The Life and Letters of James Henley Thornwell ...

by Benjamin M. Palmer

This book is a facsimile reprint and may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages.

Genres: Theology, Biography

632 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1986

About the author

Benjamin Morgan Palmer (aka B.M. Palmer), an orator and Presbyterian theologian, was the first moderator of the Presbyterian Church in the Confederate States of America.

Reviews

[Drew Norwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent biography of an exceptional man. Thornwell's own letters are produced throughout the biography so you get a real sense of his own thoughts alongside the telling of Benjamin Morgan Palmer and his contemporaries. These letters were valuable as they give a more personal view of the man as husband, father, and friend, while also showcasing his thought-patterns and informal discussions of weighty issues. Thornwell had many noble qualities but what stood out most to me was his ability to harmonize-- public and private life, head and heart, philosophy and theology, the doctrinal with the pastoral. As a man of incredible discipline and learning, a man of intense devotion to study and intellectual rigor, he was yet warm, friendly, and compassionate. He knew and taught the great truths of the Christian faith, but he also bore witness to them in his own personal life, even during the deaths of multiple children, his own failing health, and many other disappointments.

There are several holes, areas uncovered, and even at 570 pages it feels like it could have been much longer (probably due to the amount of letters that are reproduced). If you are looking for a "critical" biography, this is not it. The last 50 pages or so include Palmer's appraisal of Thornwell as an educator, philosopher and theologian, preacher/orator, presbyter/churchman, and christian and man.

[Jacob Aitken · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thornwell's life, while Reformed, reflects some of the early revivalism, both in his own conversion and in his view of covenant children.

Thornwell had an old-school classical education with much reading of Gibbon, which is likely how he perfected his own rhetoric.

Thornwell saw more clearly than any perhaps the coming crises: one to the Confederacy and one to the North. By failing to formally acknowledge the Crown Rights of King Jesus, the Confederacy was doomed from the start. And even if she would have one, who cares? She missed the most important thing. The North was unitarian and violently anti-Christian. The crisis was quite obvious.

[Christopher Keller · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you're not a historian or one with already considerable knowledge of the subject then the read is largely tedious; to put it midly.

Besides anecdotal information, with the inclusion of full letters that seemed to do most of the narrative work here, I get that it's the AND LETTERS but man, to hear excruciating detail from a context far removed and little knowledge of, made it a slow read. I appreciate the author wanting to let him to speak for himself but I don't think that means all the talking. It reads like a 600+ page obituary column.

Granted, the intended audience would of already grasped most the ambiguity that the modern reader will face; aka admirers of Thornwell.

As kind as the author is, who wouldn't want a friend to write about them in death, it makes for an awful historical account besides the seemingly exhaustive inclusion of letters.

For the reader wanting to know and understand a controversial time in history (particularly religious, Christian, Presbyterianism in America) the detailed information is obscured by the admiration of the subject. As understandable as the admiration must have been for the author.

I would not recommend to the unfamiliar contemporary reader trying to get a general grasp upon the man. This is more helpful to historians and those who are read enough in Civil War Era American Presbyterianism to appreciate the implications of the details.

What I learned was:

Thornwell was an aristocratic intellectual of the Antebellum South, he wasn't as polemical or outspoken as his contemporary Robert Lewis Dabney (for example); though generally had the same views as far as I could tell from the letters and account.

He was passionate about education and equally dedicated to personal knowledge.

For all the emphasis of the mechanisms of his mind in relation to philosophy and religion (the account of his ecclesiastical loyalty to Presbyterianism seemed to be mainly fueled by intellectual ascent if I understood it correctly); I appreciated the details, early in his pastorate, of his wrestling with a spiritual indifference that seemed to be the most clear deficit of his character. Don't get me wrong, the man loved God, the church, and family, he had friends and his Christian character seemed to be evident, he loved, cried, etc but I will say that the emphasis of his entire life is this general, logical, understanding of everything.

Does that account for things that could be seen as faults; pro-slavery as the most evident? I question that, as a Yankee myself, but I honestly can't answer the question from this mere read. I admit the question might be even reading into this account what isn't there; lest I commit the modern common error of moral superiority with regard to history. I understand that new school presbys, for example, would definitely say so but they had their faults too and I wanna add that I really appreciated the draft of the letter of charity to the Northern Pres. Church after the prewar split. It's a shame that it wasn't officially sent.

Anyway, as far as politics, was surprisingly an unionist before the Civil War but became, what seemed to me, as an average pro-confederate; definitely not as a burning patriot as Dabney was.

Finally, I definitely understood his significance as an ecclesiastical influence. His position as principal of Columbia Seminary and formation of (what became) the PCUS was what solidified him as a leading figure; intellectual abilities aside. His leading of such prewar church debates as Boards vs Agencies, elders, baptism (rebaptism in question of catholics); each had its codification in the PCUS. Even today these particularities are called "The southern view" and thus continue to be relevant. Perhaps hence is why his intellectual power is more remembered here. His early death guaranteed him a place in American Presbyterianism history akin to J. Gresham Machen (and all of its lingering affects and influence, good or bad, upon a denomination I would add) but at least not as fondly remembered today due to said pro slavery stance.

Hagiography, the term gets thrown around a lot it seems, especially when talking about similar subjects, but the definition in all its respects fits here.

[Gary · Rating 3 out of 5]

While Thornwell was an exceedingly interesting man and I learned a great deal from his life and letters this book is tedious in its length and detail. I know that was common to the age but this book seemed more of a slog than most.

Still, there is much of worth in here; it is particularly interesting on education and topics surrounding the war between the States.

Would have been very good if it had been a few hundred pages shorter.