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January 18: Rev. Charles Nisbet

18 January, 2014 in January 2014 by archivist | No comments

A Walking Library with Wit

nisbet01Charles Nisbet was born in Scotland in 1736. Graduating from the University of Edinburgh, he studied divinity for another six years after which he was licensed to preach in 1760. A friend of Witherspoon, he stood for the historic Christian faith. As a friend of the American colonies, he accepted an invitation to become the first president of Dickinson College, a Presbyterian school in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Here he was to remain until January 18, 1804, going home to be with his Lord in the sixth-eighth year of his life. He was known during his life time as having an ability to remember large portions of Greek, Latin, and British classics. In addition, he was acquainted with nine languages. As such, he was a remarkable collegiate leader.

For a time, he served as the pastor of the First Presbyterian church on the square of Carlisle, in addition to his educational responsibilities. Once during that ministry, a woman of the congregation announced to him that she thought she could preach as well as he did. So Dr. Nisbet told her that before she would be allowed into the pulpit, she would have to know how to preach. She readily agreed, and was instructed that the average sermon had an introduction, a three point outline, and an application. When she asked him for a text, he responded with Proverbs 21:9, which states, “It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop, then with a brawling woman in a wide house.” The woman was indignant, asking whether the pastor thought she was such a woman. Dr. Nisbet replied, “Oh my dear, you are already at the application. You must go back first and deal with the introduction.”

nisbet_monumentIn front of Dickinson College today, there is a sign which reads, “The Charles Nisbet Campus of Dickinson College. Named for Dr. Charles Nisbet (1736 – 1804) of Montrose, Scotland, one of the great scholars of his time. First President of the College.”

Words to Live By: Discover and  develop the spiritual gifts  or Spirit-given abilities of service, which God’s Spirit has given you, and then dedicate and deploy them in His kingdom and church. In all things, look to the Lord for His guiding hand, for His provision, for His calling, wherever He may lead you. He will never fail you.

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January 17: The First Book of Discipline

17 January, 2014 in January 2014 by archivist | No comments

First Book of Discipline Approved by the General Assembly in Scotland

They had already proven their worth to the Scottish church. The infant Church of Scotland had a Confession of Faith summing up biblical doctrine, which had been authored by the famous “Six Johns” in Scotland.  Now these same “six Johns” of Presbyterianism had been called upon to undertake a new and scarcely less important task, namely, that of drawing up a book with a complete system of ecclesiastical government. Their names, for the record, were John Winram, John Spotswood, John Willock, John Douglas, John Row, and last, but not least, John Knox. Of these six, our readers should certainly recognize the last name, but the former are hardly household names to present-day Presbyterians.

In working out the necessity to do everything decently and in order, these six men clearly did not take their example from any Kirk (church) in the world, not even from John Calvin in Switzerland, but rather from the sacred Scriptures.  Arranging their subject of church government under nine different heads, they divided these among the six men, who studied them individually and then jointly as a solemn committee.  Much time in reading and meditation was done by them. Earnest prayers were offered up for Divine direction.  Finally their work was completed on May 20, 1560 and then approved by the General Assembly of Scotland on January 17, 1561.

While the whole First Book of Discipline can be found on line here, we can sum up some of its parts for your information.  The permanent office bearers of the visible church were of four kinds: the minister or pastor, to whom the ministry of the Word and Gospel were given, along with the administration of the Sacraments, baptism and the Lord’s Supper; the Teacher, whose province included the interpretation of Scripture in churches and schools; the ruling elder who assisted the minister in governing the church, and last; the deacon, who had special charge of the monies of the church in assistance to the poor.

Now anyone who knows anything about the officers of your Presbyterian church will see in this establishment of officers a portrait of your church government. You might not think that church government is especially spiritual in name, but the pastors, teachers, ruling elders, and deacons beg to differ with you. To them, it was and is both biblical and practice in governing the visible church so that it can be a witness to the world at large.

In these beginning days of the Kirk in Scotland, two temporary office bearers were raised up in the position of Superintendents and Exhorters/Readers. They were what we would call “lay-preachers” who went through all the nation, reading, proclaiming, and planting churches. Regular meetings were held weekly, monthly, and yearly, depending on whether it was the local, regional, or national church.

The important matter of church discipline was included to purify the church and reclaim the repentant back to the fold.  In fact, there is a key phrase in this document which says that the Church was to “correct the faults which either the civil sword does neglect or may not punish.” They recognized that there may be times when the civil government is corrupt at the local, state, or national levels, but this does not excuse the church from exercising their God-given authority to suppress vice and immorality in the members which compose the local churches.

Words to Live By: Reader, pray much for the spiritual leaders in your local, regional, and national churches. If they are Reformed and Presbyterian in conviction and conduct, they often deal with hard matters of faith and conduct among the congregations under their spiritual care. Hold them up in prayer and encouragement. Submit to their biblical oversight, for one day they must make a report about you to the Chief Shepherd (Hebrews 13:17). They wish to do this in joy, not in grief. Be faithful to your covenant promises to support the church to the best of your ability. May your continual prayer be to revive Christ’s church and . . . begin that revival in you.

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January 16: J. Oliver Buswell, Jr.

16 January, 2014 in January 2014 by archivist | No comments

Dr. J. Oliver Buswell, Jr.

buswellarmyJames Oliver Buswell, Jr. was born January 16, 1895, in Burlington Wisconsin. When he was four years old he moved with his family to Mellon, Wisconsin. Reflecting upon the example of his father, particularly as displayed during those years following 1899 in the home missions work in the north woods of Wisconsin, Dr. Buswell wrote in 1926: “I thank God for a father who was a perfectly fearless preacher of righteousness, a wonderfully persuasive preacher of grace, and above all, a clear-sighted and patient guide in all his sons’ perplexities.” (Bulletin of Wheaton College, III (May 1926), 2)

In the summer of 1919 just after returning from France Dr. Buswell wrote the following: “Just before the Meuse-Argonne offensive, we were billeted in Camp Marquette for about five days. Everyone knew that we were going into a drive; the spirit of soberness was in the air. We had a revival there…. About thirty-five presented themselves for baptism, and in two days about a hundred and fifty men came to one or the other of us, the two regimental chaplains, stating that they wanted to be known as Christian men. Some of these were already devout Christian characters, and others had just then found Christ as their Saviour…. They were men who had come to Christ as a result of the simple preaching of the old Gospel.” (Bibliotheca Sacra, LXXXII (October 1925), 405)

On the morning of September 26, 1918, the Battle of the Meuse-Argonne began. Dr. Buswell, armed with a 45 caliber automatic pistol and extra ammunition for the troops, went over Vouquois Hill that morning and into the bloody offensive. In the five days that followed nearly two-thirds of the regiment was either killed or wounded. Ninety percent of the men who had identified themselves as believers or who had just become Christians were either killed or wounded. Dr. Buswell ministered to the dead and dying with Bible and bandages. Bullets struck his canteen at his side and pierced his chest gas mask. For bravery and devotion to duty under heavy fire Dr. Buswell was cited in General Orders and eventually received the Purple Heart and the Silver Star, awarded years later in a special program in the Wheaton College chapel on March 17, 1934. Finally, Dr. Buswell himself was wounded in the leg by shrapnel about noon, on Sunday, September 29, 1918. Dr. Buswell spent about three months in a hospital. He returned to his regiment by Christmas, 1918,which was by then in northern France. The Armistice ending the War had been signed November 11, 1918, in Compiegne Forest.

buswellpresOn June 17, 1919, Dr. Buswell debarked in the United States and was discharged from the Army. While overseas, Buswell had developed the outline for his first published work, Problems in the Prayer Life, which was later published in 1927

Words to Live By: Suffering comes in many forms. There is the suffering that we bring upon ourselves and there is also the suffering caused by others. All of us live in relation to the rest of the world and we are increasingly affected by events far removed from our own immediate circumstances. War is one of the most horrific events which can engulf any people, yet every Christian can have the resolute assurance that God is sovereign over all of human history, that whatever may happen, the Christian rests securely in the Father’s hands. (Isaiah 45; Romans 8).

“Not only in our prayer life, but our whole status of being in grace, is dependent upon Christ. We were “far off,” but now we are “made nigh in the blood of Christ.” [Ephesians 2:13] He is the “great high priest,” “touched with the feeling of our infirmities,” “in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” It is wholly due to Him that we have received the invitation to “draw near with boldness unto the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and may find grace to help us in time of need.” [Hebrews 4:14-16] The statement of the lost and hopeless condition of men without Christ is not popular in our day. Nevertheless, there is no access to God, hence no prayer, without Christ, “for there is one God, one mediator also between God and men, himself man, Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all…” [I Timothy 2:5, 6]
[Buswell, Problems in the Prayer Life, pp. 13-14.]

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January 15: War Is Debated by Presbytery

15 January, 2014 in January 2014 by archivist | No comments

“It is lawful for Christians to accept and execute the office of a magistrate, when called thereunto: in the managing whereof, as they ought especially to maintain piety, justice, and peace, according to the wholesome laws of each commonwealth; so, for that end, they may lawfully, now under the new testament, wage war, upon just and necessary occasion.” — Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 23, paragraph 2.

Did you know that one of the matters seriously considered by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. in 1937 was an overture which would have, had it been approved, changed the above text of the Westminster Confession of Faith in such a way as to eliminate the concept of a just war? The overture argued that Christians must oppose all war. That debate aside, the timing of the matter is intriguing, both as it followed the departure of conservatives in 1936 and as it preceded the onset of World War II. How might things have been different?

The following transcription is from an article published in a Philadelphia newspaper on January 15, 1937. The clipping is preserved in  Scrapbook #6 in the Henry G. Welbon Manuscript Collection.

WAR IS DEBATED BY PRESBYTERY.
North Phila. Body Votes Against Changing Confession to Ban All Conflict.
VETERANS DISCUSS ISSUE.

The Presbytery of Philadelphia North by a vote of 42 to 31 has rejected a proposal to change the Confession of Faith of the Church that would have placed it on record as against all wars.

The Confession of Faith urges the promotion of peace, but at the present time allows “lawful and just war” by Christian magistrates. The overture to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. would have eliminated these phrases on the basis that there is “no lawful or just war.”

Several ministers, many of whom had served in the last World War, participated in the discussion before the vote.

“If the time comes when the law of my country conflicts with the law of God, I shall obey the law of God,” said the Rev. George Edgar, pastor of the Ashbourne Church.

“It is our duty as ministers to teach youth that war sanctioned by a country can be wrong. As a church we should be more forward in condemning war. Let us take the first step by approving this overture.”

“Modern war involves bombing women and children,” said the Rev. Dr. Ernest Vanden Bosch, pastor of the Neshaminy Warwick Presbyterian Church, Bristol road, near Hartsville, a veteran who lost an arm and a leg in the World War. “Europe is concerned right now over getting gas masks they can put on babies. The church should not allow itself to be placed in the position of condemning a man because he says, “I will not kill babies.”

The Rev. Dr. Lewis Cutler, pastor of Calvary Church, Wyncote, said: “I am tired of the church’s taking a stand one minute saying war is a dreadful thing and then turning ’round and compromising with war and all its evil. Let us show we believe in the efficacy of the Prince of Peace by approving this overture.”

Is the church going to continue to bless war?” demanded the Rev. Dr. John Harvey Lee, pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church, Walnut lane and Greene st., Germantown. “In the last war I saw a Presbyterian prayer given the soldiers just before they went into the trenches. It read: ‘Oh, Lord, if the need be that I bring my brother to death may it be without needless cruelty.’ Did you ever try to write a prayer for a soldier who is about to kill?”

Among those who spoke against the overture were the Rev. Dr. Andrew Solla, pastor of the First Italian Presbyterian Church of Bristol, and the Rev. Dr. Harold Melchor, chairman of the Presbytery’s Committee on Christian Education.

——end of transcript—–

[The alert reader will note that only one side of the Presbytery’s debate was presented in the above article.]

Words to Live By:
From the Rev. J.J. Janeway’s diary on this day, January 15, in 1809.
“On Friday evening last, I seemed much engaged and affected in prayer, with respect to the shortness of time, and the necessity of preparing for eternity. My country appears to be in a very critical situation, on the eve of civil commotions. In this eventful crisis, I endeavour to put my trust in God, my Saviour, and rejoice that He reigneth. ‘Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in Thee.’ I pray for my country, and say, Lord, spare a guilty people.”

For Further Reading:
See our previous post on The League of Faith, a conservative renewal group within the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. which successfully opposed adoption of the anti-war overture.

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January 14: Rev. Henry Brown

14 January, 2014 in January 2014 by archivist | No comments

Apparently Something of a Controversialist

A child of the manse, Henry Brown was the son of the Rev. Samuel and MaryMoore Brown, born on November 28, 1804 in Rockbridge county, Virginia. Henry graduated from Washington College in Virginia in 1827 and prepared for the ministry at both Princeton and at Union Seminary in Virginia. He was licensed to preach in April of 1829. His first service was as a home missionary and evangelist in Kanawha county, Virginia and later in Randolph county, where the Lord blessed his preaching with great success. In 1832 he removed to Woodstock, Virginia for two years and again there saw the Lord’s blessing on his ministry.

Rev. Brown planted the Shemariah Church in Augusta county, Virginia in 1833 and served there until 1836. Always seemingly on the move, he next served as stated supply for the Brierly Church, from 1836-1838, after which he preached for two years in the churches of the Wilmington, North Carolina area, again with demonstrable blessing from the Lord. From there he went on to minister in the Virginia churches of Harrisburg, Goshen, and Pisgah before removing to Lake City, Florida for a year. Then Rev. Brown served as a missionary in Cherokee Presbytery for three years, 1859-1862, as stated supply in one Presbytery in Alabama, 1866-1867, then in another Alabama Presbytery from 1867-1872.

It would probably have been during his years with those churches in Virginia when Rev. Brown wrote a series of articles which appeared in a newspaper known as The Watchman and Observer. These articles took issue with the teachings of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and Rev. Brown entered this debate in a most interesting way. His title pretty much tells the story:

Arminian Inconsistencies and Errors: In which it is shown that all the distinctive doctrines of the Presbyterian Confession of Faith are taught by standard writers of the Methodist Episcopal Church. (1856).

Or, as he himself states in a brief preface to this work:

The title of this book explains the design of the author. Arminians suppose their system of theology, in a great measure, free from difficulties, and especially from such difficulties as they attach to Calvinism. The writer undertakes to show, on the contrary, that their standard authors maintain not only all the distinctive doctrines of Calvinism, as decidedly as Calvinists themselves, but that sometimes they go far beyond them . . . ” 

And, continuing, Rev. Brown argues that he is only right to enter into this debate:

“The right and propriety even, of free discussion, is admitted. The cause that will not bear it, ought to be abandoned. The works to which we shall have occasion to refer, are before the public, and therefore, are public property. Added to this, Calvinists complain that these works do them great injustice. They may therefore be considered standing enemies, and every new edition, a new assault. Moreover, large anti-Calvinistic  extracts are freely circulated in the form of Tracts. Surely then, a return fire can be properly considered nothing more than fighting in a war begun.”

But, if you want to explore that subject further, you’ll have to click the link embedded in the title above. It does look like an interesting work, and from my search, it appears this was Rev. Brown’s one literary claim to fame.

His final years were again in Florida, preaching in Pilatka, Enterprise, Cedar Keys and numerous other locations about the state. At last, this weary servant of the Lord entered his eternal rest on this day, January 14, in 1881. It was said of him that “he was a man of earnest piety, of deep humility, of sound mind, of great energy, of tender emotion, and of strong affections. He was intensely devoted to the work of the ministry and to the cause of Christ.”

Words to Live By: A tireless servant of Christ, and yet one whom history barely remembers. But he did not serve history, he served the Lord, and the Lord remembers and does not forget. History may forget most of us, but the Lord forgets none of His dear children. (Isa. 49:15; 44:21; Jer. 31:20)

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