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November 24: Rev. James Caldwell

24 November, 2012 in November 2012 by davidtmyers | No comments

This Day in Presbyterian History:

The Demise of a Soldier Parson

It was back on June 23 that we profiled the provision of psalm books as wadding for the American Revolutionary forces at the Battle of Springfield, New Jersey.  The cry of “Give them Watts, boys, give them Watts,” referring to Isaac Watts’ many hymns, became a celebrated phrase from the Revolutionary War.

The Rev. James Caldwell, from whose mouth that famous line sprung, was an American Presbyterian minister from Elizabethtown, New Jersey.  He was the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of that town.  Early on, this Scot-Irish minister threw his lot in with the forces of George Washington in the battle for freedom from Britain.  Joining as a chaplain of the New Jersey troops, he rallied his church for the cause of liberty, with over forty of the members becoming line officers in the battles. Caldwell himself, was known at “the Soldier parson.”

He was born in Virginia from the well-known Scot or Ulster-Irish heritage of many Presbyterian patriots. Graduating from the College of New Jersey in 1759, he was ordained by the Presbytery of New Brunswick in 1761, and no doubt, installed as pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of  Elizabethtown, New Jersey (now called Elisabeth).

Because his conviction for the American cause were so well-known, the British burned both the congregation and his house at least once.  His wife was either accidentally or purposely killed by a British soldier who fired on her figure through a window or a wall, as she was praying for her children.

A year later, Rev. Caldwell was picking up a traveler in his buggy.  After carrying the baggage to the horse-drawn buggy, he went back to pick up a package.  An American sentry ordered him to stop but distance precluded the command from being heard.  With that, the sentry fired and killed Rev. Caldwell on November 24, 1781.  At the trial and subsequent hanging of the sentry, there were rumors that he had been bribed by the British to kill the soldier parson.  At any rate, he was buried beside his wife in the cemetery of the First Presbyterian Church of Elizabethtown, New Jersey.  A monument was placed up honoring him in 1846.  Three towns in New Jersey are named after him, including an educational facility.

Words to live by:  While the Rev. James Caldwell did not physically pick up a rifle and fire it at advancing British troops, the “soldier parson” did preach the necessity of armed revolution as well as provide supplies for the Jersey brigade.  He is looked upon as a defender of liberty as well as preaching the words of grace to a lost people.  He wasn’t the first Christian minister to embrace liberty and justice for God’s people, and he won’t be the last minister to do so.  There is a place for ministers of the Word to apply that Word of God to the social and moral issues of the day.  Our people need guidance to do the right thing in the right way.

Also on this day:

This day marks the 440th anniversary of the death of the Scottish Reformer, John Knox.

Through the Scriptures:  1 Corinthians 9 – 12

Through the Standards:  Errors of Romanism regarding the Lord’s Supper

WCF 29:4
“Private masses, or receiving this sacrament by a priest, or any other alone; as likewise, the denial of the cup to the people, worshipping the elements, the lifting them up, or carrying them about, for adoration, and the reserving them for any pretended religious use; are all contrary to the nature of this sacrament, and to the institution of Christ.”

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November 22: Rev. George Whitefield

22 November, 2012 in November 2012 by davidtmyers | No comments

This Day in Presbyterian History:

The World Turned Upside Down

In writing his journal on November 22, 1739, the Rev. George Whitefield described an evangelistic tour in the year of 1739 through the American colonies.  Coming to the home congregation of Rev. William Tennent, Senior, in Neshaminy, Pennsylvania, Whitefield preached to some 3000 individuals gathered in the yard. After the Word  has been proclaimed in all of its fulness, to the immediate spiritual effect upon the hearers, Whitefield went on to describe the famous forerunner to Princeton Seminary and University, the Log College.  He wrote,

“The place wherein the young men study now is in contempt called the Log College.  It is a Log-house, about Twenty Feet long, and near as many broad; and to me it seemed to resemble the School of the old Prophets. For that their Habitations were mean (low), and that they sought not great things for themselves, is plain from that Passage of Scripture wherein we are told that at the Feasts of the Sons of the Prophets, one of them put on the Pot, whilst the others went to fetch some Herbs out of the Field.  All that can be said of most of our public Universities is, they are all glorious without!  From this despised Place Seven or Eight worthy Ministers of Jesus Christ have lately been sent forth; more are almost ready to be sent, and a Foundation is now laying for the Instruction of many others. The Devil will certainly rage against them, but the Work, I am persuaded, is of God, and therefore will not come to nought. Carnal ministers oppose them strongly; and because People, when awakened by Mr Tennent, or his Brethren, see through, and therefore leave their Ministry, the poor Gentlemen are loaded down with contempt, and looked upon (as all faithful Preachers will be) as Persons that turn the World upside down.”

To George Whitefield, a spiritual battle was commencing between the angel Michael and the devil himself as a result of these Log College graduates going out into the world. Yet  the great revivalist was confidant that God would prevail in the coming struggle.

Words to live by:  There is no  doubt that this tiny theological school had a spiritual influence far beyond its size in the infant Presbyterian church.  Let us learn never to judge any Christian work from the numbers which attend it. Every large church today began as a smaller congregation, sometimes but a handful of committed Christians. The more important question is, is the whole counsel of God being taught and believed and followed? If it is, then that is the church to which you need to commit your soul and body, to say nothing of your spiritual gifts and your time.

Through the Scriptures:  1 Corinthians 1 – 4

Through the Standards:  Dispensing the Lord’s Supper

WCF 29:3
“The Lord Jesus has, in this ordinance, appointed  His ministers to declare His Word of institution to the people; to pray, and bless the elements of bread and wine, and thereby to set them apart from a common to a holy use; and to take and break the bread, to take the cup, and (they communicating also themselves) to give both to the communicants; but to none who are not then present in the congregation.”

Image sources:
1. Engraved portrait of George Whitefield, from The General Assembly’s Missionary Magazine: or Evangelical Intelligencer: For 1806. William P. Farrand, Editor. Vol. II. Philadelphia: Printed for, and Published by, William P. Farrand, No. 170, Market Street. Fry and Kammerer, Printers. 1806. Portrait of Whitefield facing page [401].
2. Frontispiece portrait from The Presbytery of the Log College, by Thomas Murphy. Philadelphia: Presbyterian Board of Publication and Sabbath-school Work, 1889.
Scans prepared by the staff of the PCA Historical Center.

 

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November 21: Rev. Robert Cooper

21 November, 2012 in November 2012 by davidtmyers | No comments

This Day in Presbyterian History:

Bringing Bibles and Rifles to Worship

It was in uncivilized territory where the Rev. Robert Cooper took his first pastorate in central Pennsylvania. Born in Northern Ireland in 1732, the young man stayed there for the first nine years of his life. When his father died, young Robert accompanied his widowed mother in 1741 to the American colonies across the Atlantic. Following so many of their Scot-Irish race, he studied at the College of New Jersey, now Princeton University, graduating there in 1763. As was common practice in that era, Robert prepared for the ministry by studying theology with a private tutor, and he was ordained to the gospel ministry on November 21, 1765. Within that same year, he was called to Middle Springs Presbyterian Church, just north of Shippensburg, Pennsylvania. He was to remain there for thirty-one years, finally leavening in 1797 due to declining health.

Worship in pre-Revolutionary times was a challenge, due to the presence of hostile native American in their region. The usual items brought to a worship service were a Bible (the Genevan edition, with Calvinistic footnotes), a hymn book (a Psalter for unaccompanied singing of psalms), and a  rifle, with ammunition readily available. Their defensive armament would then be stashed at the entrance of the church whenever they would attend church services.

Dr. Cooper remained at Middle Springs for three decades plus. He was a scholar of considerable merit. He had served later on for a brief time in the Revolutionary Army. His interests were of wider influence than the local scene, for he had helped to plan for the first General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in 1789, at which he was a voting delegate.

He wrote a tract entitled “The Signs of the Times” as well as written messages delivered to the American troops of the Revolutionary Army. He went to be with the Lord on April 5, 1805.

Words to live by:  If  you remember that the Scots-Irish Presbyterians initially settled in Cumberland County of Pennsylvania, and then after about thirty years began to migrate west and south, we will have a real appreciation for the Rev. Robert Cooper. He no doubt influenced the evangelistic and revival traditions of the Scots-Irish Presbyterians in America.  With the danger of Indian attacks ever present as they walked to and from church, or upon their homes while they were away at church, it took real courage to be a Reformed Christian in those days. Increasingly we have our own challenges to faith and life today. Then as now, a firm resolve based upon God’s sure care for each of His children, is necessary in standing for faith and righteousness.

Through the Scriptures: 2 Thessalonians 1 – 3 ; Acts 18:12 – 19:10

Through the Standards: The Lord’s Supper: Commemorative, not Sacrificial

WCF 29:2
“In this sacrament, Christ is not offered up to His Father; nor any real sacrifice made at all, for the remission of sins of the quick or dead; but only a commemoration of that one offering up of Himself, by Himself, upon the cross, once for all: and a spiritual oblation of all possible praise unto God, for the same: so that the popish sacrifice of the mass (as they call it) is most abominably injurious to Christ’s one, only sacrifice, the only propitiation for all the sins of His elect.”

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November 19: John L. Burns

19 November, 2012 in November 2012 by davidtmyers | No comments

This Day in Presbyterian History:

Two Heroes of Gettysburg Attend a Presbyterian Church

The High Water Mark of the Civil War, the Battle of Gettysburg, had been fought that July of 1863. Attending just four months later in the same town of Pennsylvania, was President Abraham Lincoln for the dedication of the new National Cemetery in that town. The president wasn’t the main speaker that day of dedication.  But he  delivered a short pithy message which he thought was a failure, due to its brevity, but which turned into an immortal address which the world will long remember.

One of the residents of Gettysburg Lincoln wanted to meet, after the presentation, was local and later national hero John L. Burns. The latter was the only civilian who grabbed his old War of 1812 flintlock, and exchanging it for a more modern weapon from a wounded Union soldier, joined in the fighting of the Confederate army on July 1, 1863.  His fame immediately after that brief stint in battle, at which he was wounded three times, caused his name to be on every lip, including that of President Lincoln.

It was on November 19, 1863  that the President of the United States met John Burns at the home of attorney David Wills. The latter had been responsible more than any one else for setting aside the plots of ground which later on became the National Cemetery of Gettysburg. Wills was also a ruling elder in the Presbyterian Church of Gettysburg on Baltimore Street. Together, John Burns and Abraham Lincoln, along with David Wills,  walked south down Baltimore Street to the building of the Presbyterian Church to attend a patriotic service held there that evening.  It was reported that the seventy-one year old Burns slept through much of the service, but Abraham Lincoln was able to be present for most of the service, before duties called him back to Washington, D.C.

A century later in 1962, the church building was replaced with another building, and all the furnishings with it, with the exception of “the Lincoln – Burns Pew” which can still be seen in the new church at the same location.

Words to live by:  There are “heroes” in church history who have been mentioned in great advances of the Lord’s kingdom and church. In point of reference, this very  historical devotional  is all about Christian, and more specifically Christian Presbyterians who have been used of the Holy Spirit to advance the Kingdom of Christ in various periods of time and places. It is as we acknowledge these men and women of the Presbyterian faith that we are more fully appreciate the progress of the church in general, and our local church in particular. So, as you look at your church of your choice, who among them can be found who have in the past or present been instrumental in advancing the cause and kingdom of Christ? After you identify them, why not go up to them and thank the Lord for their spiritual gifts which have been used for God’s glory and His cause?  It will both praise the Lord and encourage their  hearts to know that someone has remembered them for all their hard work.

Through the Scriptures:  Acts 15 – 18:11

Through the Standards:  Definition of the Lord’s Supper, in the Confession

WCF 29:1
“Our Lord Jesus, in the night wherein He was betrayed, instituted the sacrament of His body and blood, called the Lord’s Supper, to be observed in His Church, unto the end of the world, for the perpetual remembrance of the sacrifice of Himself in His death; the sealing all benefits thereof unto true believers, their spiritual nourishment and growth in Him, their further engagement in and to all duties which they owe unto Him; and, to be a bond and pledge of their communion with Him, and with each other, as members of His mystical body.”

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November 11: A Covenanter Ceremony

11 November, 2012 in November 2012 by davidtmyers | No comments

This Day in Presbyterian History:

Covenanters Begin with Colorful Ceremony

Following the first schism of the Presbyterian Church in 1741, Rev. Alexander Craighead in 1742 argued that the New Side Presbyterian branch should renew the historic Scottish National Covenant of 1581 and also the Solemn League and Covenant of 1643, thus committing themselves to be in opposition to the British government. When the New Side Presbytery responded with opposition to the proposed covenant that his views were full “of treason, sedition, and distraction,” Craighead and his congregation, the Middle Octorara Presbyterian Church in Eastern Pennsylvania, withdrew  from the New Side Presbyterians on November 11, 1743.  They then renewed these covenants themselves with four swords pointing to the four winds.

In their declaration, they professed their adherence to the true Reformed Presbyterian religion, in doctrine, worship, discipline, and government, as it is contained in the Word of God and summed up in the Westminster Standards, along with the book of church order, which included the directory of worship and the covenants of the mother church.

Further protestations were made against the Adopting Act of 1729, which gave allowance to the ministers and elders of the Presbyterian Church of America to declare exceptions to the subordinate standards of the church. They charged that the present adoption act was “contrary to the true Constitution of the Presbyterian Reformed Church of Christ.:

Last, they protested against the rulers of England as  having any legal right to rule over the colonies. The leaders of the New Side Presbyterians were not ready to do that in 1743, but a bare three decades later, that is exactly what American Presbyterians did, when they supported the Revolution.

The significance of the drawn swords was to remember the heritage of their Covenanter forefathers, who adhered to a true Reformation.  The swords were a pledge to defend their lives and their religion rather than relinquish it.  They wanted to stand body and soul with their spiritual forefathers in this matter.

< Gravesite of the Rev. Alexander Craighead, at the Sugaw Creek Presbyterian Church in Mecklenburg County, NC.

Words to live by:   One of the reasons why this historical devotional is being published by the PCA Historical Center is that Presbyterians in our pews, and even some behind our pulpits, do not know the history of our Church. And in not knowing it, they can fail to appreciate stands for righteousness and against wickedness which our forefathers took at great sacrifice to themselves and their families. Reader, you need to make the PCA Historical Center’s pages a “favorite” on your computer, and check with it frequently to read the resources and frequent new additions there. You might also send some financial help to the Historical Center regularly, and have your church put the Center in their annual benevolences. If we forget the past, we will continue to make mistakes in our church faith and life in the present and future.

Through the Scriptures:  Acts 3 – 5

Through the Standards:  Subjects of Baptism according to the Confession

WCF 28:4
“Not only those that do actually profess faith in and obedience unto Christ, but also the infants of one, or both, believing parents, are to be baptized.”

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