The most complete set available of the writings of the Princeton theology professor known for his precise Calvinistic scholarship, keen logic, and spiritual insight.
Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield (usually known as B. B. Warfield) was professor of theology at Princeton Seminary from 1887 to 1921. Some conservative Presbyterians consider him to be the last of the great Princeton theologians before the split in 1929 that formed Westminster Seminary and the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.
As this is a posthumous collection of articles and presentations rather than a cohesive book, it is occasionally repetitive. Some of the chapters are lengthy considerations of relatively fine points (where an understanding of Greek is helpful), but Warfield is a clear writer and thinker.
Four of the ten chapters (1, 2, 4, and 6) are more than worth the price of purchase by themselves.
I loved the first few chapters, one or two in the middle, and the last chapter. The rest of the chapters required some sort of knowledge of Greek in order to comprehend Warfield’s arguments. Due to the Greek-filled large chunk of the middle of the book, I can’t give it 5 stars without knowing it’s 5 star worthy. However, I do know the Greek-less chapters are.
Warfield's work straddles the 19th and 20th centuries for original publication dates. One of the great insights involves seeing the theological battles taking place during that period of time in both Europe and the United States. Very few theologians have dug so deeply into the biblical texts and have examined the Early Church Fathers' interpretations with such care. In addition, Warfield ably surveys the linguistic issues by comparing biblical Greek usage with classical Greek writings. He also delves into both Hebrew and Latin sources. Such surveys make his writing quite technical. Readers with no background in those languages might not appreciate fully his chain of argumentation. The essays and lectures assembled in this single volume provide one of the most capable defenses of the traditional doctrines of biblical inspiration and inerrancy. They are still extremely relevant to our own times over one hundred years later.
What's not to love about Warfield, the man is so learned and readable with so many great insights on the nature of Inspiration. The essay 'The Biblical Idea of Inspiration' completely revolutionised my view of inspiration to a much more holistic and providential understanding of it. For lovers of language, the arguments of Greek lexemes are also great.
The one complaint would be the same that any collection of essays get, especially collections by one author: the same subjects do come up again and again and it can get a bit repetitive. That said, its quality stuff being repeated so not the end of the world.
I was told that this is one of the best books on the authority and inerrancy of Scripture and a must read on the subject. I would have to agree. Some very technical writing and argumentation in the middle of the book with original language citations made it slow plowing, but the overall read was highly educational and much enjoyed. Good stuff here.
Warfield is excellent as always, although I wish his argumentation followed more the tradition of where Westminster was going to go. The word studies were way over my head since I can't read Greek, but the rest of the content is fantastic, albeit a little repetetive after the first two hundred pages.