion. To go through that service was one of the hardest tasks I ever did in my life. He towered so high above all my other associates that his departure leaves an immeasurable gap.

Also on this day:
Death of Dr. Robert Gibson Rayburn, first president of Covenant Theological Seminary, January 5, 1990.

Words to Live By: It is said that no Christian ever entered heaven a moment too soon. God is sovereign over our lives and over the moment of our death. And as much as one of His dear children might be missed here, as much as their ministry to others might seem irreplaceable, know that God is in control and that He will continue to lead and guide those of us still here, until at last He calls each of us home as well.

January 4: But by the Strength of God Alone!

4 January, 2017 in January 2017 by archivist | No comments

Would We Lose What Our Forefathers Gained?

Words from the Disruption of 1843, which gave birth to the Free Church of Scotland, when one church elder appealed to the people. Words which remain timely :

“Lawsuits, fines, and actions of damages have now superseded the gibbet and the stake. But the spirit of persecution is as truly at work as ever it was in the days of King Charles. . . . What cowardly dastards we must be, if we lose without a struggle what cost our forefathers so much to gain. Imprisonment, fines, death, tortures had no terrors for them . . . Yonder lies the Greyfriars’ Churchyard where our fathers solemnly subscribed the Covenant—some of them with their very blood; and there, sir, lies the Grassmarket, where the fires of persecution were often lighted . . . Who is there who can stand where we now stand . . . without feeling the glow of enthusiastic zeal thrilling through his every nerve and fibre? Let us, then, with one heart and mind, declare our unalterable adherence to the principles for which our fathers bled and died, and for which our Church is now contending. Let us declare that, come what may, we will abide by these, and stand by the ministers who are ready to maintain them to the uttermost. But, sir, let us not attempt to do this in our own strength; . . . let us resolve to do it in the strength of God.” 

Quote source: Annals of the Disruption, by Thomas Brown (1884), page 4.

Image source: Frontispiece portrait, “The First Free Church Assembly—Signing the Deed of Demission,” as found in Annals of the Disruption, by Rev. Thomas Brown (Edinburgh: Macniven & Wallace, 1884).

 

January 3: Miss Elva Foster

3 January, 2017 in January 2017 by archivist | No comments

Great Sacrifice in Difficult Circumstances

The Houston Mission was a work of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, General Synod (New Light), situated in one of the poorest areas of rural Kentucky. Staffing that ministry for most of its half-century of existence were two selfless women, one of whom is recounted here in a memorial which was spread upon the Minutes of the 152nd General Synod of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod (1974).

Miss Elva Foster was called to be with the Lord on January 3, 1974. In 1907 she and Miss Susan J. Cunningham founded the Houston Mission in Breathitt County, Kentucky, which for many years served the people on Turkey Creek in spiritual, educational, and physical ways. Miss Foster taught school and later was matron of Ananth Home, the dormitory for the grade school children.

Most of her life was spent at this mission post with the exception of some time she was at home to care for her aged mother. She was the perfect lady in surroundings of crude and sometimes unfriendly character. She put much of her small salary back into the work and was the spiritual “mother” of the children of the mission. Even after her retirement when she went to live near relatives at Hebron, Nebraska, she was vitally interested in the work in Kentucky.

Her life reminds us of the verse in 2 Kings 4:8 where it says, “And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman;”

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