29 September 1813 A.D. Dr. Samuel Miller—Princeton Seminary’s Second Professor
Myers,
David T. “September 29: Dr. Samuel
Miller [1769-1850].” This Day in Presbyterian History. 29 Sept 2014. http://www.thisday.pcahistory.org/2014/09/september-29-2/. Accessed 29 Sept 2014.
September 29: Dr. Samuel Miller [1769-1850]
If You are Number
Two, Do You Try Harder?
Samuel Miller was definitely
number two among that faculty of Princeton Seminary that year of September 29, 1813.
Started only one year before, Archibald Alexander was the first professor of
the Presbyterian Seminary with only a handful of students. As another war
with Britain was raging (the War of 1812), it was a trying time for a smooth
start. On top of that, the students of Princeton College were anything but
spiritual. College pranks had brought the college close to shutting down.
Samuel Miller, fresh from a pastoral experience in a city church, would arrive
on the campus and quickly became a force for spiritual good at both the
seminary and the college, even in his position as Professor of Ecclesiastical
History and Church Government.
Helping this whole process were
a number of personal resolutions which Miller wrote down for himself, as a
way of guiding his relationship with other people at both the college and the
seminary. Those resolutions are too long to print here, but two of them speak
to Christian people being in a supporting role, whether in the church,
your called profession, or in any organization.
Number 3 reads,
“I will endeavor, by the grace of God, so to conduct myself toward my
colleague in the seminary, as never to give the least reasonable ground of
offence. It shall be my aim, by divine help, ever to treat him with the
most scrupulous respect and delicacy, and never to wound his feelings, if I
know how to avoid it.”
Number 4 reads, “. . . Resolved,
therefore, that, by the grace of God, while I will carefully avoid giving
offence to my college, I will, in no case, take offence at his treatment of
me. I have come hither resolving, that whatever may be the sacrifice of
my personal feelings—whatever may be the consequence—I will not take offence,
unless I am called upon to relinquish truth or duty. I not only will
never, the Lord helping me, indulge a jealous, envious, or suspicious temper
toward him; but I will, in no case, allow myself to be wounded by any slight,
or appearance of disrespect. I will give up all my own claims, rather than
let the cause of Christ suffer by animosity or context. What am I, that I
should prefer my own honor or exaltation to the cause of my blessed Master.”
These were only two of the seven
resolutions. But even considering these two alone, what would be the
result in our churches if both officers and members would more fully reflect in
their character and conduct these two resolutions. Truth and duty indeed
were the only two exceptions to the rule. Otherwise, the guiding
principle was to always esteem others more highly than yourself.
Words to live by: Samuel
Miller wrote above, “I will give up all my own claims, rather than let the
cause of Christ suffer by animosity or conflict.” What a magnanimous
spirit! What a change this would cause in many local churches, to say
nothing of our evangelical and Reformed denominations, if all the officers and
members possessed Samuel Miller’s spirit. Examine yourself, dear reader,
or examine your small group, or examine your local fellowship. How do you
measure up? What can be done if you find your character and conduct
lacking? Is it not time for a revival of religion in your circles?
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