THE AGES DIGITAL LIBRARY THEOLOGY

DISCUSSIONS: EVANGELICAL AND THEOLOGICAL

VOLUME 1
by Robert L. Dabney.

Making the Words of the Wise Available to all Inexpensively

Digital Publications Dallas, Texas 2006

Publishers Preface
WITH particular pleasure these two volumes of R. L. W Dabneys Discussions: Evangelical and Theological are now added to the works previously re-issued in the Students Reformed Theological Library. This series was designed to make currently available some of the classic material which moulded spiritual thinking in former times and the present volumes are eminently in harmony with that design. Living in the United States in an age which possessed outstanding teachers of evangelical Christianity in such men as Charles Hodge, J.H. Thornwell and W.G.T. Shedd, Robert L. Dabney (1820-1898) was second to none as an exponent of the theology which these leaders held in common. In the opinion of the eminent Archibald Alexander of Princeton, Dabney was the best teacher of theology in the United States, if not in the world, while T. C. Johnson, who issued The Life and Letters of Robert Lewis Dabney in 1903, went further and regarded him as entitled to the first place among the theological thinkers and writers of his century. Others who have compared Dabney with his contemporaries, would prefer to speak rather of the distinctive contribution his penetrating thought and fresh style made to the Reformed literature of that rich age. The minimum which can be said is that he was, as two continental theologians, Bavinck and Lecerf, have recognized, one of the leading theologians of America. Dabneys life-work was done in the South, in the states of Virginia and Texas, where for over forty years he laboured in the preparation of men for the ministry of the Gospel. He did more than any other man of his generation, writes his biographer, to impress the peculiar type of theology characteristic of the Southern Presbyterian Church between the years 1865 and 1895 upon that church. His attachment to the South contributed to his decision to decline an invitation to the chair of Church History at Princeton in 1860. When the Civil War commenced in the following year he believed in the justice of the cause to which the Confederate States of the South were committed a cause which in his mind, as in the minds of many Christians in the South, could not be identified simply with the slavery question. For a period Dabney served as a senior staff officer under General Stonewall Jackson, being described by the latter as the most efficient officer that he knew. With the defeat of the South, Dabney laboured in poverty as a farm worker during 1865 to provide his family with enough food for the winter. Possibly the location of Dabneys ministry in the South and his alignment with political views unpopular outside those states, has militated against a general recognition of the importance of his work. A more definite reason, however,

why Dabneys influence has been restricted and his reputation known only to a comparatively small circle, is his unhesitating commitment to that system of theology which has passed so much out of view of 20th-century Protestantism. With a growing impatience manifested towards the doctrinal exactness of a formulary of Faith like The Westminster Confession, it was inevitable that Dabney and his associates should be regarded as backward-looking and ultraconservative. His biographers tribute that he became a type, not of New England Puritanism, but of Puritanism of the noblest English age, had no force for a new generation with a dwindling interest in any form of Reformed orthodoxy. Even at the time when Dabney was doing his best work, the market for such literature was closing in Britain. His 900-page Syllabus and Notes of the Course of Systematic and Polemic Theology taught in Union Theological Seminary, Virginia had no English publisher though it went through six editions in the United States down to 1927. Much of Dabneys most valuable and influential literary work first appeared in the form of separate articles, reviews and sermons printed in various journals. These were gathered together by his friend, C. R. Vaughan, in 1890, who recognized that many of these papers gave masterly treatment to subjects which would never lose their interest to Christians. These various articles were thus published in four volumes under the general title, Discussions of Robert L. Dabney. Of these collected writings, volumes one and two, which had the subtitle Theological and Evangelical, are here reprinted. As the third and fourth volumes deal only with philosophic and secular questions, the present reprint contains the whole of his Discussions on Biblical and spiritual subjects. In these two volumes there will be found a certain amount of material which is dated by nature of the historical ecclesiastical context in which it was first prepared. There are also some reviews of men or movements which may appear to have little relevance to present day issues. With this thought in mind it was the original intention of the present publishers to reduce the two volumes to one by an elimination of material which has less contemporary value. This purpose was abandoned when closer examination showed the difficulty which would be involved in any attempt to evaluate these various Discussions in terms of their relevance. For even when Dabney is dealing with apparently out-dated problems his approach to questions and his method of scriptural argumentation often throw surprising light on issues which are central in present debates. His review of The System of Alexander Campbell is a good example. Campbell is scarcely known today, but as the same sort of proposals to achieve Christian unity which he advanced are still with us in different forms Dabneys refutation is far from irrelevant. Similarly, his chapters The Doctrinal Various Readings of the New Testament Greek and

The Revised Version of the New Testament, are not merely an example of a certain stage in 19th-century textual criticism, they deal with issues which are very much a part of the present ferment over new Bible versions. In view, therefore, of the difficulty which would beset any attempt to make a reliable abridgment of the two volumes, the publishers have judged it preferable to give a full reprint of what will always be the standard edition of Dabneys Discussions: Evangelical and Theological. This decision was confirmed by the fact that the original edition is now extremely rare and cannot be obtained even in the library of the British Museum. The publishers are grateful to those whose help or advice has contributed to this reprint: Morton H. Smith (whose Studies in Southern Presbyterian Theology, 1962, has served to recall attention to Dabney); W. J. Grier, Belfast; John Murray, Westminster Theological Seminary, H. M. Brimm, the Librarian, Union Theological Seminary, Virginia, and Albert H. Freundt, Jr., Professor of Church History and Librarian, Reformed Theological Seminary, Jackson, Mississippi. We conclude this preface with the words of Professor Freundt, written in connection with this present reprint:
Dabney was second to none in his ability to expound Calvinistic theology. There is a strength and liveliness in his writings which sets him in the front rank of American theologians of the Nineteenth Century. A man of extraordinary gifts of perception and analysis, of logic combined with warmth and moral sensitivity, Dabney championed the doctrines of Calvinism and applied them consistently and practically to the great issues of his times. In Dabney one senses a firm conviction of truth and duty. He was absolutely certain that the day would come when the divinely revealed truth which he held and taught would be also divinely vindicated. His Systematic and Polemic Theology remains a masterful and fresh exposition of the Reformed Faith. It is worthy of study by all who wish to see the doctrine of the Westminster Standards clearly stated, faithfully defended, and held in high regard as an adequate embodiment of the system of truth taught in the Scriptures. It should be made available again while there is renewed interest in the doctrines of the Reformers and the Puritans. Those who study these two re-published volumes of Discussions will be rewarded by clearer and deeper insights in the beliefs and issues which continue to be of tremendous relevance to the life and thought of the Church and to contemporary society. These contain a vigorous application of Christian truth and philosophy in which Gods grace is magnified in the redemption of believers, in which God is sovereign over all the affairs of human experience, and in which the Word of God is made the touchstone of all truth.

Dabney should be restudied today, and to the extent that modern adherents of the Reformed Faith make themselves familiar with the writings of this devout Christian scholar they will appreciate once again a great segment of their rich heritage. 78B CHILTERN STREET, LONDON, W.1. September 1966.

Preface.
THE publication of these selected discussions from the writings of Dr. Dabney was projected upon the following plan: The whole number of volumes will be four. Three of these, classified as Discussions Theological and Evangelical, Discussions Ecclesiastical, and Discussions on Philosophy Relating to Christianity, will be issued under the imprimatur of the church, and for which the church will stand responsible in the sense in which it is responsible for other publications issued under its auspices. The church does not make itself responsible in any such writings for every particular error which may be expected in the works of fallible men; its responsibility is limited to those statements which are in accord with the recognized creed of the church. So far as any statement of doctrine or theory of philosophy or inference in either sphere of theology or metaphysics is not in such accord, it is to be credited to the writer alone. The fourth volume of the series, Discussions Secular, will be issued uniform with the other three, but for this the church, of course, assumes no responsibility whatever. This fourth volume will contain papers of great historical and civil interest, and also a certain percentage of discussions which might have been introduced into the Ecclesiastical and Philosophic volumes. It will contain matter of universal interest to every class of readers. These papers are selected out of a mass of productions which would furnish perhaps more than one volume similar to those embraced in the present series. The aim has been to choose the best, so far as the discrimination could be made, and those bearing on issues now living in the discussions of the day. Those papers which handle the great permanent subjects of the Christian system will never lose their interest. The method in which these are dealt with in these discussions may safely be left to the judgment of all competent to appreciate them. The editor would pointedly call attention to the invaluable assistance rendered to the issue of these volumes by the Rev. George Summey, of Chester, S.C. But for him it is not unlikely the enterprise would have failed altogether. The subscription lists hung suspended for many months below the figures which would enable the publication, Mr. Summey secured enough additional subscribers to warrant going forward with the enterprise. In addition to this, he has not only given his practised skill to the correction of the proofs, but the Index of the papers published is solely due to his generous labor. To him many thanks are due from all the friends of the undertaking and from all who shall receive the benefit of these sound and vigorous discussions of valuable truth. To the skilled labor of Mr. Robert Whittet, of the publishing firm, and his

painstaking efforts to secure accuracy and tasteful execution in the mechanical make up of these volumes, many thanks are also due. All who have taken a share in the work of giving these volumes to the world are entitled to the satisfaction of feeling that they have aided in giving a wider and more enduring existence to defences and expositions of pure and invaluable truths truths which take hold upon the great abiding interests of mankindsound and strong expositions of Christian doctrine, and safe principles of ecclesiastical polity and philosophical theories grounded in common sense and in accord with the great evangelical system. These traits will appear to every judicious reader no less clearly than will the extraordinary ability with which they are presented. Praying for the abiding blessing of Him from whom all great and precious gifts descend upon his servants for the salvation of the world and the edification of his church, we commit these works to his hands, to accomplish all he may see fit to accomplish by them, both for the present and for many days to cone.
C. R. V. NEW PROVIDENCE MANSE, Sept. 26 1890.

Contents.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH PRINCIPLES OF CHRISTIAN ECONOMY BRECKINRIDGES THEOLOGY THE MORAL EFFECTS OF A FREE JUSTIFICATION THE LIGHT OF A HOLY EXAMPLE THE BIBLE ITS OWN WITNESS ENDLESS PUNISHMENT THE DOCTRINE OF ORIGINAL SIN THEOLOGY OF THE PLYMOUTH BRETHREN THEOLOGY OF THE PLYMOUTH BRETHREN (A REPLY TO STRICTURES BY M.N. ON THE FOREGOING ARTICLE) HODGES SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY GODS INDISCRIMINATE PROPOSALS OF MERCY, AS RELATED TO HIS POWER, WISDOM AND SINCERITY THE SYSTEM OF ALEXANDER CAMPBELL: AN EXAMINATION OF ITS LEADING POINTS THE DOCTRINAL VARIOUS READINGS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT GREEK THE REVISED VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT REFUTATION OF PROF. W. ROBERTSON THE INFLUENCE OF THE GERMAN UNIVERSITY SYSTEM ON THEOLOGICAL LITERATURE VINDICATORY JUSTICE ESSENTIAL TO GOD THE BELIEVER BORN OF ALMIGHTY GRACE THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH: ITS NATURE, DESIGN AND PROPER OBSERVANCE AN EXPOSITION OF 1CO. 3:10-15 THE WORLD WHITE TO HARVEST: REAP, OR IT PERISHES THE GOSPEL IDEA OF PREACHING OUR COMFORT IN DYING THE CHRISTIAN SOLDIER THE SIN OF THE TEMPTER MEDITATION A MEANS OF GRACE THE POPULAR ARGUMENTS AGAINST ENDLESS PUNISHMENT UNSATISFACTORY AS A SURE GROUND OF HOPE PRAYER REASONABLE PARENTAL RESPONSIBILITIES A PHASE OF RELIGIOUS SELFISHNESS OUR SECULAR PROSPERITY THE CHRISTIANS DUTY TOWARDS HIS ENEMIES