Pressing Toward the Mark: Essays Commemorating Fifty Years of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (1936-1986)

Pressing Toward the Mark is a widely varied collection of 30 essays published together to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. You'll rarely find a book quite like it, with articles on such an interesting range of subjects (church history, theology, apologetics, biography, missions, and more) and by such a list of fine scholars, pastors, and writers (Dennison, Gaffin, Clowney, Marsden, Bahnsen, and more). At 489 pages, it's packed with profitable and enjoyable reading and is more than worth its price. If you love the OPC or are just looking for some fine reading, this book is for you!

Part I, Foundations for Historic Presbyterianism 1. Thoughts on the Covenant, Charles G. Dennison 2. Two Offices and Two Orders of Elders, George W. Knight III 3. A Sabbath Rest Still Awaits the People of God, Richard B. Gaffin, Jr. 4. Presbyterianism and the Ancient Church, Richard C. Gamble 5. The Reformers' Rediscovery of Presbyterian Polity, Peter A. Lillback 6. The Westminster Assembly's Directory for Church Government, Wayne R. Spear 7. Distinctive Emphases in Presbyterian Church Polity, Edmund P. Clowney Part II, The American Presbyterian Experience 8. Transition to the New World, Samuel T. Logan, Jr. 9. Background and Significance of the Adopting Act of 1729, James R. Payton, Jr. 10. Jonathan Edwards and the New Divinity, 1758-1858, Allen C. Guelzo 11. The New School Heritage and Presbyterian Fundamentalism, George M. Marsden 12. Henry B. Smith: Theologian of New School Presbyterianism, John R. Wiers 13. Chicago Presbyterians and the Businessman's Religion, Paul H. Heidebrecht 14. John McNaugher and the Confessional Revision of 1925, James T. Dennison, Jr. Part III, Perspectives on the Orthodox Presbyterian Church 15.The Spirit of Old Princeton and the Spirit of the OPC, Mark A. Noll 16. Machen and Liberalism, D. Clair Davis 17. Machen, Van Til, and the Apologetical Tradition of the OPC, Greg L. Bahnsen 18. Perspective on the Division of 1937, George M. Marsden 19. The Battle over the Ordination of Gordon H. Clark, Michael A. Hakkenberg 20. Apologetics before and after Butler, Thomas M. Gregory 21. The Life and Death of a Dakota Church, David W. Kiester Part IV, The Mission of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church 22. Current Issues in Missions, Lawrence N. Vail 23. Taiwan and the Cross-Cultural Challenge, Lendall H. Smith 24. Where Are We Going in Missions?, Victor B. Atallah 25. The Ecumenical Vision of the OPC, John P. Galbraith 26. The Discussion of the Theology of the Diaconate, Leonard J. Coppes 27. Reflections on Professor John Murray, Lawrence Eyres 28. Wheaton College and the OPC, Edward L. Kellogg 29. The Church and the Harvest, James D. Phillips 30. A Backward Look with a Forward Perspective, David L. Neilands Part V, The Writings of J. Gresham Machen, 1881-1937 31. A Bibliography of the Writings of J. Gresham Machen, James T. Dennison, Jr., and Grace Mullen