Divine Providence Ordered the Choice of a Vocation and Decided the Course of A Life
by David T. Myers

Our title for this post is a long one, but it was certainly the case for our featured character today, namely, David Blair. Born November 21, 1787, David was the eighth of eleven children born in the parish of Donagor, County Antrim, Ireland, to Hugh and Jane Blair. They all attended a Presbyterian church until for some unknown reason, they transferred their membership to a Seceder Presbyterian church in the same county. In good weather, the local Covenanter pastor would preach in the barns and groves of their fields. But in time, the whole family decided to travel to America for a new life. With a family this large, some five different times were scheduled to take the family to the American colonies. The part of the family which included young David, took 66 days to cross the Atlantic Ocean, landing at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania!

Upon landing, the family traveled by wagon to Pittsburgh, and on to Steubenville, Ohio, where a married daughter was living with her family. Eventually, the entire family moved to Crawford County in Pennsylvania, where several hundred acres were purchased and cabins built for the family. At this time, David Blair was around sixteen years of age. Reading a book which his older brother had given him, the young teen was encouraged to apply to the gospel ministry in 1805. Attendance at Jefferson College in Canonsburg and eventually at the theological Seminary of the Associate Presbyterian Church, David began his preparation for the ministry, pursuing those studies diligently. Licensed to preach on August 29, 1816, David received a call from three Congregations in Pennsylvania. However, rather than immediately receiving it, David begged for an opportunity to travel for a year in ministry throughout the South. He did that on horseback, and then returned to the three congregations. Eventually, he was ordained on October 7, 1818, a full two years after he had been licensed for the ministry. Married to Margaret Steele of Huntington in 1821, she proved to be the woman who helped him greatly in his life and ministry. Forty-four years of pastoral ministry characterized his service to His God and church in Pennsylvania.

Another minister summed up those pastoral laborers saying, “David Blair remains like the venerable oak that has withstood many storms and tempests. Many in his congregations look to him as their spiritual father. He baptized you in infancy. He first gave you the emblems of a Savior’s broken body. He joined you in marriage with the companions whom you call the fathers and mothers of your children. His deep toned voice and direct prayer has gone up from your chambers of sickness. His venerable form has led the processions that carried your loved ones to the grave. These congregations should still honor him as their spiritual father.” David Blair would go on to glory on February 28, 1882.

And so, by this post, we authors and readers own him as one of the spiritual fathers of the church in America, who faithfully labored in small and large fields of ministry, faithfully proclaiming the blessed Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Words to Live By:
Reader! Think of some pastoral minister who was instrumental by God’s Spirit to be that one who was described in the above paragraphs as “the venerable oak” to you and yours. Thank God for him right now. Reflect on how he was used of the Holy Spirit to minister God’s Word to you and your family for a time, carrying out the ministerial actions mentioned in the above paragraphs. Question? If still alive, has he been the recipient of your gratitude spoken and written? Can you not return the spiritual favors rendered by various means, perhaps even monetary gifts, in time of need? Writing as a retired pastor, I can recount with joy various expressions of gratitude, even monetary, which former members of my  several congregations have given to me. Do other pastors need to hear some such encouragement from you?

Rev. Sisag Krikor Emurian was born on March 3, 1874 and died on this day, November 20, 1968, at the age of 94. His remains were buried in Suffolk, Virginia. With a long life come many accomplishments, but he is perhaps most commonly remembered for his setting of the Lord’s Prayer to music [here, in English and here, in his native Armenian tongue]. But our focus today is on his adaptation of the Westminster Shorter Catechism to music. Others have also done similar work, but his settings were in the classical tradition! What follows is a review of that work that appeared not long after its publication in 1936. A photograph of Rev. Emurian can be found here.

Singing the Catechism!
by Rev. Klaas Jacob Stratemeier
in The Presbyterian Messenger

We have no apology to make or our Westminster Shorter Catechism. By all the tests of life and history it has proved its worth over and over again. It has been the means and instrument of leading not only individuals but whole nations into a rugged consistent and devoted expression of faith and life. Here is a document often considered antiquated, often maligned as being too exact in its definitions, often discarded as too difficult to comprehend, which nevertheless lives and exerts a tremendous influence.

That influence is still to be enlarged, we firmly believe, by the daring venture of setting this Catechism to music. The Presbyterian Committee of Publication, Richmond, Virginia, has undertaken this task and has succeeded excellently as the product demonstrates. The work has been done by Rev. S.K. Emurian and Henri Emurian. This musical setting is prefaced by “A Concise History of the Shorter Catechism.” Dr. Ernest Trice Thompson, of the Union Theological Seminary, Richmond, has written this resume. It offers a fine review of the place and influence of the Catechism throughout the world. It serves as a real introduction to the work, because Dr. Thompson’s remarks are highly illuminating and informative. How many know, for instance, that our Catechism has seen translations into the Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic, Portuguese, and many more familiar languages? Surely we have a document here to be prized and to be given a prominent place in the teaching and preaching program of the Church.

But to set the Catechism to music! How can it be done, and is such an attempt not an altogether unpromising venture? Not in the light of the product we have before us. This musical arrangement of the Catechism makes a bid for serious attention. The music is not too difficult to be handled by the regular church choir. Divided into solo, quartet, and full chorus numbers, it provides sufficient variation to furnish an interesting program. This arrangement omits the ten commandments and the Lord’s Prayer because these have received consideration in former productions. But in the thirty-six questions offered here in musical form, there is clearly a working toward a climax, and when at the end the full chorus takes up the mighty strain: “At the resurrection believers being raised up in glory, shall be openly acknowledged, and acquitted in the day of judgment and made perfectly blessed in the full enjoying of God to all eternity,” we recognize the force of the great finale and are transported as it were to the day of great triumph and final victory over sin and death and [the] grave. We trust that many churches will be induced to give this production a place in their musical program. This is a dignified service, calculated to stir and deepen our faith in the eternal verities. This musical setting of the Catechism sells for seventy-five cents the copy and can be secured from the Presbyterian Committee of Publication, Richmond, Va.

When gathered all together, not much is really known about Annie Pearce Kinkead Warfield, wife of Dr. Benjamin B. Warfield. In addition, we’ve not been able to locate a photograph or portrait of her. Our post today is drawn from a longer biographical article written for the PCA Historical Center by Barry Waugh.

Beloved Wife of a Scholar.

Benjamin pursued his theological education in preparation for the ministry by entering Princeton Theological Seminary in September of 1873. He was licensed to preach the gospel by Ebenezer Presbytery on May 8, 1875. Following licensure, he tested his ministerial abilities by supplying the Concord Presbyterian Church in Kentucky from June through August of 1875. After he received his divinity degree in 1876, he supplied the First Presbyterian Church of Dayton, Ohio, and while he was in Dayton, he married Annie Pearce Kinkead, the daughter of a prominent attorney, on August 3, 1876. Soon after he married Annie, the couple set sail on an extended study trip in Europe for the winter of 1876-1877. It was sometime during this voyage that the newly weds went through a great storm and Annie suffered an injury that debilitated her for the rest of her life; the biographers differ as to whether the injury was emotional, physical, or a combination of the two. Sometime during 1877, according to Ethelbert Warfield, Benjamin was offered the opportunity to teach Old Testament at Western Seminary, but he turned the position down because he had turned his study emphasis to the New Testament despite his early aversion to Greek (vii). In November 1877, he began his supply ministry at the First Presbyterian Church of Baltimore, where he continued until the following March. He returned to Kentucky and was ordained as an evangelist by Ebenezer Presbytery on April 26, 1879.

In September of 1878, Benjamin began his career as a theological educator when he became an instructor in New Testament Literature and Exegesis at Western Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh. Western Seminary had been formed by the merger of existing seminaries including Danville Seminary, which R. J. Breckinridge, Benjamin’s grandfather, had been involved in founding. The following year he was made professor of the same subject and he continued in that position until 1887. In his inaugural address for Professor of New Testament Exegesis and Literature, April 20, 1880, he set the theme for many of his writing efforts in the succeeding years by defending historic Christianity. The purpose of his lecture was to answer the question, “Is the Church Doctrine of the Plenary Inspiration of the New Testament Endangered by the Assured Results of Modern Biblical Criticism.” Professor Warfield affirmed the inspiration, authority and reliability of God’s Word in opposition to the critics of his era. He quickly established his academic reputation for thoroughness and defense of the Bible. Many heard of his academic acumen and his scholarship was awarded by eastern academia when his alma mater, the College of New Jersey, awarded him an honorary D. D. in 1880.

According to Samuel Craig, Dr. Warfield was offered the Chair of Theology at the Theological Seminary of the Northwest in Chicago in 1881, but he did not end his service at Western until he went to teach at Princeton Theological Seminary beginning the fall semester of 1887. He succeeded Archibald Alexander Hodge as the Charles Hodge Professor of Didactic and Polemic Theology. His inaugural address, delivered May 8, 1888, was titled “The Idea of Systematic Theology Considered as a Science.” As he taught theology, he did so using Hodge’s Systematic Theology and continued the Hodge tradition. The constant care Annie required and the duties associated with teaching at Princeton, resulted in a limited involvement in presbytery, synod, and general assembly. Annie lived a homebound life limiting herself primarily to the Princeton campus where Benjamin was never-too-far from home. The Warfields lived in the same campus home where Charles and Archibald Alexander Hodge lived during their years at Princeton.

Pictured at right: Commemorative plaque placed in Miller Chapel at Princeton Seminary in honor of B.B. Warfield. Photo by Dr. Barry Waugh.

Benjamin enjoyed a busy schedule at Princeton. One of his duties at Princeton included editing the Presbyterian Review, succeeding Francis L. Patton. When the Presbyterian Review was discontinued, he planned and produced the Presbyterian and Reformed Review until the Faculty of Princeton renamed it the Princeton Theological Review in 1902. During his Princeton years he was awarded several times with honorary degrees in addition to his D.D. including: the LL.D. by the College of New Jersey in 1892, the LL.D. by Davidson College in 1892, the Litt.D. by Lafayette College in 1911, and the S.T.D. by the University of Utrecht in 1913.

After thirty-nine years of marriage, Annie died November 19, 1915. She was buried in the Princeton cemetery of what is now the Nassau Street Presbyterian Church with a bronze, vault sized ground plate marking her location. Benjamin continued to teach at Princeton until he was taken ill suddenly on Christmas Eve of 1920. Until this illness, Dr. Warfield had followed an active and busy teaching schedule into his seventieth year of life. His condition was serious for a time, but he improved enough that he resumed partial teaching responsibilities on February 16, 1921. Despite not feeling ill effects from the class he taught that day, he died of coronary problems later that evening. He was buried next to his beloved Annie with a similar marker for his grave. The Warfields did not have any children.

Words To Live By:

Does the reality of your life live up to the words of your Christian testimony? The life-long love expressed by Dr. Warfield for his wife, no doubt sacrificial at times, stands as a vibrant witness to his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ calls us to live not for our own sake, or for our own comfort or advancement in this world. Rather, He calls us to live for His glory, and living that life in keeping with His Word may well mean great sacrifice of one sort or another. Through it all, God calls us to remain faithful, relying upon Him at every turn, and by His Spirit overcoming every adversity, all to His glory.

“The Shorter Catechism should be of high value to us. It has in it the confessional convictions on which our system of doctrine, as taught in the Holy Scriptures, is found. It has in it the evangelistic zeal that must be a part of us if we would safe-guard the faith delivered to us. May God help us to continue to study it, all to the glory of God. Amen!”

Fitting words for the conclusion of this, the final installment in Rev. Van Horn’s series on the Westminster Shorter Catechism. We will conclude this year with some other similar items by Rev. Van Horn, and then next year will turn to another author’s commentary on the Catechism.

STUDIES IN THE WESTMINSTER SHORTER CATECHISM
by Rev. Leonard T. Van Horn

Q. 107. What doth the conclusion of the Lord’s Prayer teach us?

A. The conclusion of the Lord’s Prayer, which is, “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.” teacheth us to take our encouragement in prayer from God only, and in our prayers to praise Him, ascribing kingdom, power, and glory to Him, and in testimony of our desire and assurance to be heard, we say, “Amen.”

Scripture References: Daniel 9:13, 19; I Chron. 29:11-13; Rev. 22:20-21; I Cor. 14:16.

Questions:

1. What may we learn from the word “For” in this question?

We may learn from it that we are concluding our prayer with a strong basis. We have great and mighty arguments from the Word of God for all of our petitions. We are simply saying, “Lord, because of Who Thou art, because of the sovereignty off Thy power, grant our petitions.”

2. What do we mean in this prayer by the “kingdom, and the power, and the glory?”

Our Larger Catechism (Question 196) tells us we mean the “eternal sovereignty, omnipotency, and glorious excellency” of God alone.

3. What is His “kingdom” as mentioned in this question?

We are speaking here of God as Creator and as Redeemer. The first has to do with the kingdom of nature and the second with the kingdom of grace.

4. Why do we add the word “power” to the portion of the prayer?

We add “power” to it because we desire Him to perform His will for us. We claim by faith His power to do so (Rom. 4:21).

5. As we add the word “glory” what are we denoting?

We mean here that we are to praise Him continually for His wondrous works to the children of men. God should be praised without ceasing by us for He is glorious. (Ps. 119:27).

6. What is the use of the word “Amen” to end our prayers?

It is used to signify “So shall it be” by us. It is our earnestness of faith and our intensity of desire.

“AMEN”

It is very suitable to end our catechism studies with “Amen” even as so many times we have ended our prayers with this great word from the Word of God. As our catechism question points out so very well, the God with whom we have to do is able to help us. He is the Almighty, Sovereign God. He is the kingdom and the power and the glory. Indeed we do well to end such a statement with “Amen” and mean by it a sincere expression of our belief that He is well able to do far beyond what we ask or think!

The word “Amen” is an indication of reverence, it is a way of saying, “May it be so in very truth!” It comes from a Hebrew word meaning “faithful” and is used in the Greek New Testament 50 times as the word “Amen” and 100 more times as the word “Verily,” and with the same meaning.

The word has been used in three ways by the church of Jesus Christ. It has been used in unison by the congregation at the end of the Lord’s Prayer. Many have no idea of what they are saying and certainly need to be taught the meaning of it. It has been used by the congregation in many liturgical churches at the end of the prayer delivered by the person praying. Here it is not meant to be simply an indication that the prayer is finished but it is meant to be an indication that the prayer is finished and it is mean to be an indication on the part of the worshippers that they are sincerely responding to the prayer that has been uttered.

There is a third way it has been used in the church. It has been used as a vocal “Amen” on the part of worshippers during the sermon as they respond to the preaching of the Word of God. Indeed, this can be used when it should not be, can become a habit rather than a heartfelt response. However, it is wondered if there must not be something lacking in the preaching, or the response, or both, when years can pass without an “Amen!” escaping now and then!

It is a good way to end our catechism studies. The Shorter Catechism should be of high value to us. It has in it the confessional convictions on which our system of doctrine, as taught in the Holy Scriptures, is found. It has in it the evangelistic zeal that must be a part of us if we would safe-guard the faith delivered to us. May God help us to continue to study it, all to the glory of God. Amen!

Published by The Shield and Sword, Inc.
Dedicated to instruction in the Westminster Standards for use as a bulletin insert or other methods of instruction in Presbyterian churches.

Vol. 7, No. 8 (December 1968)
Rev. Leonard T. Van Horn, Editor

A Long Name, With an Influential Theology System

William Greenough Thayer Shedd was born in June of 1820 of a distinguished New England lineage. His father was a minister, though it is not clear whether he was a Congregationalist or a Presbyterian pastor. (In early years, both groups were closely aligned in that region.) When William Shedd was eleven years old in 1831, his family moved to Lake Champlain, New York. This enabled William to later attend the University of Vermont, where a teacher introduced him to philosophy and literature. Graduating in 1839, he began to teach in New York City. It was here that William made a public profession of faith and began to attend a Presbyterian Church.

Sensing the call to the ministry, he attended Andover Theological Seminary. There he met and was influenced by Prof. Leonard Woods, who was a solid Old School Presbyterian. Graduating from Andover, Shedd became a pastor in the Congregational denomination in Vermont. Even though he was Old School Reformed in his thinking, he taught briefly at the New School Presbyterian institution of Auburn Theological Seminary, from 1852-1854.

After the Congregationalists decided to stop emphasizing the distinctive doctrines of the Christian faith, Pastor and Professor Shedd made his switch to the Presbyterian distinctives of his younger years. Leaving Auburn, he was professor of church history at Andover from 1853-1862, and then for two years as co-pastor at the Brick Presbyterian Church in New York City. His life’s primary work occurred while teaching at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, where he was to teach for eleven years, 1874-1892. Just before the end of his teaching ministry,  he wrote his most famous book on “Dogmatic Theology.”

And yes, he took a strong stand against the unbelief of his fellow teacher, Charles Briggs, and Shedd also argued against the revision of the Westminster Standards, which was also being suggested in those days. He died on November 17, 1894.

Words to live by:  When a pastor or professor can summarize his thoughts on paper and in published works, then solid convictions can continue to have an influence for righteousness which would not otherwise be the case if that one just taught or preached in one place in history. Some churches and educational institutions (may their tribe increase) are offering sabbaticals to their pastors and professors for exactly that reason, that is, that they may examine themselves pastorally or professionally in their calling, or write down some thoughts for the benefit of the church at large. Support such efforts, if you are a member of a church, or on a board for higher education. They are that beneficial to the wider church.

Through the Scriptures:   Galatians 1 – 3

Through the Standards:  Improvement of baptism

WLC 167 — “How is our baptism to be improved by us?
A.  The needful but much neglected duty of improving our baptism, is to be performed by us all our life long, especially in the time of temptation, and when we are present at the administration of it to others; by serious and thankful consideration of the nature of it, and of the ends for which Christ instituted it, the privileges and benefits conferred and sealed thereby, and our solemn vow made therein; by being humbled for our sinful defilement, our falling short of, and walking contrary to,  the grace of baptism, and our engagements; by growing up to assurance of pardon of sin, and of all other blessings sealed to us in that sacrament; by drawing strength from the death and resurrection of Christ, into whom we are baptized, for the mortifying of  sin, and quickening of grace; and by endeavoring to live by faith, to have our conversation in holiness and righteousness, a those that have therein given up their names to Christ; and to walk in brotherly love, as being baptized by the same Spirit into one body.”

Image source: Photo facing page 96 in A History of Auburn Theological Seminary, 1818-1918. Auburn, NY: Auburn Seminary Press, 1918. Scan prepared by the staff of the PCA Historical Center.

Rev. Shedd is perhaps most widely remembered for his three-volume work on systematic theology, which was originally published in 1888. Zondervan reprinted the work in 1969 and I’m sure there have been other reprints.

Dissertations & Theses—
• Herzer, Mark Andrew, The Influence of Romantic Idealism in the Writings of William Greenough Thayer Shedd. Philadelphia: Westminster Theological Seminary, 2003; Ph.D. dissertation.