Biography
Said of Dr. Hall in the Presbyterian Banner, on his resignation after thirty years at the pulpit of the church:
| “ | Rev John Hall, D.D., honored with the title "D.D." by Washington and Jefferson College, and with that of LL.D. by Princeton College, and Washington and Lee University, was born in County Armagh, Ireland, July 31, 1829; graduated from the Royal College, and the General Assembly's Theological College, both in Belfast, and was licensed to preach the Gospel in 1849. For the next three years he labored as a "Students' Missionary" in the west of Ireland. He began his regular ministry in 1852 as pastor of the First Presbyterian church of Armagh. In 1856, he went to Dublin as collegiate pastor of St. Mary's Abbey, and on Nov. 3, 1867, he was installed pastor of the Fifth Avenue church, New York, which he has served ever since. (for thirty years.) In college he was repeatedly Hebrew prizeman; and in Dublin his interest in education was so marked that he was appointed by the Queen, in 1860, a member of the Board of National Education, upon which he served gratuitously until he came to the United States. In 1867, he was a delegate from the Presbyterian Church of Ireland to the Presbyterian Church in this country. He was elevated chancellor of the University of New York in 1883, having already held that office ad interim but he served without salary.
Dr Hall has preached and delivered college addresses in almost every part of the United States and he has taken great interest in the Scots-Irish congresses. He is president of the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions, and has often ably advocated its claims before General Assemblies and elsewhere. He is a tireless worker in his study, the pastoral care, in attendance upon ecclesiastical and other meetings, and in all general educational and religious movements. He does not neglect his own congregation, but visits the families, calls upon his people in the counting room, in the stores, in the hotels, and at their boarding-houses, and has a word for each one. In conducting the services in his own church, he adheres closely to the old forms of Presbyterian worship in this land. When he reads the Bible, it is expected that all present will follow him closely by making use of the Bibles with which each pew is abundantly supplied, which is much better than the innovation of responsive reading, which unfortunately finds a place in some of our churches. His preaching is doctrinal, Scriptural, plain, incisive and earnest. His themes are the great gospel subjects and their faithful application to the heart and the life. Not only is Dr. Hall a preacher and a pastor, and one who takes an active part in all the great movements of the Church and the world, but he is also a well known and highly prized writer of newspaper articles and books. The readers of the Presbyterian Banner well know the terseness and vigor of his language, the appropriateness of his illustrations, and the force of his arguments. As a matter of course, we expect him to continue to write for us, as one of our assistant editors. He is author of "Family Prayers for Four Weeks;" "Papers for Home Reading;" "Familiar Talks to Boys;" "Questions of the Day;" "God's Word through Preaching:" "Lyman Beecher's Lectures at Yale Seminary:" "Foundation Stories for Young Builders, New Year's Book for Girls and Boys of America;" " A Christian Home, How to Make and How to Maintain It". His last book is entitled "A Light Unto My Path." |
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“Just how difficult it is to write biography can be reckoned by anybody who sits down and considers just how many people know the real truth about his or her love affairs.”
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