Charles Hodge (1797-1878) was the principal of Princeton Theological Seminary between 1851 and 1878, and one of the greatest exponents of traditional Calvinism in America during the 19th century.
The work is divided into the following sections: Introduction (including sections of "Rationalism," "Mysticism," and "Roman Catholic Doctrine"); Part I - Theology (including sections on "Anti-Theistic Theories," "The Nature and Attributes of God," "The Trinity," as well as "Providence," "Miracles," and "Angels"); Part II - Anthropology (including sections on "The Origin of Man" [with his rejection of Darwinism], "The Fall," "Sin," and "Free Agency"); Part III - Soteriology (including sections on "Plan of Salvation," "For Whom Did Christ Die?" "Theories of the Atonement," "Justification," "Sanctification," and "The Means of Grace" [including the Sacraments, and Prayer]); Part IV - Eschatology (including sections on "State of the Soul after Death," "Resurrection," and "Second Advent"). The first volume also contains a very helpful 80-page Index for all three volumes.
Obviously, one cannot summarize a 2,300-page work within the confines of an Amazon review. Suffice it to say that Hodge affirms and strongly supports all of traditional Calvinist doctrines; e.g., the authority of the Bible: "We do not believe the New Testament to be divine on the ground of the testimony of the Church. We receive the books included in the canonical Scriptures on the twofold ground of internal and external evidence."
Hodge is, of course, an orthodox Calvinist: e.g., "It is perfectly consistent, therefore, that God, as a benevolent Being, should desire the happiness of all men, while he purposes to save only his own people"; "This doctrine that God cannot effectually control the acts of free agents without destroying their liberty, is so contrary to the Scriptures that it has never been adopted by any organized portion of the Christian Church." Arguing against the notion that it is inconsistent with God's justice for men to enter the world in a state of sin, he says, "whatever God does must be right." (This isn't his ONLY argument, of course.)
He admits that the Greek word translated as "baptism" means "to immerse," and that "during certain periods in the history of the Church ... immersion was the common method in which baptism was administered. But it is denied that immersion is essential to baptism."
Although he strongly rejects Darwinism ("The Bible says: Man was created in the image of God"), he says about the age of the cosmos that our interpretation "must be controlled not only by the laws of language, but by facts. This is at present an open question. The facts necessary for its decision have not yet been duly authenticated. The believer may calmly await the result." He also adds, "The Scriptures do not teach us how long men have existed on the earth. Their tables of geneaology were intended to prove that Christ was the son of David ... not how many years had elapsed between creation and the advent."
He argues that the papacy (rather than a particular Pope) is Antichrist ("who is Antichrist, but the man that puts himself in place of Christ?"), and rejects Premillenialism (Hodge was a Postmillenialist) on grounds such as that the Bible "teaches that believers only are to rise from the dead when Christ comes."
These are just a few "sound bites" to give you a general idea of what the series contains; the entire work (or at least the one-volume abridgement) deserves a place in any serious theological library.
