Overview

Princeton theologian B. B. Warfield was a watchman on the wall of orthodoxy. His temperament, training, and talent--together with his deep love for Christ and amazing breadth of knowledge--shaped him into the twentieth century's greatest defender of the faith. His writings have been studied with profit for well over a hundred years--a tribute to his clear, careful, cogent, gospel-centered exposition of orthodox Christianity, which he called ""the redemptive religion"" and which he fearlessly defended. Warfield's incisive scholarship shines in this new and enhanced edition of The Inspiration and Authority of the Bible. Its carefully prepared aids for the reader include new paragraph breaks and section divisions, explanatory notes and definitions, discussion questions, recommended reading, bibliographies, and more.

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9781629958965

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Reviews

B. B. Warfield was one of the first authors I was encouraged to read when I was converted to Christ. He was without peer in his ability to show me the depth and richness of biblical Christianity. Throughout my Christian life, along with Calvin, Warfield is one author that I return to time and time again. He was a tremendous gift to Christ's church, and this new edition will continue that gift for years to come. Thanks to John Hughes for giving us the best of Warfield in a more useful way. No doubt more new Christians will experience what I did because of these enhanced works.--K. Scott Oliphint, Professor of Apologetics and Systematic Theology, Westminster Theological Seminary B. B. Warfield's articles on the inspiration and authority of the Bible are classic works of the Princeton school of Reformed theology and exegesis. This volume is stuffed full of careful exegesis and meticulous scholarship that is well worth reading and engaging even a century later.--Lee Gatiss, Lecturer in Church History, Union School of Theology, Wales; author, Cornerstones of Salvation: Foundations and Debates in the Reformed Tradition B. B. Warfield's meticulous exegesis of biblical texts in support of systematic theology has had a lifelong impact on my life, both in the example of his careful method of argument and also in the way in which his Inspiration and Authority of the Bible deepened my conviction of the complete divine authorship and unfailing truthfulness of the entire Bible. I highly recommend this new edition of Warfield's work.--Wayne Grudem, Distinguished Research Professor of Theology and Biblical Studies, Phoenix Seminary B. B. Warfield's The Inspiration and Authority of the Bible is almost certainly better than we remember it. Most of us recall this set of essays as a sturdy, standard, classic account of the Old Princeton doctrine of Scripture. It is surely that. But on page after page, Warfield's attention to detail and nuance is sure to surprise. I sometimes catch myself thinking that Warfield was a good starting point but that we probably need to update his ideas a bit. When I actually return to his text, though, I find that he had long ago taken into account some of the issues that I have only recently begun to see. This edition updates the only things that really need updating in these classic essays: their format and presentation.--Fred Sanders, Professor, Torrey Honors College, Biola University During his tenure at Princeton Theological Seminary, B. B. Warfield represented the pinnacle of biblical and theological understanding, and his defense of biblical authority was unparalleled. I am thrilled to know that P&R is republishing the best of his articles. The Inspiration and Authority of the Bible shaped my understanding as a young ministerial student, and I hope that many young theological minds will likewise be shaped by these volumes.--Luder G. Whitlock Jr., President Emeritus, Reformed Theological Seminary Epistemology must begin somewhere, and for God's people, the beginning of knowledge is the Word of God. For nearly thirty years at Covenant College and Reformed Theological Seminary, I have been teaching Christian epistemology as an essential foundation for biblical apologetics. B. B. Warfield's work on the inspiration and authority of Scripture has been a vital part of that teaching because Warfield explains in detail how and why God's Word is (and alone can be) the essential, self-authenticating ground of all our knowledge. Having studied epistemology under Gordon Clark, John Frame, and Alvin Plantinga, I have had Calvin's claims about the authority of Scripture hammered into me. Warfield's account of Scripture builds on Calvin's teaching and answers the objections to a Reformed understanding of Scripture's inspiration that were current in his day (and have changed very little since then). By providing abstracts, summaries, subheadings, and a glossary, this new edition of Warfield's work, edited by John Hughes, makes Warfield's pivotal work dramatically more accessible to readers today. To the modern church, still wrestling with attacks on the authority of Scripture, Warfield's work deserves to be better known. P&R's new edition of The Inspiration and Authority of the Bible makes it more likely that Warfield will be read and understood.--Bill Davis, Professor of Philosophy and Coordinator of Faculty Development, Covenant College; Adjunct Professor of Philosophy, Reformed Theological Seminary, Atlanta Few theologians of the last century can match the biblical faithfulness, theological depth, wide-ranging scholarship, and warm piety of B. B. Warfield. In particular, Warfield's writings on revelation and inspiration set the mark for a Reformed exposition and defense of the doctrine of Scripture. So we may be grateful for this new and enhanced edition of The Inspiration and Authority of the Bible. With full and updated bibliography, helpful editorial notes, and reader-friendly abstracts and study questions, The Inspiration and Authority of the Bible is poised to inform the minds and stir the hearts of a new generation of readers.--Guy Prentiss Waters, James M. Baird Jr. Professor of New Testament and Academic Dean, Reformed Theological Seminary, Jackson, Mississippi I cannot overstate the timeliness, the thoroughness, the importance of the helpful study guides, and the amazing bibliographies of the volume. What an achievement. Van Til's appendix alone is worth the price of the volume.--William Edgar, Professor of Apologetics, Westminster Theological Seminary; Associate Professor, Facult� Jean Calvin, Aix-en-Provence, France I discovered B. B. Warfield's Inspiration and Authority of the Bible while idly browsing a college library shelf. It did not look like anything special--until I opened and began to read it! For years afterward, it set the scholarly bar that I wanted to jump in my own theological reflections on Scripture. I therefore welcome this new edition, and am confident that it will not languish, unread, in some library. The new section headings and chapter abstracts, along with the 'For Further Study' sections, make what is already a classic an even more useful tool.--Kevin J. Vanhoozer, Research Professor of Systematic Theology, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School I purchased the 1970 edition of the five-volume set of the collected writings of B. B. Warfield published by Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company (now P&R) shortly after publication and have consulted them on numerous occasions since. The Inspiration and Authority of the Bible remains at the top of the pile despite the century and more of controversy that has occurred since its publication. No writer has exegeted 2 Timothy 3:16 any better than B. B. Warfield. The debate over inerrancy in the second half of the twentieth century was entirely fueled (and resolved) through Warfield's perceptive exegesis and clearheaded theology. This updated edition is superbly done and a must-read for scholars, pastors, and anyone else desiring to be assured that when the Bible speaks, God speaks.--Derek W. H. Thomas, Senior Minister, First Presbyterian Church, Columbia, South Carolina; Teaching Fellow, Ligonier Ministries; Chancellor's Professor, Reformed Theological Seminary I'm thrilled that P&R is breathing new life into B. B. Warfield's classic book on Scripture, The Inspiration and Authority of the Bible. Every Christian generation needs to digest his robust, careful, and wise analysis of Scripture's conviction that the words of the Bible are the words of God.--Benjamin L. Gladd, Professor of New Testament, Reformed Theological Seminary, Jackson, Mississippi Ideas often develop under controversy. As attacks against a unified divinely inspired Bible grew in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Old Princeton theologians such as B. B. Warfield rose to the challenge. Defending, clarifying, and even expanding the Protestant doctrine of Scripture, Warfield devoted meticulous attention to the Bible's witness to itself. For modern Christians, this volume is essential reading on the doctrine of Scripture, providing them with a full and satisfying account of the Bible's divine character and self-attesting witness. John Hughes's additions to the text make this volume even more valuable, promoting easier reading and group study of a modern Christian classic.--Ryan M. McGraw, Morton H. Smith Professor of Systematic Theology, Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary It has well been said that all discussion of inspiration in the last century is but a footnote to B. B. Warfield. He was a watershed moment in the articulation of the church's historic understanding, and this new edition is as needed today as it was in his own day. This is the book to read on the subject.--Fred G. Zaspel, Pastor, Reformed Baptist Church, Franconia, Pennsylvania; Adjunct Professor of Systematic Theology, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; author, The Theology of B. B. Warfield John Hughes has performed a significant and staggering service for the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. In editing and reformatting B. B. Warfield's The Inspiration and Authority of the Bible, along with adding study questions and citing sources for further study, Hughes has produced a scholarly work that should prove to bear much gospel fruit. There are very few intellects, biblical scholars, and faithful churchmen of Warfield's stature. Those of us who have drunk deeply from his well have discovered him to be an endless reservoir of devotional edification and scholarly stimulation. Yet for a variety of reasons, Warfield has been misunderstood and marginalized. Hughes's work seeks to remedy this. All who love the Bible, love serious reflection upon it, and want to grow intellectually, as well as in devotion to the Lord Jesus, will find this work of inestimable value. Along the way, they may discover that the often-misrepresented Warfield is one of the greatest gifts that God has given his church. If so, they can, at least in part, thank John Hughes for the discovery.--David P. Smith, author, B. B. Warfield's Scientifically Constructive Theological Scholarship P&R Publishing has done the church an invaluable service by reprinting and updating many of the important works of B. B. Warfield. His classic treatment of Scripture's divine inspiration and supreme authority for the Christian faith remains the standard by which all subsequent treatments are measured. The updated edition of this seminal work should be enthusiastically welcomed by scholars and pastors alike. Although Warfield was dealing with issues of his own day, there is nonetheless a timeless quality to his penetrating efforts to defend the uniquely divine character of Scripture that will benefit the church for ages to come. Do not neglect this important work.--Scott Christensen, Associate Pastor, Kerrville Bible Church; author, What about Evil? and What about Free Will? The essays featured in this carefully edited volume showcase B. B. Warfield's erudition in both dogmatics and biblical exegesis, two increasingly specialized disciplines that few scholars of subsequent generations have been able to combine with such mastery. Warfield not only defends the classical view of Scripture but also sets forth the historic doctrine of verbal plenary inspiration anew against the onslaught of modern critical scholarship. In our day and age, his voice remains a powerful one that any serious theological discourse on biblical authority should continue to engage with.--Shao Kai Tseng, ZJU100 Research Professor, School of Philosophy, Zhejiang University, China The inspiration of Scripture struggled to survive in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, never lacking for critics. B. B. Warfield proved instrumental, however, breathing new life into the doctrine. Both his exegetical rigor and his theological integrity summoned pastors and scholars alike to take Paul seriously when he says to Timothy that all Scripture is breathed out by God. Warfield's writings on Scripture deserve retrieval for the sake not only of understanding our Reformed heritage but of defending Scripture's divine origin today.--Matthew Barrett, Associate Professor of Christian Theology and Director of The Center for Classical Theology, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary This book is the classic trenchant exegetical defense of inerrancy and inspiration. No one who is interested in this topic should leave this book unread.--G. K. Beale, Professor of New Testament and Biblical Theology, Reformed Theological Seminary, Dallas This looks like a superb edition. In the past, I've had students read bits and bobs of essays from these gems, but the style can be off-putting. Many students today find B. B. Warfield's prose to be turgid and difficult to follow. This new edition will make his writings accessible to a new generation. The additional elements, especially SBL/Chicago style, discussion questions, and contemporary works, enhance the relevance of Warfield's enduring achievement. This is a gift to the church. I look forward to seeing it in print.--Michael S. Horton, J. Gresham Machen Professor of Systematic Theology and Apologetics, Westminster Seminary California Three historic streams of Reformed theology followed the early Reformation led by Luther's and Calvin's defense and advancement of historic Christian orthodoxy. These were England's Puritanism from William Perkins to John Owen, Holland's Dutch Reformed movement with Kuyper and Bavinck, and the culmination of a conservative, confessional American Presbyterianism. This last stream was fueled by the prolific teaching of Old Princeton Seminary professors, among them Archibald Alexander, Charles Hodge, A. A. Hodge, and the fierce apologist and theologian Benjamin B. Warfield, known as the 'Lion of Princeton.' Now, more than a century after Warfield's death, John Hughes brings us this timely revised and enhanced volume of Warfield's incisive scholarship that equips the church with the original power and clarity needed to defend and advance historic Christian orthodoxy in this generation and the generations to come. Hughes has done an excellent job of making Warfield more accessible, readable, and practical. I highly recommend it.--Steven L. Childers, President and CEO, Pathway Learning, Inc.; former Associate Professor of Practical Theology, Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando Whatever critics may say, B. B. Warfield's essays on Scripture stand the test of time. Marked equally by deep knowledge of the issues and a sophisticated and comprehensive knowledge of Scripture's self- testimony, these essays remain foundational for any orthodox understanding of Scripture.--Daniel M. Doriani, Professor of Biblical Theology, Covenant Theological Seminary; Founder and Director, Center of Faith and Work, St. Louis When you think about the doctrine of inerrancy, the name B. B. Warfield should come to mind. Warfield is known for his magnum opus on inerrancy and because he was a warrior called into battle against theological liberalism at precisely the right time. In fact, the decline of Princeton can be directly tied to the diabolic undermining of the Word of God after the death of this bulwark. When there is a soldier standing for inerrancy, giving not even an inch to liberal assaults, the church and associated institutions will be secure. On the other hand, when the soldier is gone, the enemy overcomes. Time and time again, God has raised up champions of inerrancy to stand against the secularization of institutions that would otherwise be deemed Christian. Warfield has given the church a handbook, The Inspiration and Authority of the Bible, to protect it against any such backsliding again. All that is necessary now is for courageous men to take up and read, solidifying these vital convictions in their lives.--Peter Sammons, Assistant Faculty in Theology, The Master's Seminary; author, Reprobation and God's Sovereignty

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Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield (1887-1921) was professor of didactic and polemic theology at the Theological Seminary of Princeton.

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