Old Princeton and Missions

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

I am always intrigued when I read the writings of those missionaries from previous generations, especially the pioneering sort. Where did they instill their initial drive and sustaining perseverance? Without a doubt, they were first and foremost men and women who did not count their lives as precious, only that they finished the work God had given them. But what of their upbringing, education, peers, teachers, and mentors? Were any of those factors?

Many had parents/guardians who shaped them (John Paton and Amy Carmichael being two good examples). This made the concept of leaving behind home and family for the glory of the King was assigned pre-eminent value. Others were impacted by a forerunner in missions. The most impactful was David Brainerd.¹ His biography and writings arrested men like William Carey, Robert Morrison, and Henry Martyn, eventually guiding them to faraway lands. It’s actually quite common to read about the role of institutions and their key leaders in shaping many for missions.

The missions heritage of old Princeton

Recently, I have been incredibly blessed to come across the radical nature of Princeton Seminary concerning missions. Some of you are likely as unaware of Princeton’s missions heritage (as I was just a few months ago). 200 years ago, Princeton was the jewel of theological education in the English-speaking world. Princeton today, like so many other institutions, has lost all semblance of orthodoxy. But in its day, it was the school that all others were measured by. It was the most known, trusted, and respected theological school of the 19th century.  

Luminaries like B.B. Warfield², James Boyce³, Jonathan Edwards⁴, J. Gresham Machen⁵, and so many others were professors and/or students at this venerable institution. There was a startling fact about Princeton Seminary missions. In its prime, 1 in 3 of its graduates was heading out to be involved in serious long-term missions!⁶

I must confess that I didn’t stumble on Princeton initially by my own investigation. At the recent Radius Conference, Jonathan Master, President of Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, led one of the breakouts titled Training Missionaries at Old Princeton. Master laid out why missions were a resounding theme in Old Princeton.

A nursery for missionaries.

When Princeton was formed, one of the stated pillars of Princeton was to be a “nursery for missionaries.” Student-led groups got together to pray for one another. And they would pray that God would lead some to missions. There was another group called “The Society of Inquiry.” They would go over logistical issues in reaching far away countries and language data. And they worked steadily to gather a library of books that could aid those students setting out to be missionaries.

They would write to missionaries on the field asking for information on their field of service and ways to pray for their work on the ground. In short, the faculty of old Princeton made missions a primary topic of discussion and study. The students caught what the professors made primary, resulting in over one-third graduating and moving to places where no church existed. Oh, for God to raise up more seminaries, Bible schools, and colleges with Princetonian values in our day!

However, most who will read this article will not be faculty members at a Christian institution of higher education. But we can take two primary applications from the Princeton model and see it well applied to churches today.  

Application #1: Making missions primary helps the church. 

David Livingston was the famous missionary to Africa. He once remarked, “The best remedy for a sick church is to put it on a missionary diet.” Many might expect such words to come from a missionary. But to hear that from the faculty and staff of the leading seminary is another matter. There exists today, as in earlier days, a fear that if a church or seminary pushes too hard on missions, the building projects won’t get done, the giving won’t be able to support what may happen, some who are needed for ministry at home will end up going. This is a common fear of many pastors that usually goes unvoiced.

The problem with this fear is that it views the task of missions through man-centered eyes. If the task of spreading the gospel were conjured up and led by the church and its leadership, then they would be right to hold back resources, not speak about it from the pulpit, and generally tamp the entire enterprise down.

Putting the Great Commission first

But, if the commission Jesus gave to His followers remains, then the God of all grace has stamped His name on this task. He must bring the sheep of other sheep pens (John 10:16). They have yet to hear his voice, and this voice—this appeal for the gospel—comes through God’s ambassadors as though God himself was making his appeal through men (2 Corinthians 5:20).

The church, the school, or the seminary that puts the commission of the God of heaven and earth above endowments, above building plans, above succession plans will find that it is working in harmony with the heart of our God. Oh, to be known as a church that is a “nursery for missionaries!” Such a church has sister congregations around the world that were birthed because of people sent from that local church. On the last day, the glory accorded to those pastors and congregations will be something to behold.

Application #2: Missions must be championed from the front. 

The astounding legacy of Princeton can be measured in what its graduates gave their lives for. But most graduates didn’t go into the seminary with missions in mind; they caught it from the institution’s leaders. Men like Archibald Alexander, Charles Hodge, and Samuel Miller led from the front.

Listen to James W. Alexander as he talked to the seminary students about “calling” in missions. He says, “Candidates for the sacred office (church pastor) are too much accustomed to think, ‘I will prepare myself to serve God as a preacher in my native land, and if I should be specially moved, and loudly called, I will become a foreign missionary.’ Here, there is altogether an error, and an error so great, that we need not be surprised to find him who harbors it, as really unfitted for the ministry at home, as he supposes himself to be for the ministry abroad.”⁷

Catch what he’s saying. If you think you need a special call to go into missions, you’re unsuited for ministry in your home country. This is coming from the leadership!

Pastors must lead in missions

No amount of zeal from a young person and no depth of history from a missions committee will make up for the leading pastor/teacher of the church leading the flock into long-term missions. If the pastor isn’t “into it,” it won’t happen. There might be the proverbial missions weekend and an offering for some overseas cause, but there will be scant few who give up their futures to go to the nations unless the church leadership genuinely leads it from the front.

I don’t mean that every Sunday is a Matthew 28 or Acts 1 message. I mean the burden of reaching those with no access to the gospel is clearly and regularly put before the congregation. The book reading is tailored so missions is in the mix (good biographies to start with). Young people are taken to the right conference, exposed to missions regularly, and given a chance to see what it might be like to consecrate their lives in the task of cross-cultural church planting. Oh, for church leadership that fearlessly leads in missions!

The lessons from Old Princeton are too good not to be retold.⁸ Today, Princeton is most often spoken of concerning its theological acumen and well-known graduates who changed the course of the English-speaking world. But when the King does the final accounting of this school someday, a far greater legacy in foreign tongues will likely dwarf what is presently known. May God raise up more like her for his glory to the ends of the earth.

©2023, 2025 Brooks Buser. Used with permission.

1. One of my favorite resources on Brainerd is: Five Pioneer Missionaries, (The Banner of Truth Trust, Edinburgh, UK, 2016) ↩︎
2. His book, Inspiration and Authority of the Bible is a wonderful defense of the infallibility of the Scriptures. ↩︎
3. The founder and first president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary ↩︎
4. His sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” was key to the First Great Awakening. ↩︎
5. His book, Christianity and Liberalism is still powerfully applicable today. ↩︎
6. David B. Calhoun, Princeton Seminary, 1812-1868, Volume 1, (The Banner of Truth Trust, Edinburgh, UK, 1994). Pg 406 ↩︎
7. Rev. James W. Alexander, “Considerations on Foreign Missions: Addressed to Candidates For the Holy Ministry” Leopold Classic Library, pg. 125-126 ↩︎
8. David B. Calhoun’s 2 volumes by Banner of Truth are easy to read and digest. A great place to start. ↩︎