Benjamin Breckenridge (B.B.) Warfield died on February 16, 1921. He was a professor of theology at Princeton Seminary, considered to be one of the last great Princeton theologians before it split in 1929.
Warfield died in Princeton, New Jersey. After being serious ill since December 24, he finally felt able to resume his teaching in part and met one of his classes in the afternoon. He apparently suffered no immediate ill effects from the exertion but died that evening at about 10 o’clock of an acute attack of angina pectoris.
He wrote many books and articles, many of which expressed his passions to refute the liberal element within Presbyterianism and within Christianity at large. His books and articles are still widely read today.
Timeline of His Life
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 1851 | 11/5/1851 | Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield was born at “Grasmere,” near Lexington, Kentucky as the firstborn son to William and Mary Cabell (Breckinridge) Warfield. |
| 1852 | 4/7/1852 | Annie Pierce Kinkead, Warfield’s wife, was born in Lexington, Kentucky. |
| 1868 | Warfield entered the sophomore class of the College of New Jersey at Princeton in the autumn. | |
| 1869 | Warfield won the Thompson prize for the highest rank in the junior year, and prizes for essay and debate in the American Whig Society, and was one of the editors of the Nassau Literary Magazine. | |
| 1871 | Warfield graduated with the highest honors from Princeton College, at 19. | |
| 1871 | Warfield spent two years in foreign travel and in literary work. | |
| 1872 | Warfield sailed to Europe in February and spent time in Edinburgh and Heidelberg, where in midsummer he announced his decision to enter the Christian ministry. | |
| 1873 | September | Warfield entered Princeton Seminary / “Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church at Princeton.” |
| 1875 | Warfield was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Ebenezer (Kentucky). | |
| 1875 | Warfield was state supply of Concord Church, Kentucky. | |
| 1876 | May | Warfield graduated from Princeton Seminary. |
| 1876 | Warfield preached in Presbyterian churches in Concord, Kentucky and Dayton, Ohio as a “supply pastor.” | |
| 1876 | summer | Warfield was called by First Presbyterian Church in Dayton, Ohio to be their ordained minister (which he politely refused). |
| 1876 | 8/3/1876 | Warfield married Annie Pierce Kinkead. |
| 1876 | Warfield and his new wife moved to Germany where he studied under Christoph Ernst Luthardt and Franz Delitzsch at the University of Leipsic. | |
| 1876 | Annie Pierce Kinkead, Warfield’s wife, suffers damage to her nervous system from a servere thunderstorm in the Harz mountains in Leipzig, Germany and has health problems until her death. | |
| 1877 | late summer | Warfield was the assistant pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Baltimore, Maryland for about a year / a short time. |
| 1877 | Warfield was offered an appointment in the Old Testament Department at the Western Theological Seminary. | |
| 1878 | September | Warfield was appointed Instructor in New Testament Language and Literature at Western Theological Seminary, Allegheny, Pa., which is now called Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. |
| 1879 | 4/26/1879 | Warfield was ordained an evangelist by the Presbytery of Ebenezer. |
| 1879 | Warfield was installed as Professor of New Testament Exegesis and Literature, in Western Theological Seminary. | |
| 1880 | Warfield received the degree of D.D. from Princeton College / “Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon him by the College of New Jersey.” | |
| 1880 | Warfield’s first article appeared in The Presbyterian Review. | |
| 1881 | Warfield wrote a joint article with A. A. Hodge on the inspiration of the Bible. | |
| 1884 | Warfield and his wife travel to Belfast to attend the Pan Presbyterian Council. | |
| 1886 | Warfield’s work An Introduction to the Textual Criticism of the New Testament was published. | |
| 1886 | Archibald Alexander Hodge died in the autumn. | |
| 1887 | Warfield was appointed to the Charles Hodge Chair at Princeton Theological Seminary as principal and Charles Hodge Professor of Didactic and Polemic Theology, where he succeeded Hodge’s son A. A. Hodge—a position he held until 1902. | |
| 1888 | Warfield’s inaugural address, The Idea of Systematic Theology Considered as a Science, is published. | |
| 1889 | Warfield succeeded Dr. Francis L. Patton on the editorial staff of The Presbyterian Review. | |
| 1890 | Warfield planned and became the chief editor of The Presbyterian and Reformed Review, the successor to The Presbyterian Review, and continued to edit it until 1903, when it was succeeded in its turn by The Princeton Theological Review. | |
| 1890 | Warfield’s work On the Revision of the Confession of Faith was published. | |
| 1892 | Warfield received the degree of LL.D. / Doctor of Laws from Davidson College and Princeton College. | |
| 1893 | Warfield’s work The Gospel of the Incarnation was published. | |
| 1897 | Warfield’s work Two Studies in the History of Doctrine was published. | |
| 1897 | Warfield’s work The Right of Systematic Theology was published. | |
| 1898 | Warfield’s work The Significance of the Westminster Standards as a Creed was published. | |
| 1902 | Warfield’s work The Acts and Pastoral Epistles was published. | |
| 1903 | Several of Warfield’s sermons were published in The Power of God unto Salvation. | |
| 1907 | Warfield’s work The Lord of Glory: Study of the Designations of our Lord in the N. T., with Especial References to His Deity was published. | |
| 1909 | Warfield’s work Calvin as a Theologian and Calvinism Today was published. | |
| 1910 | Warfield’s work Hymns and Religious Verses was published. | |
| 1911 | Warfield received the degree of Litt.D. / Doctor of Letters from Lafayette College. | |
| 1911 | Warfield wrote The Religious Life of Theological Students. | |
| 1913 | Warfield received the degree of S. T. D. / Sacrae Theologiae Doctor from the University of Utrecht, Holland. | |
| 1914 | Warfield’s work The Saviour of the World was published. | |
| 1915 | 11/19/1915 | Warfield wife, Annie Pierce Kinkead, died. |
| 1915 | Warfield’s work The Plan of Salvation was published. | |
| 1915 | Warfield wrote an article entitled Calvin’s Doctrine of Creation. | |
| 1916 | Warfield’s work Faith and Life was published. | |
| 1917 | Warfield was the lecturer on the Smith Foundation at the Columbia, S. C., Theological Seminary. | |
| 1918 | Warfield’s work Counterfeit Miracles was published. | |
| 1918 | Warfield was the lecturer on the Smith Foundation at the Columbia, S. C., Theological Seminary. | |
| 1920 | Warfield was taken suddenly ill on Christmas Eve. His condition was serious for a time; but it improved very greatly. | |
| 1921 | 2/16/1921 | Warfield died in Princeton, New Jersey. After being serious ill since December 24, he finally felt able to resume his teaching in part and met one of his classes in the afternoon. He apparently suffered no immediate ill effects from the exertion but died that evening at about 10 o’clock of an acute attack of angina pectoris. |