©2005, University of Notre Dame Press, 220 pages in hardback.

He signed the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation.  He ratified the Constitution.  He was president of Princeton (at that time called the College of New Jersey at Princeton) for twenty-six years. His Lectures on Moral Philosophy were influential on many students who later became famous patriots and politicians in our fledgling nation.  He was an ardent Calvinist and clergyman who penned the introduction to the Presbyterian Constitution of l787.  He was a mentor to James Madison, although they had some differences in political thought.  With all these accomplishments, it is somewhat surprising that John Witherspoon’s name has been all but forgotten today.

Morrison’s book provides a good antidote to our culture’s amnesia about the man. This book is not a biography.  Rather, it centers on John Witherspoon’s influence on political thought prior to the War for Independence and afterwards in the formation of the American republic.

Morrison approaches his subject topically.  He examines Witherspoon’s belief in the importance of applying Christianity in the public realm.  This pastor strongly held to man’s depravity, God’s providence, and the right of clergymen to hold political office.  Simultaneously, he believed that civil government had a duty to protect religious minorities because God alone is lord of one’s conscience.

A chapter is devoted to the Princeton president’s influence as an educator both on campus and in the colonies. Witherspoon was devoted to Scottish realism.  He focused on “Common Sense” philosophy and experience as aids in making decisions.

This transplanted Scotsman’s roots grew deep and were at home in American soil. He soon became involved in the colonial struggle for freedom from England.  Influenced by John Calvin and also John Locke, he was quick to oppose the imposition of Anglican bishops on the colonies and other actions that he saw as political tyranny.  He was an able orator.  Perhaps, his most famous sermon of this era was, “The Dominion of Providence Over the Passions of Men.”  This message was a mixture of Christianity and Lockean political thought.  It was circulated widely and motivated many to fight for colonial independence.  Witherspoon adequately welded these two strands of thought and moved back and forth between them throughout the oration.

Following the War’s conclusion, Witherspoon saw the need for a stronger central government, particularly for the purpose of national defense.  He was forward-thinking in desiring a country that would be capable of governing a growing nation as it developed westward.  Morrison details the influence of Presbyterian ecclesiastical structure on the Constitution’s authors as they developed a system for civil government in the new nation.

Witherspoon was not involved in the writing of the United States Constitution.  At that time, he was asked to help formulate the constitution for the American Presbyterian Church.  No doubt he saw the importance of a correct ecclesiastical structure being built on a practical constitution.  Although the Presbyterian denomination was one of several existent colonial denominations, it was very influential in public life.  Witherspoon promoted the necessity of religious training and its resultant morality for the support of a strong republic.

Morrison provides today’s readers with a valuable work on a colonial educator and political thinker.  Witherspoon lived out his Calvinism.  Whether or not one agreed with him, he sought to apply biblical principles to education, law, politics, and economics.  This is a reminder for today – Christianity is applicable to all areas of life, even public life.  It is a rebuke to moderns who are making ongoing efforts to remove Christian thought from every sphere.

We clearly see the openness toward Christian thought that existed in the colonies.  We also see the impact of Scot’s enlightenment thought that was intertwined with it.  This volume gives opportunity for us to reflect on what is being lost today in a society that restricts Christianity to one’s private thoughts.  The author concludes, and I believe rightly so, with a chapter on Witherspoon’s influential intellectual role in the development of the young country.  

Review ©2007 Byron Snapp, Hampton, Virginia