Charles Hodge

Today is the anniversary of the birth of the Princeton theologian, Charles Hodge. Born on December 28, 1797, Hodge was ordained to the ministry in 1821 and spent most of his life teaching theology at Princeton Seminary.

He was as eminent an exegete as he was a theologian and his commentaries on Romans, Ephesians as well as 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians are still regarded as the some of finest available.

He was fond of saying that Princeton had never originated a new idea—a statement much seized upon by the growing liberal element of the nineteenth century; but this meant no more than that Princeton was the advocate of historical Calvinism in opposition to the modified and provincial Calvinism of a later day. He is rightly considered as one of America’s finest theologians and his 3-volumed Systematic Theology (recently abridged in one volume) is a seminary text to this day.