Charles Hodge: Guardian of American Orthodoxy

Charles Hodge (1797-1878) was one of nineteenth-century America's leading theologians, owing in part to a lengthy teaching career, voluminous writings, and a faculty post at one of the nation's most influential schools, Princeton Theological Seminary. Surprisingly, the only biography of this towering figure was written by his son, just two years after his death. Paul C. Gutjahr's book is the first modern critical biography of a man some have called the "Pope of Presbyterianism." Hodge's legacy is especially important to American Presbyterians. His brand of theological conservatism became vital in the 1920s, as Princeton Seminary saw itself, and its denomination, split. The conservative wing held unswervingly to the Old School tradition championed by Hodge, and ultimately founded the breakaway Orthodox Presbyterian Church. The views that Hodge developed, refined, and propagated helped shape many of the central traditions of twentieth- and twenty-first-century American evangelicalism. Hodge helped establish a profound reliance on the Bible among Evangelicals, and he became one of the nation's most vocal proponents of biblical inerrancy. Gutjahr's study reveals the exceptional depth, breadth, and longevity of Hodge's theological influence and illuminates the varied and complex nature of conservative American Protestantism.

Table of Contents:
Illustrations Key Events in Hodge's Life Key Figures in Hodge's Life Prologue - The Pope of Presbyterianism Part I 1797-1810 - The Hodges of Philadelphia 1. Andrew Hodge, Family Patriarch 2. Presbyterian Heritage 3. Beauty and the Beast Part II The 1810s - Student Years 4. The Beginnings of Self 5. Prince's Town 6. Witherspoon's Common Sense 7. "Classick Learning" 8. Enlisting under the Banner of King Jesus 9. Happy Jaunts and the "Man of Men" 10. "Give us ministers!" 11. Student Years at the Seminary 12. "Where am I to go?" Part III The 1820s - Young Professor 13. "The Most Eligible Situation for Improvement" 14. New England's Theological Landscape 15. Democratic Christianity 16. The Birth of the Biblical Repertory 17. The Trip to Europe 18. "The Dirtiest, Ugliest, Gloomiest Town" 19. Berlin and the Return Home 20. A Sense of Mission 21. The Repertory Reborn Part IV The 1830s - Crusader 22. The Imputation Controversy 23. Romans 24. Crippled in Body, But not in Mind 25. Hodge's Home: "Sunny, Genial, Kindly and Tolerant" 26. The Coming Storm 27. The Slavery Question 28. The Schism 29. The New School Fights Back 30. Writing History Part V The 1840s - Professor of Theology 31. The Way of Life 32. Didactic Theology 33. Teaching and Preaching 34. The Public Face of the Seminary 35. Moderator of the General Assembly 36. "The Nonsensical Dialect of Transcendentalism" 37. Roman Catholic Baptism 38. Infection of German Idealism 39. "When the will of the wife is the other way" 40. "Covered in Gloom" Part VI The 1850s - Inspired Churchman 41. College Trustee 42. Language and Feeling 43. The Inspiration of Scripture 44. "Graces of the Spirit" 45. The Battle against "Churchianity" 46. Thornwell and "Thus Saith the Lord" 47. The Pauline Commentaries 48. Politics and Conscience Part VII The 1860s - Conflicted Unionist 49. The State of the Country and the Church 50. Hodge's Family at War 51. The Unities of Mankind 52. The Disunities of Mankind 53. Reuniting the Old and New Schools Part VIII 1870s - Systematic Theologian and Scientist 54. The Systematic Theology 55. "The apex of my life" 56. Science and Darwinism 57. "O Death, Where is Thy Sting?" Epilogue - Hodge's Legacy Index

About the Author :
Paul C. Gutjahr is Associate Professor of English at Indiana University. He also teaches American Studies and Religious Studies. He has written and edited numerous books and articles, including: An American Bible: A History of the Good Book in the United States, 1776-1881; Popular American Literature of the 19th Century; and Illuminating Letters: Typography and Literary Interpretation.

Review :
"Gutjahr gives a thoughtful and well-written analysis as an historian of Charles Hodge in a volume that is beautifully produced...[The] volume is a delight. It features a whole gallery of rough sketches of the persona of Charles Hodge's circle and contemporaries. The pictures, portraits, and lithographs reproduced in the body of the book are stunning...The book involves an impressive amount of research and, as one would expect from a Professor of English, is beautifully written."--Haddington House Journal "Gutjahr's biography is worthwhile for anyone who is seriously interested in Charles Hodge."--Interpretation "Gutjahr's fine biography stands as a welcome challenge to a historiography that tends to oversimplify and dehumanize both Hodge and his cherished conservative orthodoxy."--The Journal of American History "Gutjahr's biography renders Charles Hodge's confessional Calvinism in all its intricacy and combativeness, but it also restores the humaneness of the man, his friendships, affections, travels, ambitions, and frailties. Having spent ten years with Hodge, Gutjahr has gained from that intimacy a remarkably panoramic view of nineteenth-century American Protestant thought. It is an impressive achievement."--Leigh E. Schmidt, Charles Warren Professor of the History of Religion in America, Harvard University "Charles Hodge was an unwritten chapter in American religious history until he met his biographer in Paul Gutjahr. This monumental, carefully researched, and thoroughly readable study of the 'Pope of Presbyterianism' fills a large gap in the history of conservative Protestant theology in America and offers keen insight into an intellectual tradition whose legacy can be traced to the present day."--David Morgan, Professor of Religion, Duke University "Charles Hodge, one of the most influential religious thinkers in nineteenth-century America, has been the subject of considerable specialized research but few general studies. Paul Gutjahr has now remedied this lack with an unusually capable book that both explains why Hodge's conservative Calvinism exerted its great influence and why the theologian became such a beloved figure to so many (including some of his foes). It is a most welcome biography."--Mark Noll, author of America's God: From Jonathan Edwards to Abraham Lincoln "Fair and historically contextualized, showing Hodge's importance in his time and world. The book is well written...Everyone interested in nineteenth-century American church history or Presbyterian history should read this work...Gutjahr's fine biography will give its readers a good idea of why Charles Hodge was loved by family, students, and all who knew him, while at the same time being a churchman of great significance."--New Horizons "From a biographical standpoint, Gutjahr's book seems to be a bit more effective in portraying Hodge as a total person. Not only is the personal side of Hodge enhanced with pictures of Hodge's family, friends, and homestead, Gutjahr's practice of having more chapters of shorter length allows him to move back and forth between the home and denomination more often, giving the reader a more rounded picture of Hodge's life."--Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal