Charles Hodge

Charles Hodge 1797-1878, American Calvinist theologian, b. Philadelphia. He was associated with Princeton Theological Seminary, where, after graduation, he taught first Oriental and biblical literature and later theology for 58 years. His chief work is his Systematic Theology (3 vol., 1872-73). He also wrote The Constitutional History of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (2 vol., 1839-40), Discussions of Church Polity (1878), and several widely used volumes of commentaries. He contributed the equivalent of many volumes to the Princeton Review, which he founded and edited for over 40 years. His biography was written (1880, repr. 1969) by his son Archibald Alexander Hodge, 1823-86, who succeeded to his place at the seminary.

Hodge, Charles (1797–1878), Presbyterian theologian. He taught at Princeton nearly all his life. Though not an original thinker, he had a great influence and following.

Hodge, Charles (1797–1878), Protestant theologian.A graduate of the College of New Jersey (later Princeton University) and Princeton Seminary, Charles Hodge in 1821 was ordained by the Presbyterian Church. Apart from two years of travel and study in Europe, Hodge taught at Princeton Seminary throughout his career, first as professor of Oriental and biblical literature and, after 1840, as professor of theology.

During a career of over half a century, Hodge instructed several thousand students in theology and in biblical languages—more than any other seminary professor in the United States. Adding to his influence was his long editorship of the Princeton Review, a theological quarterly that he founded in 1825 as a forum for his theological views. Hodge's books included commentaries on the Pauline epistles; works on Presbyterian ecclesiastical issues; The Way of Life (1841), an introduction to Christianity for Sunday school use; a rigorous critique of Darwinism (What Is Darwinism?, 1874); and a three‐volume Systematic Theology (1872–1873).

Hodge prided himself on the scriptural exposition of venerable doctrines rather than on original theological contributions. He was a preeminent apologist for “the Princeton Theology,” a confessional Calvinist posture rooted in Scottish Common Sense philosophy that sought a balance between piety and learning and affirmed belief in the authority of the Bible, the inseparability of faith and doctrine, and the value of personal religious experience ratified by scriptural testimony. From this position, Hodge criticized views espousing human autonomy, the priority of feeling over intellect, and the fallibility of biblical revelation. This brought him into conflict with more liberal nineteenth‐century religious leaders such as Andrews Norton, Horace Bushnell, Edwards Amasa Park, and the German biblical critics, but in evangelical circles his work remains influential even today.
See also Evolution, Theory of; Philosophy; Protestantism; Religion.

Bibliography

Archibald Alexander Hodge , The Life of Charles Hodge, 1880.
Charles Hodge , What Is Darwinism? And Other Writings on Science and Religion, eds. Mark A. Noll and David N. Livingstone, 1994.

Jon H. Roberts