PCA Historical Center| Kicking off a new section of our site, "History Matters" - we're posting a great article by Geerhardus Vos, "Christian Faith and the Truthfulness of Bible History" [Princeton Theological Review 4.3 (July 1906): 289-305.]
New: Dr. Francis L. Patton's Memorial Address for Dr. Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield, 1921. Other recent postings: "The Dying Christian's Estimate of Heaven" by Rev. John Niel McLeod. [pdf only] This funeral sermon for the Rev. Andrew Watson Black is interesting on several levels. Both McLeod and Black were sons of prominent early leaders of the Reformed Presbyterian denomination, and so McLeod's deliverance becomes a benchmark on the death of the second generation. Moreover, 150 years later, this is still a powerful, touching sermon! If you only read a portion, don't miss the first nine pages. "The Substance of Some Discourses on Baptism", by the Rev. John Black. Rev. Black was the founding pastor of First Reformed Presbyterian Church, Pittsburgh, and served that congregation from 1800 until his death in 1849. He was also Professor of Latin and Greek at the Western University of Pennsylvania (now the University of Pittsburgh). The Office of Deacon: First, a Word of Explanation: Our purpose in posting these materials is to display some of the resources in the PCA Historical Center--to provide information that probably isn't readily available elsewhere. However, because of the importance of this discussion, we will provide a few off-site links, such as the OPC study on Women in Ordained Office. Please contact us if we can help with other resources. As the PCA took up discussion of the diaconate at this year's General Assembly, it is appropriate to review the discussion on this subject that appeared on the pages of The Southern Presbyterian Review. The PCA's Book of Church Order is based on the BCO of the mother church, the Presbyterian Church in the U.S. [aka, Southern Presbyterian], and so these articles are relevant to our understanding of the Presbyterian government that we have inherited. Click here to view the background of BCO chapter 9. Providentially, the recent debate also provides a necessary opportunity to review our entire doctrine of the diaconate. Without a good grasp of the whole of the office, it will be difficult to correctly decide particular questions that may arise. To that end, we are also posting other materials as they can be located and digitized. See the list below for our initial postings.
Posted : Rev. John B. Adger's Report on "The General Assembly at New Orleans" (PCUS, 1877). Posted : James H. Thornwell's Report of the General Assembly (PCUSA) of 1847. Posted: Four articles by Dr. Wm. Stanford Reid: 1. "The Covenants of the Scriptures" (1943) 2. "The Development of Presbyterian Government" (1941) 3. "Presenting All Sides" (1940) 4. "The Westminster Assembly's Directory of Worship" (1938) Carl Trueman On the Value of History: "Acknowledging that God works in history means that we acknowledge that He has worked in the past; and acknowledging that He has worked in the past means that we acknowledge that we may not ignore that past as if we today had all the answers. In short, without God as its author, history becomes meaningless, as do the lives of all those who make up history. All that is left is the unchained and autonomous individual in the present. The way we worship becomes whatever suits us here and now; and our theology becomes whatever we think the Bible means or whatever the latest scholarly consensus tells us it means. In short, we lose any perspective from which to be self-critical." [excerpted from "Reckoning with the Past in an Anti-Historical Age," Themelios 27.3 (2002), pg. 43. "The Nature of the Atonement--Why it is Necessarily Vicarious," by W.L. Scott, Esq. (1870) "Our Faculty - Westminster Theological Seminary" - An early promotional brochure prepared by The Student Committee on Publications, Westminster Students' Association, 1931. "Groundless Attacks in the Field of Oriental Scholarship," by Dr. Robert Dick Wilson, Ph.D. A short article for the lay reader, originally published in The Bible Student and Teacher, volume 1, number 6 (June 1904): 356-360. This brief article was recently discovered when the PCA Historical Center obtained a bound copy of this periodical. Westminster Seminary and the Reformed Faith, by the Rev. Samuel G. Craig, D.D. [excerpted from Christianity Today [original series], 5.5 (October 1934): 108-112 and 5.6 (November 1934): 131-136. Afraid of a Shadow,"From a Discourse by a Young Scotchman, Delivered at Torquay." [excerpted from Christianity Today (Philadelphia: Presbyterian & Reformed Publishing), 8.9 (January 1938): 185.] "How to Conduct a Summer Bible School" by Dr. Abraham Lance Lathem, D.D. This brief article by Dr. Lathem explains in short order the essentials of conducting this renowned children's ministry. Take special note of the program's intensive curriculum, as described at the end of the file. I hope at some later time to properly tell the story of Dr. Lathem. He served for many years as the Senior Pastor of Third Presbyterian Church in Chester, PA, and he is particularly noteworthy as mentor to the Rev. Francis Schaeffer, who learned the principles of this children's ministry under Dr. Lathem before taking a pastorate in St. Louis. Rev. Schaeffer took what he had learned from Lathem and employed it in the ministry of Children for Christ in St. Louis, while serving as pastor of the First Bible Presbyterian Church. Later, after the end of World War II, Schaeffer was led to move to Huemoz, Switzerland with the intention of setting up chapters of Children for Christ throughout post-war Europe. In the course of things, the planned children's ministry turned instead into something greater, with the formation of L'Abri in 1955. |
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Posted: Tables of Content for Christianity Today [original series, 1930-1949]. |
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| "We need the Jesus of history to account for the Christianity of history. And we need both the Jesus of history and the Christianity of history to account for the history of the world...To be rid of this Jesus we must be rid of this Christianity, and to be rid of this Christianity we must be rid of the world-history which has grown out of it. We must have the Christianity of history and the Jesus of history, or we leave the world that exists, and as it exists, unaccounted for." [B.B. Warfield, The Lord of Glory, p. 304.] | ||||||||||||||||||||
"NEEDED: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE," by William Stanford Reid (1953) : |
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Recent Accessions and Current News :
Posted long ago: Guidelines for the Keeping of Session Minutes [dusting off an old file]
Posted: Rev. Paul Settle's brief article from 1993 on the history of the PCA, titled "Our Formative Years" [originally appeared in The PCA Messenger ]
Posted: Charles Hodge's article on "The Revised Book of Discipline" (1858). Hodge was a member of the Committee tasked with revising the Book of Discipline in the old PCUSA, and offers here his insights into some of that Committee's reasonings.
Please note that the "Collection Overview" button in the masthead above, has been changed. We would appreciate your comments on this new listing of the Center's collections. The old listing of our collections remains here].
Posted long ago: Guidelines for the Keeping of Session Minutes [dusting off an old file]
Posted: Rev. Paul Settle's brief article from 1993 on the history of the PCA, titled "Our Formative Years" [originally appeared in The PCA Messenger ]
Posted: Charles Hodge's article on "The Revised Book of Discipline" (1858). Hodge was a member of the Committee tasked with revising the Book of Discipline in the old PCUSA, and offers here his insights into some of that Committee's reasonings.
Please note that the "Collection Overview" button in the masthead above, has been changed. We would appreciate your comments on this new listing of the Center's collections. The old listing of our collections remains here].
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The Historical Center of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) is a ministry of the PCA Stated Clerk's Office, with facilities located in St. Louis, Missouri on the campus of Covenant Theological Seminary. Our mission is to document the story of the conservative Presbyterian movement of the 20th & 21st centuries. The concept of the "continuing church" dates back to the Scottish Presbyterian churches of the 17th century and reflects the effort to maintain a faithful, Bible-believing Church, true to the Lordship of Christ. The PCA Historical Center currently hold the records of six conservative Presbyterian denominations, as well as manuscript collections for over 100 individuals connected with these Churches.
Last update : Monday, 14 July 2008.
The Historical Center of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) is a ministry of the PCA Stated Clerk's Office, with facilities located in St. Louis, Missouri on the campus of Covenant Theological Seminary. Our mission is to document the story of the conservative Presbyterian movement of the 20th & 21st centuries. The concept of the "continuing church" dates back to the Scottish Presbyterian churches of the 17th century and reflects the effort to maintain a faithful, Bible-believing Church, true to the Lordship of Christ. The PCA Historical Center currently hold the records of six conservative Presbyterian denominations, as well as manuscript collections for over 100 individuals connected with these Churches.
Last update : Monday, 14 July 2008.