Warfield On Sanctification And Eschatology -- By: Jeffrey A. Stivason
Journal: Reformed Presbyterian Theological Journal
Volume: RPTJ 07:1 (Fall 2020)
Article: Warfield On Sanctification And Eschatology
Author: Jeffrey A. Stivason
RPTJ 7:1 (Fall 2020) p. 18
Warfield On Sanctification And Eschatology
Professor of New Testament Studies Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary
The warm friendship between Benjamin B. Warfield and Geerhardus Vos is often referenced and thought of affectionately by admirers of the Princeton tradition. Princeton scholar David Calhoun reminds us of their walks up and down Mercer St.1 Marianne Vos remembered those walks. She said that her father was usually swinging a cane in one hand while one of the family dogs followed at his footsteps.2 These men and their families shared a mutual love for one another. Once, when Marianne wanted to dress up for her birthday, Anne Warfield loaned her a beautiful shawl for the occasion.3
At faculty meetings, Warfield was the vocal leader and Vos was the silent supporter. The two men were rarely on opposite sides of an issue.4 But their mutual admiration went beyond faculty curriculum and administration. Warfield once wrote to Louis Berkhof and said of his friend Vos, “He was probably the best exegete Princeton ever had.”5 This statement provides the perspective of genuine admiration, for Warfield was rarely, if ever, given to flattery. For example, in the eulogy of his beloved professor Charles Hodge he said, after some very positive remarks, “He had, however, no taste for the technicalities of exegesis…. His discussion of disputed grammatical or lexical points had a flavor of second handedness about them.”6 And yet, it is no secret as to how much Warfield loved his old professor.
Those of us given to imagination ponder what those walks up and down Mercer St. might have entailed. Did they discuss Anne’s worsening health? Perhaps Vos caught up Warfield regarding faculty meetings which he refused to attend once President Stevenson showed himself to be as incompetent as Warfield originally thought him to be. Maybe they discussed their students, Vos’s dogs, or the poetry both men were fond of writing. And we would hope that they discussed theology. But no records remain and we are left to our imagination.
However, the topic of sanctification does provide us with a window into an area of disagreement which they might have had with one another as they traversed the streets of Princeton. Both Princetonians believed that sanctification is God setting His people apart from the world to be devoted to Him. However, when we add the theological category of eschatology...
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