Hodge, Charles (1797–1878)

Most Protestants supported the creation of common school systems during the middle decades of [Page 444]the 19th century. Indeed, Protestant clergymen were often among the most vocal advocates of educational reform. Some heirs of the Reformation, however, dissented to varying degrees. Staunch Calvinists and some Lutherans expressed reservations about, among other things, the state's expanded role in education and what they perceived as the growing secularization of common schooling, and supported the establishment of schools that taught specific theological doctrines. One such dissenter was Charles Hodge, a highly regarded Presbyterian scholar whose teaching career at Princeton Seminary spanned half a century.

Born in Philadelphia in 1797 and immersed in Calvinism from his childhood education through his collegiate and seminary studies, Hodge was appointed professor of Oriental and Biblical Literature at Princeton Seminary in 1822. Three years later he founded the Biblical Repertory and Princeton Review (BRPR). During his tenure as editor for more than 40 years, Hodge transformed it into a highly respected theological journal that spoke to a wide range of contemporary issues, including popular education, Darwinism, revivalism, church–state matters, and the role of religion in the public schools. Of the 140-plus essays and commentaries Hodge contributed to the journal, at least a dozen focused on education-related topics.

Though a strong supporter of Presbyterian parochial schools and the absolute necessity of religious instruction, not mere moral education, in any worthwhile education, Hodge often asserted that the state shared responsibility with parents and the church to ensure the proper education of all children. He conditioned his support for public schooling, however, on the inclusion of meaningful religious instruction, including the use of the Bible as a textbook. The Princeton theologian dissented vigorously from the position that the state could only offer secular instruction and that Protestant Christian doctrines of sin, redemption, and salvation had no place in the common schools. Indeed, he often argued that education without biblical religion was not “neutral” but in fact irreligious or atheistic and ultimately destructive of the individual and society.

In his early essays on education, Hodge asserted that the Bible was authoritative and should be taught, not merely read, in the state schools. To neglect such instruction, he believed, would be destructive of public virtue. Parents and pastors alone could not accomplish this task. If the public schools were unwilling or unable to teach children the doctrines of sin and salvation and the “facts” of the Bible, Hodge suggested the creation of Christian schools.

As the state became more involved in schooling and proposals to remove religious instruction from the common schools more pressing, Hodge expressed concern that the common schools might be purged of meaningful religious instruction. He was particularly critical of Horace Mann's proposal to inculcate “natural religion” in the common schools. Despite his concern about the direction of common schooling, however, Hodge still embraced the public school system and hoped that all Protestants would unite behind teaching the essential doctrines of the Reformation, including inspiration of the Scriptures and justification through the atonement of Christ alone.

...