January 5: Manor Presbyterian Church

5 January, 2012 in January 2012 by davidtmyers | No comments

This Day in Presbyterian History :  

Church Courts Seek to Maintain the Purity of the Church

Before America became a nation, local civil courts were unknown.  So in their absence, church sessions were frequently called upon to settle cases which involved both wrongs done against God as well as against God’s people.  The published session records of Manor Presbyterian Church in  Pennsylvania, which is the second oldest congregation of the Presbyterian Church in America, is one example of this. The church, begun in 1730, had as their first pastor, Samuel Blair, a graduate of the Log College.  Two years after Blair became their under-shepherd, the Session of Elders became in essence  a moral court , stating its conviction on the dangers of strong drink.

[» “the original Log College building” »]

On January 5, 1742, the Session of Ruling Elders gave a general warning of the dangers of “excess in strong drink.”   They stated, “we look upon this as our duty in this public manner, to testify against the corrupt practice and giving and drinking spirituous Liquor on such occasions, inasmuch as the shameful and unmanly, as well as unchristian and ungodly sin of Drunkenness, more or less, is generally the consequence of it; so that it is likely to corrupt and debauch the land, and make bad men much worse, to the great endangering of the everlasting perdition of souls, the profanation of God’s Holy Name, and wounding of his church . . . .”

This Presbyterian session of elders, in seeing such a loss of testimony on the part of those who were engaged in this sin of drunkenness, warned that such as would be found guilty of this sin would have to make a public confession of their sin, and profess their grief and sorrow for it before God, as an evidence of the truth of their humility.  Further evidence must provide a great bond and restraint upon them afterward, before they could be admitted back into the distinguishing privileges of the visible church.  In other words, genuine biblical repentance in attitude and action must be evident in their heart and lives before restoration would take place.

It is interesting that not too many years into the future, after this initial expression of concern of proper behavior among the members, the Great Awakening would come to Manor Presbyterian Church under the ministry of both Samuel Blair and George Whitefield.

Words to Live By: One of the three marks of a true church is the biblical practice of church discipline, done in love, according to the Scripture, for the punishment of sin,  for the restoration of the offenders, the purity of the church, and the glory of God.   Let us pray for all church sessions to be faithful to this mark.

Through the Scriptures: Genesis 12 – 15

Through the  Standards:  What is not in the canon of Scripture

WCF 1:3 “The books commonly called Apocrypha, not being of divine inspiration, are no part of the canon of the Scripture, and therefore are of no authority in the Church of God, nor to be any otherwise approved, or made use of, than other human writings.”

Image sources:
1. “The original Log College building” – frontispiece drawing in The Presbytery of the Log College, or The Cradle of the Presbyterian Church in America, by Thomas Murphy (1889). Image scan by Wayne Sparkman.
2. Photograph of Samuel Blair’s gravestone by Dr. Barry Waugh. Used by permission.

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January 4: Rev. Aaron Burr, Sr.

4 January, 2012 in January 2012 by davidtmyers | 2 comments

This Day in Presbyterian History : 

Practicing his Preaching

It is a rare combination for a man that he be an effective pastor as well as an effective professor.  And yet, Aaron Burr was such a man.

Born on  January 4, 1715, Aaron Burr graduated from Yale University in 1735. He was then ordained in the Presbyterian Church of Newark, New Jersey on January 25, 1737.  Just four years later, a remarkable revival occurred in the church with the result that the following winter, the entire town was brought under the convicting influences of the Spirit of God.  Four years past the previous work of God’s Spirit in the congregation, another revival of religion occurred among the church members, this time, among the young people.  Both of these religious awakenings tell us that Aaron Burr was an effective instrument of the Spirit, applying the whole counsel of God to the hearts and minds of the people.

On the death of Jonathan Dickinson, first president of the College of New Jersey, that infant educational institution moved to Newark, New Jersey, to be placed under the direct spiritual oversight of Burr in 1747.  For the next seven years, Rev. Burr would serve both as pastor and professor to the people and theological students.  In 1755, the pastoral side of his calling was dissolved and the students preparing for ministry had the full attention of his tireless zeal in their training.

It was Aaron Burr who recognized that Princeton, New Jersey, was a more suitable site for the college than Newark.  So in 1756, he moved the now seventy students to a building which had been built especially for it.  The college, which later on would become Princeton University and Princeton Theological Seminary, would never leave this town.

Burr was certainly an  intellectual in his teaching abilities.  Yet it was when he was preaching that he shone most brilliantly.  His life and example were a constant commentary on his sermons.

Words to Live By:  It is said that our lives preach all day every week.  Question? Are other souls being helped or hindered in the hearing and  reading of those lives?  Are those without Christ being convicted and convinced to become Christians?  Are Christians being encouraged, comforted, edified, and taught Christian truths?  What is our profession—not just of our lips, but of our lives—as we live before others? All these questions are good self-examination questions, especially as we begin this new year.

Through the Scriptures: Genesis 10-11

Through the Standards:  The what, how, and why of the Bible, as found in the catechisms:

WLC 3 “What is the word of God?
A. The holy scriptures of the Old and New Testament are the word of God, the only rule of faith and obedience.”;

WSC 2 “What rule hath God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him?
A. The Word of God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him.”

For further study:
The finding aid, or index, to the Aaron Burr manuscript collection preserved at the Princeton University, may be viewed here.

Recommended reading on Princeton University:
Noll, Mark A. Princeton and the Republic, 1768-1822: The Search for a Christian Enlightenment in the Era of Samuel Stanhope Smith (1989). 340 pp.

[Images from Scribner’s Monthly, vol. 13, no. 5 (March 1877), pp. 627 & 629.]

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January 3: David Brainerd

3 January, 2012 in January 2012 by archivist | No comments

This Day in Presbyterian History :  

God Enabled Him to be a Prayer Warrior

It is amazing that one life lived for God could  inspire not just his own life and soul, but  countless others as well.  And yet that was the case with David Brainerd [1718-1747].  A recipient of the Great Awakening in New England in the early seventeen hundreds, David Brainerd was ordained by the Presbytery of New York as a missionary  to the Delaware Indians.  A sickly man, he would eventually die of tuberculosis, but not before he penned a memorable diary which illustrated his deep piety in the things of God. Listen to some of his thoughts, written on January 3, 1745.

 “Being sensible of the great want (lack) of divine influences and the outpouring of     God’s Spirit, I spent this day in fasting and prayer to seek so great a mercy for myself, my poor people (e.g. the native population) in particular, and the Church of God in general.  In the morning, I was very lifeless in prayer and could get scarce any sense of God.  Near noon, I enjoyed some sweet freedom to pray that the will of God might in every respect become  mine, and I am persuaded that it was so at that time in some good degree.  In the afternoon, I was exceedingly weak and could not enjoy much fervency in prayer, but felt a great degree of dejection which, I believe, was very much owing to my bodily weakness and disorder.”

If you read carefully the above quotation from David Brainerd, you would have observed that this was an all-day prayer session by this home missionary.  And it was a prayer which was answered, for within a year, there was an outpouring of sovereign grace among the Indians, beginning with his own interpreter and his wife. Eventually God’s Spirit would bring an extraordinary spiritual awakening to the inhabitants of the towns and villages which later on became the northeastern states of the United States. And his diary continues to be an inspiration to modern day Christians, countless of whom have entered into Christian service as a result of its reading.

Words to Live By:  What is prayer?  Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God, in the name of Christ, by the help of His Spirit, with confession of our sins, and thankful acknowledgment of his mercies.  (Larger Catechism of the Westminster Standards, No. 178)

Through the Scriptures: Genesis 6 – 9

Through the Standards:  The what, how, and why of the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments

WCF 1:2  “Under the name of Holy Scripture, or the Word of God written, are now contained all the books of the Old and New Testaments, which are these, OF THE OLD TESTAMENT Genesis. Exodus. Leviticus. Numbers. Deuteronomy. Joshua. Judges. Ruth. 1 Samuel. 2 Samuel. 1 Kings. 2 Kings. 1 Chronicles. 2 Chronicles. Ezra. Nehemiah. Esther. Job. Psalms. Proverbs. Ecclesiastes. The Song of Songs. Isaiah. Jeremiah. Lamentations. Ezekiel. Daniel. Hosea. Joel. Amos. Obadiah. Jonah. Micah. Nahum. Habakkuk. Zephaniah. Haggai. Zechariah. Malachi. OF THE NEW TESTAMENT The Gospels according to Matthew. Mark. Luke. John. The Acts of the Apostles. Paul’s Epistles to the Romans. 1 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians. Galatians. Ephesians. Philippians. Colossians. 1 Thessalonians. 2 Thessalonians. 1 Timothy. 2 Timothy. Titus. Philemon. The Epistle to the Hebrews. The Epistle of James. The first and second Epistles of Peter. The first, second, and third Epistles of John. The Epistle of Jude. The Revelation of John. All which are given by inspiration of God to be the rule of faith and life.

For further reading on the life of David Brainerd:
Primary sources: Brainerd’s Diary remains in print and can be obtained here or on the web in various digital formats here.

Secondary sources, recommended:

  • Marsden, Robert, “Missionary Heroes of the Past: XIX. David Brainerd,” The Presbyterian Guardian, 8.11 (10 December 1940): 170.

Secondary sources, additional (more scholarly & to be read with discretion):

  • Conforti, Joseph, “Jonathan Edward’s Most Popular Work: The Life of David Brainerd and Nineteenth-Century Evangelical Culture.” Church History 54.2 (June 1985): 188-201.
  • Harris, Paul, “David Brainerd and the Indians: Cultural Interaction and Protestant Missionary Ideology,” American Presbyterians 72.1 (Spring 1994): 1-9.

Also on this date:
in 1898, Robert Lewis Dabney died at his home in Victoria, Texas, at the age of 77.

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January 2: Children of the Battlefield

2 January, 2012 in January 2012 by davidtmyers | No comments

This Day in Presbyterian History :  

A Mystery Solved by God’s Providence

 The little girl found the dead Union sergeant on Stratton street in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.  To find a dead soldier on a street was not unusual on the days following the first three days of July in 1863.  He was just one of seven thousand soldiers, both Confederate and Union, who had died in and around that small northern town after that Civil War battle.  What made his death unusual was his  last gaze  upon a tin-type photo of his three small children, which he held tight in her hands in death.  Who were these children, and who was this deceased soldier? That was the question which would occupy the nation’s conscience for two years.

Carrying the tin photo back to her inn-keeper father, the picture provided a steady stream of conversation among the patrons of that inn eight miles west of Gettysburg.  When a medical doctor, Dr. John Bourns, came to treat the wounded from the pivotal battle, his wagon broke down near the inn.  Waiting for its repair, he too went into the inn, and heard the story of the three unknown children. Convincing the inn keeper that he could better help in their identity by advertising through a city newspaper, he took the photo back to Philadelphia after his months of treating the wounded.

When the news story was published in the October 19, 1863 Philadelphia Inquirer, the story of the “Children of the Battlefield” became a national story.  The article was picked up by other news media, including The American Presbyterian magazine, on November 19, 1863.  That issue went to a subscriber in Portville, New York, where it was read eventually by all the citizens of the small town, including Mrs. Philinda Humiston.  Contacting Dr. Bourn, she was visited by the medical doctor, along with her pastor, the Rev. Issac Ogden, of the Portville Presbyterian Church, on this day of January 2, 1864.  Shown the blood-stained photo of her three children, she realized what she had feared all along in not hearing from her husband, that she was a widow, and her three children Frank, Freddie, and Alice were orphans.  Her husband was Amos Humiston, of the 154th New York regiment, killed on July 1, 1863.  A monument stands today next to the fire station on Stratton Street near the site of his death.  And the tin type photo can still be seen at the Visitor’s Center of the National Battlefield Park in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

Words to Live By: There is no luck, chance, or fortune which allowed or ordained all these actions.   “God the great Creator of all things does uphold, direct, dispose, and govern all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest even to the least.  Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 5, section 1.

Through the Scriptures:  Genesis 3 – 5

Through the Standards:  God has spoken in creation and canon

Westminster Confession of Faith (hereafter WCF) 1:1 “Although the light of nature, and the works of creation and providence do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men inexcusable; yet they are not sufficient to give that knowledge of God, and of his will, which is necessary for salvation. Therefore, it pleased the Lord, at sundry times, and in divers manner, to reveal Himself, and to declare that His will unto His church; and afterwards, for the better preserving and propagating of the truth, and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the Church against the corruption of the flesh, and the malice of Satan and of the world, to commit the same whole unto writing: which maketh the Holy Scripture to be more necessary; those former ways of God’s revealing His will unto His people being now ceased.”

Westminster Larger Catechism (hereafter WLC) 2 “How doth it appear that there is a God?
A. The very light of nature in man, and the works of God, declare plainly that there is a God; but his word and Spirit only do sufficiently and effectually reveal him unto men for their salvation.”

For further reading on the subject of God’s providence (His sustaining care of His creation),
we highly recommend The Mystery of Providence,
by John Flavel.

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January 1

1 January, 2012 in January 2012 by davidtmyers | 5 comments

This Day in Presbyterian History :

Faithful unto Death

God’s servant in the battle for the Bible in the early part of the twentieth century was J. Gresham Machen.  Born into Old School Presbyterianism in 1881, Machen was educated at the Reformed bastion of orthodoxy, Princeton Theological Seminary.  After further education overseas, he returned to his alma mater to teach in the New Testament field.  It was there that he first saw the approaching apostasy which eventually enveloped all the agencies of the church, including the theological institutions of the Presbyterian church.  When some who had denied the fundamentals of the faith were placed on the Board of Trustees of Princeton Seminary, he and three other professors left to begin Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia in 1930.  Three years later, he began the Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Missions, seeking to organize a biblical missions board within the church.  That organization led to his deposition from the Presbyterian church in 1936.

In the closing days of 1936, he was invited to North Dakota by a few Princeton graduates who were ministering in that state.  Despite a cold, the fifty-five year old theologian went by train in the midst of winter,  seeking to draw out a remnant for the faith once delivered unto the saints.  Rev. David K. Myers,  who graduated from Princeton in 1929, and father of this contributor, picked him up at the train station.  He observed how his former professor was violently shaking from the frigid weather, despite a heavy overcoat.  After fulfilling a couple of speaking engagements, he was hospitalized with pneumonia.  His heath deteriorated rapidly in that Bismarck North Dakota hospital.

Dying words remarked about the grandness of the Reformed faith.  A last telegram to fellow Westminster professor John Murray exclaimed that there was no hope without the active obedience of Christ. He died at 7;30 p.m.  on January 1, 1937.  His funeral took place at Greenmount Cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland, on January 5. The tombstone reads in Greek, “Faithful unto Death.“

Words to Live By:  “We have today the entrance of paganism into the Church in the name of Christianity.  But in the second century a similar battle was fought and won.  Another Reformation in God’s good time will come.”  J. Gresham Machen, “Christianity and Liberalism,” p. 178

Through the Scriptures: Genesis chapters 1, 2 (Note: We begin a daily reading through the Bible.)

Through the Standards: Duty and destiny of people
[Westminster Larger Catechism # 1 (hereafter WLC); Westminster Shorter Catechism #1 (hereafter WSC)]

WLC 1: ‘What is the chief and highest end of man?
A: Man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy him forever.”

WSC 1:  “What is the chief end of man?
A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.”

The J. Gresham Machen Manuscript Collection is preserved at the Montgomery Library on the campus of Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, PA. Separately, the staff of the PCA Historical Center have gathered a modest collection of Machen-related materials, a list of which may be viewed here.

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