The Riddleblog

Warfield on William James and the Difference Between Mere Moralism and True Religion

In his short essay, "What Is Calvinism?" (from the Presbyterian, Mar. 2, 1904, 6-7), B. B. Warfield writes,

"`There is a state of mind' says Professor William James in his lectures on `The Varieties of Religious Experience,' `known to religious men, but to no others, in which the will to assert ourselves and hold our own has been displaced by a willingness to close our mouths and be as nothing in the floods and waterspouts of God. [James] is describing what he looks upon as the truly religious mood over against what he calls `mere moralism' `The moralist' he tells us, `must hold his breath and keep his muscles tense': and things go well with him only when he can do so. The religious man, on the contrary, finds his consolation in his very powerlessness; his trust is not in himself but in his God; and the `hour of his moral death turns into his spiritual birthday."

Says Warfield in response, "the psychological analyst [William James] has caught the exact distinction between moralism and religion. It is the distinction between trust in ourselves and trust in God. And when trust in ourselves is driven entirely out, and trust in God comes in, in its purity, we have Calvinism. Under the name of religion at its height, what Professor James has really described is therefore just Calvinism."

William James, by the way, once called himself a Methodist without the Savior.

B. B. WarfieldKim RiddlebargerFebruary 11, 2022William James, Moralism and Religion

"Children in the Hands of the Arminians" -- B. B. Warfield on the Salvation and Proper Nuture of Christian Children

Some of B. B. Warfield's book reviews are published in his collected works, while many are not. There are a number of gems from the "Lion of Princeton" that remain hidden away in obscure journals and publications. One of these gems is Warfield's "Review" of The Child as God's Child, by Rev. Charles W. Rishell, Ph. D., Professor of Historical Theology in Boston University School of Theology. New York: Eaton & Mains. Cincinnati: Jennings & Graham (1904).

Warfield's review of Rishell's book was originally published in vol. xvii of the Union Seminary Magazine, 1904. Warfield entitled his review, "Children in the Hands of the Arminians. Here’s an excerpt

The children certainly must be a source of gravest concern to a consistently Arminian reasoner. The fundamental principle of Arminianism is that salvation hangs upon a free, intelligent choice of the individual will; that salvation is, in fact, the result of the acceptance of God by man, rather than of the acceptance of man by God. The logic of this principle involves in hopeless ruin all who, by reason of tenderness of years, are incapable of making such a choice. On this teaching, all those who die in infancy should perish, while those who survive the years of immaturity might just as well be left to themselves until they arrive at the age of intelligent option.

To read the entire review, follow the link below

Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield (November 5, 1851 - February 16, 1921) — The Centennial of B. B. Warfield's Death

B. B. Warfield died of an apparent heart attack on February 16, 1921. I thought it might be a fitting tribute to talk about Warfield bibliography.

One hundred years after his death, Warfield's collected works are still readily available: The ten-volume “Oxford” set reprinted by Baker Books, or the five-volume set from P & R (several volumes are still in print, but e-book editions of the others are easy to find), and the two-volume set Warfield's Selected Shorter Writings, published by P & R in 2001, includes many important essays.

A huge (and free) collection of Warfield’s books, essays, and articles about Warfield can be found at Monergism.com. Monergism's Warfield Resources.

To see my short Warfield bibliography, follow the link below