Dabney (1820-1898) taught theology at Union Theological Seminary in Virginia and at Austin Theological Seminary. His systematic theology text was used at Union well into the twentieth century. Eight of his books have been reprinted during recent years, testifying to his ongoing importance and influence. Lucas's biography of Dabney is extensively documented and is the first in more than one hundred years. This is the first volume in a new series that feeds the increasing interest in biographies of prominent Christians of the past.
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Sean Michael Lucas is adjunct professor of church history at Covenant Theological Seminary and the coeditor of The Legacy of Jonathan Edwards.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
(Introduction) A few months before Robert Lewis Dabney died, he made a final grand tour of the eastern seaboard from his exilic location in Victoria, Texas. One of his stops was the General Assembly of his beloved Presbyterian Church in the United States, meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina. There to represent the Synod of Texas as well as to present a paper for the two hundred fiftieth anniversary of the Westminster Confession of Faith, Dabney was received with great feeling and acclaim. One observer held that Dabney was "the Moses who had been the leader in ‘times that triedmen’s souls.’ " Throughout the Assembly, "his every utterance was heard with profoundest interest, and his counsels received with the utmost deference and respect. He took an active part in the deliberations of that great Assembly, and served with his accustomed diligence as chairman of one of the leading committees." At the end of one session, Dabney, who had been blind since 1890, was led to the moderator’s table to close in prayer. His searching prayer "seemed almost gifted with the seer’s sagacity." After serving as both a southern Presbyterian Elijah and Mosesone final time, Dabney retired to Asheville, North Carolina, to spend the summer away from the Texas heat. Undoubtedly those who knew Robert Lewis Dabney, both as friends and as enemies, felt him to be larger than life, closer to a biblical prophet than a theological professor. Even as a young man, Dabney’s gaze bore through others; his scowl suggested a thunderstorm; and his speech could be furious. As an older man, with the chin beard draping down like a vestment, observers most often viewed him as a prophet or an apostle. One student, upon hearing falsely of Dabney’s death, claimed to be in the position of Elisha, who had lost his Elijah in Dabney’s demise. Another former student claimed that "his students in his old age at Austin, were wont to speak of him as St. John." A ministerial colleague also! viewed Dabney like the Apostle John, "who denounced heresy and falsehood like a very Boanerges, as he was." Others accounted him to be like one of the Reformers. "Had he occupied Calvin’s position he might have done Calvin’s work," S. Taylor Martin claimed. "Had he been substituted for John Knox he could have performed the part of Knox." Like a mythicfigure from a long ago time, Dabney seemed to stand for principle and truth in an age gone mad.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Sean Michael Lucas is senior minister at the historic First Presbyterian Church, Hattiesburg, MS. Prior to this, he served as Chief Academic Officer and associate professor of church history at Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, MO. He holds the PhD degree from Westminster Theological Seminary. He is the co-editor of the American Reformed Biography series (with D. G. Hart) and the editor of the Basics of the Faith series, both with P&R Publishing.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Important and Accessible,
This review is from: Robert Lewis Dabney: A Southern Presbyterian Life (American Reformed Biographies) (Hardcover)
P&R is to be commended for introducing the American Reformed Biographies series. These works should be of great interest to the Reformed Community, particularly in those denominations that have a high view of Scripture. The series is being edited by D.G. Hart and Sean Michael Lucas - who is the author of this volumn.
Lucas, who did Doctoral work on Dabney, has a clear and confident grasp of both the primary and secondary sources surrounding the life of Robert Lewis Dabney. Nevertheless, this work is geared toward pastors, seminary students and informed lay people and not primarily toward professional historians. Anyone interested in the Reformed faith in America would benefit from reading this book. Lucas covers Dabney's life in eight chapters which span successive periods in his remarkable life. Through these chapters we gain an understanding not only of the man, but of a generation's struggles to cling to a way of life that was being torn from their grasp. While Dabney was a pastor and theologian, the Civil war was central to his life's work and central to Lucas' narrative as well. As Lucas unfold's Dabney's fascinating life, we are reminded that many of his struggles in terms of the nature of confessional subscription, the relationship between theology and science, and the spiritual nature of the church are still with us today. Understanding Dabney's struggles in these areas can help us be more effective churmen in our own era. While I hope this book finds a wide reading audience, I do have two suggestions that I think would have made this an even better biography: 1. Lucas provides a very helpful chapter of evaluations at the end of the book entitled "Perspective". I would have preferred that he limited his evaluative comments more to this section. Earlier in the book, particularly in dealing with Dabney's views on slavery, the author's perspectives and comments intrude a bit too much (for my taste) into the narrative. I suspect that this is due to Lucas being a relatively new author who is carrying over the academic desire to show the "prof" how thoroughly he has wrestled with the material. Future books from his pen, and we can hope that they are many, would be even better if Lucas learned to trust the narrative more. 2. Lucas does not bring out how horrendous some of the war crimes committed by the North were during the civil war. This background would have made Dabney's reluctance to embrace the North after the war seem far less idosyncratic than he might appear to those unfamiliar with these atrocities. It is always difficult to know what to include and what to exclude in such a work. I simply fear that many readers in the book's target audience will not already have this background understanding. You should note that I offer these more as suggestions than criticisms, because to a large degree they are a matter of taste and literary judgment. This work is well worth reading and I commend it to all who stand in the Reformed tradition.
7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An outsider doen't truly understand the southern people,
By Baroque Norseman (Louisiana) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Robert Lewis Dabney: A Southern Presbyterian Life (American Reformed Biographies) (Hardcover)
I began this biography on Robert Lewis Dabney with mixed emotions. On one hand I was glad a new biography was written on Dabney. I view Dabney as one of the more heroic Christian leaders of the American church. There should be a plethora of material on him. For this reason, Lucas is to be praised. On the other hand, sadly, if one is not a Southron--and I mean one who is in sympathy with the Confederacy's cause, it is hard to understand Dabney. This proved to be true in Lucas' case. Lucas' thesis--with which I agree--is that Dabney is far from unusual or aberrant, but rather represents the 19th century Southern Presbyterian Church and Southern Conservative Tradition (217). By understanding Dabney's mind, we have a window in which to see the minds of an entire sociological group--the modern-day Southern conservative.
Lucas develops his thesis in 8 chapters, all alliterated: Preparation, Pastor, Professor, Patriot, Presbyterian Partisan, Passing, and Perspective. The last two chapters were top-notch. The chapters on Presbyterian Partisan and Patriot were not very well-done. I will take particular issue with Lucas on those two chapters. I will briefly note some of Dabney's distinctives in the other six chapters. Dabney held to a conservative, doctrinal Presbyterianism that found strict adherence to the Westminster Standards. His epistemology, Common-Sense realism, allowed him a unique plank to attack unbiblical thought, namely "The Sensualist Philosophy." Patriot Was Dabney a hero or coward concerning his military performance? Lucas sets the stage with a scene from Ivanhoe. This book helped define the Southern ideal as one of true courage and the desire (and demand!) of the Christian knight to seek glory (especially) in the face of death. Continuing this line of thought Lucas says that Dabney struggled to embrace the Southern manhood concerning the war because he, by virtue of his position as a chaplain, could not participate in the fighting. At this point Lucas engages in intense pyschologizing of Dabney. Objectively, Lucas is right. Dabney, being a minister, didn't do much fighting (although he was a key player in a few battles). Subjectively, I don't think this bothered Dabney like Lucas said it bothered Dabney. In fact, I don't recollect Dabney saying this bothered Dabney. And then there is the strong counter-evidence from General Stonewall Jackson himself. Jackson said Dabney was one of the finest officers he knew. (This is the type of evidence that wins the discussion). Lucas recognizes this strong statement by Jackson and tries to dismiss it by quoting other historians and officers of the war who criticize Dabney as not being a professional soldier and not staying long enough in the campaigns (Dabney was forced to the home-front because of extreme illness). Even granting their points (and I don't), this doesn't prove that Dabney was indecisive as a soldier. I, with General Jackson, believe that Dabney was a competent man in the military who did what he was called to do. Lucas then tries to point out inconsistencies in Dabney's ethic: How could Dabney support war as a minister of the gospel? The argument is that Dabney should have seen the inconsistency in being a chaplain on one hand (the saving of souls) and fighting as an officer on the other hand (the killing of men). I maintain, to the contrary, that Dabney exercised the "Two Kingdoms" ethic in the most consistent manner. Dabney, like all of us who are aliens in this commonwealth, are called to seek the prosperity of "the City (Jeremiah 29)." Therefore, Dabney, prophetically seeing the destruction of a Christian civilization that a Northern victory would bring, urged men to defend "the City." This was his "civic" or secular duty. This in no way contradicted his "sacred" duty. If it does, then the Two Kingdoms ethic falls (which few in Reformed circles would be willing to grant). Presbyterian Partisan I admit that Dabney warranted much criticism in this chapter. But we should be cautious in these criticisms. Dabney was wrong to forbid the ordination of African-Americans. Also, much of Dabney's opposition to the Northern church was wrong-headed (although his overall perspective and position is correct). While Dabney was correct to point out that the Bible, either Old Testament or New Testament, does not forbid slavery and the Bible cannot be used as an argument against slavery, he should have seen that the Bible has provisions for the long-term freeing of slaves. But let's get to the heart of the issue. Dabney's rhetoric and refusal to forgive can only be understood in the context of Reconstruction. If one does not understand the nightmare of Reconstruction (drive through downtown Natchez, MS today), then one cannot understand Dabney's fight. Dabney saw that Reconstruction was the overturning of constitutionalism and the rule of law in the land. Dabney could not just "forgive and forget" a people who raped his homeland, destroyed the finest of a civilization, and in many cases, attacked the Christian faith. Perhaps he should have forgiven some (not all!) of the Northern crimes. Evaluation In all honesty I think Lucas damned Dabney with feigned praise. He overplayed Dabney's faults and did not do justice to Dabney's ideal of "Christian heroism." I do not believe we should whitewall Dabney. Dabney made some statements that cannot be justified biblically. He could have fought (and won) the same battles had he fought them on biblical and doctrinal lines. The last chapter, Perspective, was quite good. Lucas did some good, hard thinking on this part. He makes a very good comparison to Abraham Kuyper and notes that both Kuyper and Dabney developed, more fully than anyone else, the idea of a "Public Theology." Lucas hints that both Kuyper and Dabney have "theonomic" tendencies (241). I agree. Is the Book worth getting? Yes. It incorporates new material and employs good, technical scholarship. I do wish that Lucas had been more sympathetic to Dabney. I understand why he kept his distance in this book. This book is written in the context of professional scholarship and "the academy." Dabney's ideas, obviously, are not that popular. We hope one day they will be.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Mixed Feelings,
By Reformatio (Ohio) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Robert Lewis Dabney: A Southern Presbyterian Life (American Reformed Biographies) (Hardcover)
Sean Michael Lucas is to be commended for his research and the amount of material he has used for this biography. Nevertheless, throughout the reading this work I more and more gained the impression that the author approached his work with a negative mindset towards Dabney. It was clear pretty early on that Lucas was "a man on a mission." There is too much opinion and too little trust in the facts in this work. What stunned me was the contradiction when Lucas first says that Dabney and the Southern church used the doctrine of the spirituality of the church to avoid the argument about slavery and then concludes the book with a plea for exactly this doctrine. Why he suddenly brings up an analysis of Abraham Kuyper is beyond me and the parallels used between him and Dabney seem artificial and only directed towards the author's case. I put the book down after reading it and thought, "Lucas basically (ab)used Dabney (and surprisingly Kuyper) to make his personal case against a comprehensive biblical world- and live-view." It was an interesting read but not really a sound biography.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
