16 February 1921 A.D. Mr. (Rev. Dr. Prof.) B. B. Warfield’s last lecture at Princeton Theological Seminary

16 February 1921 A.D.  Mr. (Rev. Dr. Prof.) B. B. Warfield’s last lecture at Princeton Theological Seminary.  He felt weak, did not stand as usual for the prayer, and died that evening after class.

Dr. Rusten tells the story.

Rusten, E. Michael and Rusten, Sharon. The One Year Christian History. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2003.  Available at: http://www.amazon.com/The-Year-Christian-History-Books/dp/0842355073/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1393302630&sr=8-1&keywords=rusten+church+history

Prof. Warfield had suffered a heart attack on Christmas Eve, 1920.  He slowly recovered over the holidays.  Classes resumed and he returned to teaching.

One student recalled the day, “All the eloquence of Dr. Warfield’s Christian heart, all the wisdom of his ripened scholarship focused on the interpretation of the text.

That last verse expounded was 1 John 3:16.

1599 Geneva Bible (GNV)

^16 [a]Hereby have we perceived love, that he laid down his life for us: therefore we ought also to lay down our lives for the brethren.

Footnotes:

a.      1 John 3:16 Now he showeth how far Christian charity extendeth, even so far, that according to the example of Christ, every man forget himself, to provide for and help his brethren.

Prof. Warfield went home that day after classes.  It was his last lecture and last class at Princeton. He died that night.

His colleague, Prof. J. Gresham Machen, wrote his mother about the great loss:

“I am writing to tell you of the great loss which we have sustained in the death of Dr. Warfield.  Princeton will seem to be a very insipid place without him. He was really a great man. There is no one living in the Church capable of occupying one quarter of his place. To me, he was an incalculable help and support in a hundred different ways.  This is a sorrowful day for us all.”

Years before Prof. Warfield’s death, he preached a friend’s funeral. He said his friend went “to that innumerable throng” that had “laid aside the tirals and labors of earth, well-pleasing to their Lord” and “who had entered into their rest with Him.”

Question:

1.      If there such a figure that has been instrumental with your development? 

2.      What role and place did Prof. Warfield and even Prof. Machen have in the defense and assertion of the classical Reformed ministry?

Sources

Calhoun. Princeton Seminary.

Lindsell, Harold.  “Warfield B(enjamin) B(reckinridge), (1851-1921.” NIDCC. 1030.

Stonehouse. J. Gresham Machen.