Samuel Miller (1769-1850)

This book focuses on Samuel Miller (1769-1850), the first professor of Ecclesiastical History and Church Government at Princeton Theological Seminary. It introduces the reader to a first-generation representative of Old Princeton, and the challenge that Stanton presents to the Ahlstrom thesis. The Ahlstrom thesis states that Old Princeton adopted false presuppositions from the Scottish Enlightenment and consequently broke from the Reformed tradition. This book invites the scholars who embraced this thesis to reassess.Stanton also provides readers with a synopsis of the archival resources for Miller’s career, including unpublished sermons, introductory lectures, and lectures on piety, preaching, and Sacred Chronology. These indicate that Miller was influenced by Reformed orthodoxy, scholasticism, and Jonathan Edwards significantly more than Scottish Common Sense.This book represents the first detailed record of Samuel Miller ever produced and will be a significant contribution to Old Princeton scholarship.

“Old Princeton Seminary is an institution with storied history and reputation, yet little work has been done on one of its founding faculty members, Samuel Miller. Dr. Allen Stanton has combed through Miller’s works and the Princeton archives to show how Reformed Orthodoxy and Jonathan Edwards both shaped his theology. Students of American Presbyterian history cannot afford to miss Dr. Stanton’s important historical work.” —J. V. Fesko, Harriet Barbour Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology Reformed Theological Seminary, Jackson, “This study provides a real service by utilizing the previously untapped archival materials left by Princeton Seminary’s Samuel Miller, which balance out the dominant view of him as departing from the Reformed tradition. Miller’s education and teaching reveal a strong element of Reformed scholasticism, while his early ministry is characterized by his preaching of Reformed orthodoxy and exegesis. He even maintained a place for Jonathan Edwards, who, according to the prevailing interpretation, had been jettisoned at Princeton in favor of Common Sense approaches.” —Ken P. Minkema, Director, Jonathan Edwards Center, Yale University, “It is a privilege to commend Allen Stanton’s ground-breaking study of Samuel Miller’s theology. Drawing on unpublished manuscripts and lectures, Stanton is the first to provide holistic scholarly attention to Miller’s substantial contribution to Reformed orthodox theology in its American context, along with his influence on the development of early Princeton Seminary. An excellent volume for both academics and churchmen.” —William VanDoodewaard, Professor of Church History and Academic Dean, Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary

Allen M. Stanton obtained a PhD from Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary and is the pastor of Pinehaven Presbyterian Church in Clinton, Mississippi. He edited along with Ariaan C. Neele and Kenneth P. Minkema, The Sermons by Jonathan Edwards on the Epistle to the Galatians (2019).