Archibald Alexander Books: A Guide to All 8 and Where to Start
Christian LifeSermonsApologeticsBible StudyChurch HistoryBiography
Archibald Alexander (1772–1851) was the first professor of Princeton Theological Seminary, and he wrote for two kinds of readers: the young ministers he trained and the ordinary Christians they would serve. TheWay Library has eight of his books, all free to read. Three feed the heart: a classic on Christian experience, a volume of sermons and a collection of short tracts. Two defend the Bible, and one retells the whole history of Israel. One tells the story of the revival preachers of the Log College, and one is a family memorial of a young minister's wife, made with her father and husband. For his life story, see who was Archibald Alexander.
Where to start
Start with Thoughts on Religious Experience. It's his best-known book and the one that shows his gift most clearly: wise, gentle, searching counsel about how God works in a soul.
After that, choose by what you want:
- Sermons to read at home: Practical Sermons.
- Short pieces, a few minutes each: Practical Truths.
- Why trust the Bible: Evidences of the Authenticity, Inspiration, and Canonical Authority of the Holy Scriptures.
- Which books belong in the Bible: The Canon of the Old and New Testaments Ascertained.
- The Bible story told straight through, for young readers: A History of the Israelitish Nation.
- Revival history: Biographical Sketches of the Log College.
- Comfort in grief, and counsel for children: A Memorial of Mrs. Margaret Breckinridge.
Every quotation below is checked against the book it comes from. For more, see our collection of Archibald Alexander quotes.
The Christian life
Thoughts on Religious Experience (1844)
Alexander's study of genuine Christian experience, from first impressions in childhood through the new birth, conflict, growth, backsliding and dying. He writes from long pastoral observation. He weighs what is true and false in religious feeling, and he explains how temperament, melancholy and the excitement of a crowd can color or counterfeit it. Later chapters gather the deathbed experiences of believers like Thomas Halyburton, Richard Baxter and Edward Payson, then close with preparation for death, a prayer for the dying, and counsels of the aged to the young. If you've ever asked whether your faith is real, this book is for you.
It is by faith that the spiritual life is made to grow; and the doctrine of free grace, without any mixture of human merit, is the only true object of faith.
Thoughts on Religious Experience, Growth in Grace
Read Thoughts on Religious Experience.
Practical Sermons (1850)
Thirty-seven sermons prepared near the end of his life to be read in families and small meetings. The order follows the way of salvation: the law that shows us our sin, the two great commandments, the person and work of Christ, the new birth, repentance, faith and adoption. Then come two searching sermons on the deceitfulness of the heart, and the rest feed the Christian life: love to Christ, returning to first love, waiting on the Lord, the benefits of affliction and Christ's invitation. It's a long book, so read it a sermon at a time.
Christ's righteousness is the only meritorious ground; and faith is merely the instrument of reception, or the bond which unites the soul to Christ.
Practical Sermons, The One Thing Needful
Practical Truths (1857)
More than fifty short tracts and articles, published by the American Tract Society after his death. Some plead with sinners ("Why Will Ye Die?"). Some comfort believers, on prayer, looking to Jesus and the peace of God. Others defend justification by faith, answer universalism, or tell stories of colporteurs selling Christian books on the frontier. Most pieces take only a few minutes, which makes it a good book for a short daily reading.
In prayer there is not only an outgoing of the soul to God, in acts of faith, love, and confidence, but there is an actual communication from God to the soul.
Practical Truths, Prayer a Privilege
The Bible
Evidences of the Authenticity, Inspiration, and Canonical Authority of the Holy Scriptures (1836)
A full defence of Christianity and the Bible, in its enlarged edition. Alexander begins with the right use of reason, then argues for the need of a revelation, the credibility of miracles, the rapid spread of the gospel, fulfilled prophecy and the Bible's internal marks of divine origin. The last third deals with inspiration and with which books belong in Scripture. It was written for students but is clear enough for any careful reader.
It is therefore a great mistake to suppose that religion forbids or discourages the right use of reason
Evidences of the Authenticity, Inspiration, and Canonical Authority of the Holy Scriptures, The Right Use of Reason in Religion
The Canon of the Old and New Testaments Ascertained (1826)
Alexander's study of which books belong in the Bible. He traces the Old Testament collection to Ezra, explains why the Apocrypha is excluded, gathers the early church's testimony for each New Testament book, and argues that no revelation has come down by unwritten tradition. This edition comes from a scan with many errors, especially in the Latin and Greek notes, so it's better for study than for easy reading.
We agree, in the general, that the Bible is the Word of God, and an authoritative rule; but the momentous question immediately presents itself, what belongs to the Bible?
The Canon of the Old and New Testaments Ascertained, Introduction: The Importance of Ascertaining the True Canon of Holy Scripture
Read The Canon of the Old and New Testaments Ascertained.
A History of the Israelitish Nation (1853)
One continuous history of Israel from the creation to the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70, written chiefly for the young. Alexander lifts the story out of the genealogies and ritual laws so it reads straight through: the patriarchs, Egypt and the exodus, the judges, the kings, the exile and return. Then he fills the gap between the Testaments from Josephus and other historians, with the Greek kingdoms, the Maccabees and the Herods, and notes where Daniel's prophecies came true. His preface says the parts were written at different times and that a young clergyman wrote the section on the kings.
The inspired penmen do not conceal the faults of the servants of God; but, with an impartial and faithful hand, their failings as well as their virtues are exhibited.
A History of the Israelitish Nation, Preface
It's a long book, best read a part at a time. Part V, on the years between the Testaments, is the most useful for Bible readers. Read A History of the Israelitish Nation.
History and memoir
Biographical Sketches of the Founder and Principal Alumni of the Log College (1845)
The story of William Tennent's simple school at Neshaminy, Pennsylvania, and the ministers it trained, men who led the Great Awakening among American Presbyterians. Gilbert Tennent gets four chapters, and his brother William's strange life, with his apparent death and his trial for perjury, gets several more. Shorter memoirs follow of Samuel and John Blair, Samuel Finley and others, often in their own words describing revival. Alexander wrote it hoping the churches of his day would remember what God had done:
Many pious people among us, are not aware that the ground on which they tread has, as it were, been hallowed by the footsteps of the Almighty. And who knows, but that prayers then offered in faith, remain yet to be answered?
Biographical Sketches of the Log College, Dedication
Read the Biographical Sketches of the Log College.
A Memorial of Mrs. Margaret Breckinridge (1839)
A family memorial of Margaret Breckinridge, wife of the minister John Breckinridge, who died at Princeton in her thirties and left young children. The book is a joint work, credited to Alexander together with her father, Samuel Miller, and her husband. Her husband explains in the introduction that grief and a demanding church office kept him from writing a memoir, so her parents wrote the sketch of her life and the letters to the children. He added chapters on her home and her long illness and some closing reflections on bereavement. There is a funeral sermon, "Submission," on "Be still, and know that I am God," and eight letters of counsel to her motherless children on the way of salvation, the Bible, prayer, reading and manners.
It will not be long until we shall be able to see, “that he hath done all things well.”
A Memorial of Mrs. Margaret Breckinridge, Submission
Read the sermon if you are grieving. The text comes from a scan and has misread words in places. Read A Memorial of Mrs. Margaret Breckinridge.
A book about Alexander
His son James W. Alexander wrote The Life of Archibald Alexander, drawing on his father's own recollections of his conversion in the Virginia revivals, his years in Virginia and Philadelphia, and his forty years at Princeton. See also our guide to James W. Alexander's books.
Why read Archibald Alexander today
Alexander joined a sharp mind to a pastor's heart. He could defend the Bible against its critics and then sit down with a troubled believer and talk about doubt, temptation and death with great tenderness. Begin with Thoughts on Religious Experience, then keep Practical Truths by you for short readings. All eight books are on the Archibald Alexander author page.