Hodge, Charles

Charles Hodge (1797-1878) was a prominent American Presbyterian theologian and principal architect of Princeton Theology. As professor at Princeton Theological Seminary for over fifty years, he became one of the most influential Reformed theologians in nineteenth-century America. His systematic theology emphasized the authority of Scripture and defended traditional Calvinist orthodoxy against modernist trends. In "What is Darwinism?" (1874), Hodge famously argued that Darwinism was inherently atheistic because it excluded design and divine purpose from nature. While accepting the possibility of evolutionary change, he rejected Darwin's mechanism of natural selection as incompatible with theistic belief. His work significantly shaped American evangelical responses to evolutionary theory and contributed to ongoing debates about divine action in nature. Hodge's theological method, combining Scottish Common Sense philosophy with Reformed orthodoxy, profoundly influenced American Protestant thought on God's sovereignty and providence.