PREFACE THIS volume is offered to Professor Charles Augustus Briggs by a little group of his pupils and colleagues, with the addition of only two or three other close friends. It is a testimonial of their personal affection, as well as of their sense of obligation to the veteran scholar and teacher, and they have chosen as its occasion his completion of seventy years of life, not because they do not hope for him many more years of fruitful work, but because this anniversary recalls to them his long and notable service, and reminds them afresh of all they owe to the stimulus of his untiring energy, his patient research, his fearlessness in proclaiming truth, his warm personal sympathy and his quick response to every demand made upon his stores of knowledge and the treasures— often unsuspected-of his warm and valiant heart. They are glad that he should have now, while his vigour is yet unabated, this attestation of their regard. Professor Briggs has been so versatile in his own work, and his intellectual interests have been so many, that the range of topic appropriate to this volume has not been confined to a single department of theological study, nor indeed limited at all to the theological disciplines in the strict sense of the term. The foundation of his varied learning, after school-boy days, was laid more than fifty years ago, at the University of Virginia, where the system of regulated liberty in the choice of studies and of high exaction in scholarly standard gave room to his eagerness for acquisition, and a noble measure to his estimates of attainment. This theological bent was developed under original and inspiring teachers, at the Union Theological Seminary and the University of Berlin, but his mind was independent by nature, and he began, from persistent impulse, to investigate great problems for himself in many fields of thought. Only paths which he had trodden with his own feet brought him to satisfying conclusions. At the same time he maintained the respect for the past, and the reverence for truth vindicated long ago, with which, as one of the guiding principles in study, he had entered upon the student's career. His sense of historic continuity in the life of the Christian Church has always been strong. His controlling interest has never been that of a radical, in the sense of an overturner, or a neologian in any form. Those who know him well have wondered that any should imagine so. The progress he has sought has always been in the nature of a growth from the longestablished, and no small part of the sharp controversy which has marked his life has been due to his ardent desire to go back to fundamental principles of theological discussion and religious life from which it appeared to him that the men of his own and other recent times had largely and often unconsciously departed. His Biblical scholarship is perhaps most familiar to the public, and has been fundamental in his own thought. But in Church History and in Dogmatics he is also at home, and no one has considered with more alertness of interest the practical problems of the Church and the religious life. If this were a biographical sketch-and long may it be before such a sketch can be completely written!—these sentences could be expanded into paragraphs and chapters. It would be wrong, even within the present limits, not to make especial mention of the irenic studies of his later years, and his steadfast outlook toward the union of Christians in things essential and a great charity in all things else. It is a large, strong man that has been engaged in these various lines of thought and struggle,-various, yet all related and converging, and his influence has been wide, and his colleagues pay him high regard, and his pupils feel his power, and his friends love him. One of the elders among us, who has been long his fellow-teacher, the Rev. Thomas S. Hastings, D.D., LL.D.-Professor here since 1881, and President of the Faculty from 1887 to 1897-has uttered more than his own feelings in the following tribute: "IT gives me great pleasure to express my warm and high appreciation of my colleague and friend, Dr. C. A. Briggs. It is often said that those who have worked together know each other; still more do they know each other who have suffered together. I have learned by such experience to admire and to love Dr. Briggs for his frankness and fidelity as a friend, while I have been surprised again and again to see how versatile he is and how comprehensive is his learning. He has gone from one department to another in our curriculum, equally at home and masterful in each. I have found him always calm and patient under assault and misrepresentation, cherishing no ill feeling or resentment. Indeed, I have been deeply impressed by the gentle sweetness of his spirit even under provocation. He is strong and brave and tender and true. I have met very few who have so deep a reverence for the Scriptures and absolutely no one who holds more fully, more simply, and more heartily to the standards of our Church. I shall always cherish him within the inner circle of my loving friendships." Many of Dr. Briggs' students have taken responsible positions as instructors and productive scholars. Only a part of them have been able to contribute to this book. Imperative circumstances have hindered some who had the right to appear in it, and who regret, as we do, the absence of their names. If the plan of the publication had admitted enlargement beyond the closer circle, and especially if we had ventured overseas, the result would have been several volumes instead of one. With reluctance we abandoned the idea of so unwieldy an enterprise. This simple testimonial is less imposing, but it is at least serious in intention and sincere in spirit, and it bears with it an affectionate regard not to be measured in pages, or expressed at all in words. Especial thanks are due to the publishers, Messrs. Charles Scribner's Sons, who have generously undertaken to issue the volume in recognition of an esteemed author and a valued friend. UNION THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, NEW YORK, January 1, 1911. By the Rev. Professor WILLIAM R. ARNOLD, Ph.D., |
