A Christian has a love for history. About a half of the
content of the Bible consists of historical narratives. God
is a God who really lives. He acted and spoke in history. The history
recorded in the Bible has a peculiar character.
Because of the inspiration of the Bible what is recorded there is of a
normative character in the absolute sense.
We cannot say that about church history. That does not
mean that we can neglect church history without spiritual damage. Although
the canon is closed God still works in history. Christ as the King of the
church gathers and protects her. The history of the church testifies of
Christ’s care for his church.
Biography is a specific form of writing history. With
regard to the church history we can learn a lot by reading good biographies
about living members of the church. EP Books publishes in the
serie Bitesize Biographies short and readable biographies about well known and
also lesser known Christians. I can heartely recommend the series as a whole.
Here I ask your special attention for the biography
written by Alan Harman on Joseph Addison Alexander (1809-1860). Harman himself
has taught Hebrew and Old Testament in several countries. Currently he is
research professor at Presbyterian Theological College, Melbourne, Australia.
The
subject of his biography is one the nineteenth century members of the faculty
of Princeton Theological Seminary. His father Archibald was the first professor
of this prestigious seminary. Joseph Addison Alexander was a formidable
linguist and a brilliant biblical scholar.
Graduating at the age of seventeen from Princeton College he amazed his fellow students with his ablities. Today he is remem-bered for his scholarly commentaries on Isaiah, the Psalms, Acts and Mark. Alexander remained a bachelor his whole life. This great scholar was known by his intimates and his family for his love to entertain children by inventing plays and telling them stories.
Graduating at the age of seventeen from Princeton College he amazed his fellow students with his ablities. Today he is remem-bered for his scholarly commentaries on Isaiah, the Psalms, Acts and Mark. Alexander remained a bachelor his whole life. This great scholar was known by his intimates and his family for his love to entertain children by inventing plays and telling them stories.
When
he was twenty years of age there a spiritual change in his life. Up to that
time he was outwardly religious. He always attended the church on the Lord’s
day, the weekly prayer meeting and a Bible class on the afternoon of the Lord’s
day, but he was stranger of the saving power of the gospel. When the Christian Faith
became for him a matter of the heart, that brought about a marked change in his
reading. He began to study the Bible very intensively and besides that started
to read a wide variety of theological works.
In
1830 Joseoh Addison Alexander was appointed as adjunct professor of Ancient
Languages and Literature of Princeton College. After an European tour and study
he became in 1834 the assistant of Charles Hodge in the Oriental Deparment of
Prince-ton Theological Seminary. During his years as faculty member of Princeton
Theological Seminary he was in turn professor of Old Testament, Church History
and New Testament.
A year after his death Charles Hodge commented in a
sermon: ‘I never saw a man who so constantly impressed me with a sense of his
mental superiority – with his power to acquire knowledge and his power to
communicate it. He seemed ale to learn anything and to teach anything he
pleased.’ Even more striking is the comment of dr. John Leyburn, a presbyterian
minister. He wrote in an obituary: ‘His splendid intellect and his vast
resource were all brought into subjection to the Christian faith.’
Allan
M. Harman, Joseph Addison Alexander of Princeton, Bitesize Biographies,
EP Books Darlington 2014; ISBN 978-085234-960-1; pb. 120 pp., price £5,99