A Discourse Delivered at the Re-opening of the Chapel

I cannot responsibly write a full description of this work. Charles Hodge (1797–1878) taught at Princeton Theological Seminary for more than five decades, and a chapel discourse from 1874 would fall within his late career, when he was the dominant voice of Old School Presbyterian theology in America. But I do not have reliable, documented knowledge of this particular discourse: the occasion that led to the chapel's closing and re-opening, the text or texts Hodge preached from, the specific arguments he made, or how the address was received. The rules for this series require that facts be concrete or absent, and with so little verifiable detail, any account of the discourse's argument would amount to invention rather than description.

What can be said with confidence is limited to the frame. Hodge delivered the address as a seminary professor to a community of students and faculty, which places it in the genre of academic-devotional preaching he practiced throughout his career, including his weekly Sabbath afternoon conferences with students at Princeton. Beyond that, the content, structure, and legacy of the discourse should be established from the primary text itself or from a reputable catalog of Hodge's occasional writings before a full description is written.

Who should read this: Readers already familiar with Hodge and curious about his occasional preaching may find it a useful addition to his systematic work, but this description cannot yet tell any reader what the discourse contains or whether it will repay their time. It should not be recommended to newcomers to Hodge until the text has been read and verified, and those seeking a first encounter with his thought are better served by his Systematic Theology or his commentaries on Romans and the Corinthian letters.