John Williamson Nevin: High-Church Calvinist

Written by D. G. Hart Reviewed By Christopher C. Cooper

John Williamson Nevin is a relatively unknown academic theologian from the nineteenth century who “should matter to American Presbyterians and Reformed Christians more than he does” (p. 17), or, at least, that is what D. G. Hart argues in John Williamson Nevin: High Church Calvinist. In this addition to the American Reformed Biographies series, Hart puts flesh and blood upon his earlier assertion that confessional Protestantism and revival-inspired Protestantism compose two disparate movements (see D. G. Hart, The Lost Soul of American Protestantism [Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2002]). Hart avers that the former represents the older, churchly Protestantism of the reformers and the Reformed confessions, while the latter represents a newer, experiential Protestantism wherein the institutional church, the clergy, and the sacraments are no longer conceived as central to the Christian life (p. 25).

According to Hart, Nevin is representative of a relatively small number of theologians in the nineteenth century who recognized this trend in American Christianity and who devoted his career as a writing theologian to this issue. As he follows Nevin’s Scotch-Irish Presbyterian upbringing, his initial exposure to revival-inspired piety as a student, and his rejection of modern Protestantism in favor of historic Protestantism, Hart shows how Nevin’s life and ministry revolved around his concern for the health of the institutional church. Through Nevin’s devotion to the well-being of American Christianity, Hart goes on to argue throughout the book that Nevin’s life and work ought to matter today because of his contribution “to American Protestantism generally and to the Reformed tradition specifically.” Generally, Hart explains that Nevin “identified the fissure dividing historic Protestantism from a novel form that was dominating religious life in the United States.” Specifically, Nevin contributed to the Reformed tradition through his emphasis on the historic Protestant “regard for the church as a mediator of divine grace” (p. 34).

A strength of this work is that as Hart traces and explores Nevin’s life and work (even though he agrees with Nevin that there exists a fundamental difference between historic Protestantism and revival-inspired Protestantism), Hart carefully allows Nevin to make his case in his own way and on his own terms. As a result, readers are given an interpretation of American Christianity before the twentieth century not only from Hart, but primarily from a historically astute theologian from the period under discussion. Furthermore, through tracing Nevin’s quest for a faith that comforts amidst the trials and tribulations of life in this present evil age, Hart demonstrates that Nevin’s criticisms of American Christianity did not come from a cold academician, but from a deeply religious individual who experienced both the churchly piety of historic Protestantism and the revivalistic piety of popular Christianity and who found the latter way of religion wanting. Because Hart points out the spiritual struggles and trials that Nevin faced, Hart’s work on Nevin is also encouraging and comforting for believers as it reminds us of the importance of trusting in the objective promises of the gospel. However, I feel obliged to point out that the book is not as encouraging or comforting as the church, the preaching of the word, and the sacraments, lest Hart fuel a non-churchly form of devotion that he did not intend!

Another strength of Hart’s analysis of Nevin’s life and work is that it adds not only to the current discussion concerning the continuity and discontinuity between evangelical Protestantism and historic Protestantism, but it adds also to the related dialogue concerning what is the critical period for American Protestantism (pp. 230–36). Hart points out that the way in which a historian identifies the critical period in American church history depends largely on ecclesiological presuppositions. He explains that if an historian judges the church based upon its relationship to external matters, such as “the economy, the world of learning, or domestic or international affairs,” then the post-Civil War period was perhaps the critical period for American Protestants (p. 233). However, if an historian measures the health of the church by internal matters, such as “its worship, its sacramental life, its creed,” then the turning point for Protestants in America “came well before the late nineteenth century,” and at the point in time when Protestants abandoned the conception of the church as the mediator of divine grace (p. 233). Whether or not one agrees with Hart and Nevin, this point should cause students of the period to reconsider the role that presuppositions play in their historiography.

Although some will see this as a strength, those who envision more continuity than discontinuity between historic Protestantism and evangelical Protestantism will detect a weakness in Hart’s conclusion. Hart does not venture so far as to suggest that the different forms of Protestantism make up two different religions, as did Nevin (p. 234). Nevertheless, Hart does not hide his fundamental agreement with Nevin concerning the validity of making a distinction between historic Protestantism and revival-inspired Protestantism and of arguing for the superiority of the former over the latter.

In conclusion, Hart’s work on Nevin serves as a helpful addition to studies in American Christianity from an astute historian who considers himself a confessional rather than an evangelical Protestant. Those scholars, students, and pastors who work through this volume will likely sharpen their own understanding of the importance and comfort of the church, the clergy, and the sacraments.


Christopher C. Cooper

The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Louisville, Kentucky, USA

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