Hodge, Charles

(17 97-187 8)

   conservative Presbyterian founder of the Princeton Theology

   Charles Hodge is generally considered the originator of the ideas that became known as the Princeton Theology. He was born on December 27, 1797 in Philadelphia. He graduated from Princeton University in 1815, and in 1819 completed his studies at Princeton Theological Seminary, where he worked with Archibald Alexander (1772-1851). He joined the seminary faculty the following year, when he was also ordained as a Presbyterian minister.

   Hodge became an apologist for traditional Calvinism and a critic of revivalism, biblical criticism, and Darwinism. One of his more effective tools in promoting his views was the Biblical Repertory and Princeton Review, which he launched in 1825 and edited for 45 years.

   His reputation began to rise with the publication of his early exegetical work, A Commentary on the Epistle of the Romans (1835). Latter publications, including the two-volume Constitutional History of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (1839, 1840) and The Way of Life: A Handbook of Christian Belief and Practice (1841), culminated in his monumental Systematic Theology (1871-73).

   Hodge actively participated in the denominational leadership of the Presbyterian Church, and served as moderator of the Old School (anti-revivalist) General Assembly in 1846. He also served on both the missionary and education boards.

   He died on June 19, 1878.

   Further reading:

   ■ Charles Hodge, The Constitutional History of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (1851, rpt., Wrightstown, N.J.: American Presbyterian Press, 1984); , Systematic Theology (1871-73, rpt., Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans, 1993); , Mark A. Noll and David N. Livingstone, eds., What Is Darwinism? And Other Writings on Science & Religion, (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book House, 1994)

   ■ W. Andrew Hoffecker, Piety and the Princeton Theologians: Archibald Alexander, Charles Hodge, and Benjamin Warfield (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book House, 1981)

   ■ David F Wells, ed., The Princeton Theology (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book House, 1989).