New postings:
"The Significance of the Reformed Theology Today," by Caspar Wistar Hodge [1870-1937]
[Transcribed from an original typescript located among the Papers of Robert Dick Wilson, as preserved at the PCA Historical Center. This article is the Inaugural Address that Caspar Wistar Hodge presented upon his installation as the Charles Hodge Chair of Didactic and Polemic Theology in Miller Chapel, Princeton Theological Seminary, 11 October 1921. The address was subsequently published in The Princeton Theological Review, 20.1 (January 1922): 1-14.]
"The Reformed Faith," by Caspar Wistar Hodge [1870-1937]
"The Art of Conversation" by Benjamin Morgan Palmer
Note: An Author-Title Index is now available for the many articles posted on this site. The permanent link to this Index page is found on the Research Library page of the site.
Other recent postings:
"Demission of the Ministry" by Dr. Charles Hodge (1859)
"What Were the Cherubim?", by the Rev. Robert Kelson Moseley.
"Bibliographic Essay on Church Government," by Dr. David W. Hall.
"Christian Faith and the Truthfulness of Bible History" by Gerhardus Vos
Dr. Francis L. Patton's Memorial Address for Dr. Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield, 1921.
"The Dying Christian's Estimate of Heaven" by Rev. John Niel McLeod.
"The Substance of Some Discourses on Baptism", by the Rev. John Black.
[Note: Most of the above are set in pdf format]
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.
| 1848: |
Smyth, Rev. Thomas, "The Office of Deacon," 2.3 (December 1848): 341-361. |
| 1859: |
Ramsay, Rev. James Beverlin, "The Deaconship," 12.1 (April 1859): 1-24. |
| 1875: |
Boggs, Rev. William Ellison, "The Deacon’s Office in the Church of the New Testament," 26.3 (July 1875): 421-461. |
| 1879: |
Girardeau, Rev. John L., "The Diaconate," Part I - 30.1 (January 1879): 1-32 |
| 1880: |
Girardeau, "The Diaconate," Part II - 31.1 (January 1880): 117-160 |
| 1881: |
Girardeau, "The Importance of the Office of Deacon," 32.1 (January 1881): 1-29
Girardeau, "The Diaconate," Part III - 32.2 (April 1881): 191-209.
Lefevre, Rev. Jacob Amos, "The Presbyterian Diaconate," 32.2 (April 1881): 343-354.
Lefevre, "The Diaconate of Scripture," 32.2 (April 1881): 355-368.
Girardeau, "The Diaconate Again," Part I - 32.4 (October 1881) 628-664 |
| 1882: |
Girardeau, "The Diaconate Again," Part II - 33.1 (January 1882): 175-208.
Lefevre, "The Diaconate of Scripture Again," 33.2 (April 1882): 359-368.
Lefevre, "The Presbyterian Diaconate Again," 33.2 (April 1882): 346-359. |
Other Resources [pdf only]: |
General materials on the office of the deacon--
1851-1853 - a series of short articles on the diaconate that appeared in The Covenanter, a Reformed Presbyterian journal.
1869 - James M. Willson, The Deacon: An Inquiry into the Nature, Duties and Exercise of the Office..
___________Chapter 1: The Deacon a Standing Church Officer (argument from Scriptures; in early church, etc.)
___________Chapter 2: The Nature of the Deacon's Office (care of poor, management of finances, etc.)
___________Chapter 3: Of the Substitutes for the Deacon (contra Boards of Trustees)
___________Chapter 4: The Relations of the Deacon. The Deacon is Subordinate to the Ecclesiastical Courts.
___________Chapter 5: Conclusion and Appendix
1840s - Anonymous, "The Scriptural Office of the Deacon," in Presbyterian Tracts, vol. 6, tract no. 94, 16 pp.
1855 - Stuart Robinson, "The Office of Deacon," The Presbyterial Critic 1.6 (June 1855): 271-277.
1855 - Stuart Robinson, "Trustees of Church Property--Their Functions and Relations to the Deacons of the Church," The Presbyterial Critic 1.11 (November 1855): 490-497.
New: 1880 - Rev. W.H. M'Millan, "The Diaconate a Scriptural Office," Evangelical Repository 57.1 (June 1880): 15-20.
1882 - J. Aspinwall Hodge, What Is Presbyterian Law?, Chapter 6--Of Deacons
1884 - Report on the Diaconate, by John L. Girardeau, Robert L. Dabney and Thomas E. Peck
1892 - T.E. Peck, Notes on Ecclesiology, Chapter 19--Deacons
New: 1903 - R.C. Reed, "The Deacon," The Union Seminary Magazine 15.2 (1903): 215-224.
1978 - Diaconal Principles of the NAPARC Churches [Report, Sixth PCA General Assembly, Minutes, Appendix D]
Exegetical and historical consideration or debate regarding deaconesses--
1889 - B.B. Warfield, "Presbyterian Deaconesses"
1945 - PCUS Actions regarding deaconesses, 1880-1926
1976-1978 - RPCES studies on the Role of Women in the Church
1977 - Gordon H. Clark, "The Ordination of Women" [written in response to the 1976 RPCES study. An early draft of this article, with annotations, is found among the Gordon Clark Papers at the PCA Historical Center. The included explanatory preface was added later and is found in subsequent reprints of Clark's works by The Trinity Foundation.]
Materials in preparation--
• James M. Willson, The Deacon: An Inquiry into the Nature, Duties and Exercise of the Office of Deacon in the Christian Church (Philadelphia: William S. Young, 1869), 59 p.
• 1978 -
Francis Nigel Lee, "The Office of All Believers" and "The Office of Deacon"
• Kerr, Robert Pollok [1850-1923], " The Office of Deacon," The Presbyterian Quarterly 10.2 (April 1896) 202-207.
• Wilson, J.P., "On Ruling Elders and Deacons," The Presbyterian Magazine 1.4 (April 1821): 161-167.
Posted on Larger Issues -- Discussion of Office, Ordination, etc.
1854 - John G. Shepperson, "Authority of Ecclesiastical Rulers," Part I, Southern Presbyterian Review 8.1 (July 1854).
Materials in preparation on Office, Ordination, Elder, etc. [these will take longer]
• Barret, Thomas Carr, "The Office of Ruling Elder," The Presbyterian Quarterly 10.1 (January 1896) 63-72.
• Daniel, Eugene, "Licensure and Ordination–The Proposed Changes," Presbyterian Quarterly 9.1 (January 1895): 144-155.
• Engles, Rev. William M., D.D., "Qualifications and Duties of Ruling Elders in the Presbyterian Church," in Presbyterian Tracts, volume 1, tract no. 2, 28 pp.
• Fewsmith, Rev. J., D.D., "Office of Ruling Elder," in Presbyterian Tracts, volume 13, tract no. 298, 34 pp.
• Hopkins, A.C., "Ordination to the Ministry of Christ," Presbyterian Quarterly 8.2 (April 1894): 235-246.
• Prime, Ralph, "The Elder in His Ecclesiastical Relations," The Presbyterian Quarterly 11.1 (January 1897): 81-87.
• Robertson, Jerome Pillow " Ordination in Heathen Lands," Presbyterian Quarterly 9.2 (April 1895): 256-260.
• Schenck, H.R., "The Old Testament Eldership—Its Origin and Functions," Presbyterian Quarterly 11.4 (Oct. 1897): 433-466.
Additional resources located off-site:
1987 - OPC study: Hermeneutics of Women in Ordained Office
1988 - OPC study: Report of the Committee on Women in Church Office
1998 - A Historical and Biblical Examination of Women Deacons, by Brian M. Schwertley
2008 - The Aquila Report, for news of the Ohio Valley Presbytery report on Women serving as Deacons, and other news.
2008 - Wayside PCA, Signal Mtn, TN - Portal site for numerous 1. Resources, 2. Articles and 3. Blogs on the Internet
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Selected quote from "The Deaconship," by the Rev. James B. Ramsay (p. 15):
"But, it may be asked, of what use are deacons to take care of the poor in churches where there are no poor, or but two or three ? That, indeed, is a sadly defective state of the church where there are no poor; there must be something very deficient in its zeal and aggressiveness, if amidst the multitudes of poor around us, and mingling with us, there are none in the church itself. When we remember that Christ in his message, sent to John the Baptist, declares it to be a proof of his Divine mission, worthy to stand at the close of the brief summary of his most striking miracles, as of equal or even greater convincing power; and that the adaptedness of the Gospel to come down to the most despised and degraded of our wretched race—to seize and elevate the vast masses of humanity from their down-trodden condition—is one of its most distinguishing characteristics, and one of the most striking proofs of its Divine origin—Is it not evident that any church that fails to gather in the poor, fails in accomplishing one great design of the Gospel, and in presenting to the world one of the most convincing proofs of the truth and power of Christianity ?" [emphasis added] |
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PCA Historical Center
