Review: John Gerstner and the Renewal of Presbyterian and Reformed
Evangelicalism in Modern America. Jeffrey S. McDonald. Princeton Theological
Monograph Series. (Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2017).
Dr. Benjamin Shaw, Professor of Hebrew & Old Testament
I graduated from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in 1980 and had always thought
that John Gerstner had retired two years later in 1982. However, this
intellectual biography of Gerstner makes it clear that he retired in 1980. That
means that I had the privilege of being among the last students that Gerstner
taught at PTS. It was a special privilege, because that 1979-80 school year was
the year that Gerstner first offered the full-year series of seminar classes
that became The Rational Biblical Theology of Jonathan Edwards. Gerstner
was an excellent lecturer as can still be seen in the video series preserved by
Ligonier Ministries. But his seminar classes were in a different category
altogether. Students were expected to read, and master, a significant amount of
material prior to each class session. I still remember gathering with other
students, sharing and talking over our detailed outlines of the material. The
seminars were conducted after the Socratic fashion, and Gerstner was a master
of that method. I don’t think it is possible to overstate the benefits I
received from those classes that went well beyond a mastery of the subject
matter. For that reason, I was glad to
see the appearance of this intellectual biography of Gerstner.
McDonald
separates his study of Gerstner into six periods: from birth to 1949, 1950-59,
1960-69, 1970-79, 1980-89, concluding with the period from 1990 until
Gerstner’s death in 1996. The structure may appear artificial, but it is the
case that in each of the periods, Gerstner faced some particular issue that
drew him into conflict. In the 1950s, the conflict was the merger of the UPCNA
(United Presbyterian Church of North America) with the PCUSA (Presbyterian
Church in the USA). The former was Gerstner’s home denomination. It was smaller
and much more evangelically oriented than was the PCUSA. In Gerstner’s view,
the UPCNA distinctives would simply be swallowed up by the theologically
progressive PCUSA. The merger took place.
In
the 1960s, the primary conflict had to do with the merger of Pittsburgh-Xenia
Theological Seminary (the UPCNA school) and Western Theological Seminary (the
PCUSA school). Again, Gerstner was opposed to the merger, but it took place
anyway. As with the denominational merger, the more evangelical orientation of
Pittsburgh-Xenia was lost. One bright note in the 1960s was that it was in that
decade that R. C. Sproul attended PTS and studied under Gerstner.
In
the 1970s, the “Kenyon case” was the center of conflict. The conclusion of this
case was that, in the PCUSA, a man could not be ordained if he was opposed to
the ordination of women to church office. Again, Gerstner was on the losing
side. But the loss was a gain for Belhaven College, where Wynn Kenyon taught
for many years. It was also a gain for the PCA and OPC, as men who would
otherwise have remained in the PCUSA moved to the more conservative
denominations.
In
the 1980s, the main conflict was the “Kaseman case.” Again, Gerstner was on the
losing side, due to the increasingly progressive theological stance of the
PC(USA). But it was also during the 1970s and 1980s that Gerstner had increasing
influence in conservative Reformed circles through the labors of R. C. Sproul
and the Ligonier Valley Study Center (now Ligonier Ministries). Gerstner’s
contribution to broader evangelicalism was also seen in the development of the
International Council on Biblical Inerrancy and the subsequent Chicago
Statement on Biblical Inerrancy.
McDonald
deals with Gerstner as a scholar, a churchman, a teacher, and an apologist for
the Reformed faith. As a scholar, Gerstner was unsuccessful, in part due to his
inability to achieve the objectivity toward his subject that modern academia
demands. He also had a tendency to lose sight of details, so that his books
were often marred by minor inaccuracies. In that sense, Gerstner was always
more of an advocate than a scholar.
As
a churchman, Gerstner was a faithful failure. Though faithful to his calling,
he was on the losing side of every denominational battle in which he played a
significant role. Gerstner’s theology was that of a prior generation, to which
his contemporaries in the PCUSA were unsympathetic.
However,
Gerstner excelled as a teacher and as an apologist for the Reformed faith. No
one who ever took one of Gerstner’s seminar classes will ever forget the intellectually
demanding, yet stimulating, character of those classes. As an apologist for the
Reformed faith, Gerstner will probably be remembered mostly as a result of the
influence of R. C. Sproul and Ligonier Ministries.
Gerstner was less widely known, and perhaps less
influential, than his contemporaries J. I. Packer and Carl F. H. Henry. But
particularly in conservative Reformed circles he made a contribution that will
live on through those who studied under him or had the privilege of hearing him
lecture.
