2009/04/20 by Ian S. Markham · 1 citation
Social Sciences · Arts and Humanities · #American Constitutional Law and Politics #Religion and Society Interactions #Religion, Gender, and Enlightenment
paper · doi:10.1002/9781118427170.ch47
openalex publication_date 2009/04/20 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
A key influence on reformed Presbyterian theology in the United States was Benjamin Brekinridge Warfield. Warfield is also indicative of the dramatic influence that Princeton Theological Seminary had on American theology. At the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth centuries, Warfield was the most widely known American advocate of confessional Calvinism. For Warfield, the core Christian commitments are essential. In this respect, he was typical of the Princeton of this period. He combined his core commitment with a capacity to be shaped by contemporary philosophy and accommodate certain scientific discoveries. The key themes of his theology were a robust articulation and defense of inerrancy and classical reformed systematics. Warfield's theology was not grounded in experience; for Warfield there were real reasons for faith and therefore there was an apologetic emphasis to his work. Right reason, argued Warfield, should be able to discern the truth of Christianity.