Welcome to Ulster Worldly, a blog about the history of Presbyterianism. Many of these stories come from my own family, many others come from my own denomination.

Tim Hopper
Raleigh, NC

Shorter Catechism Boys

B.B. Warfield: "It is worth while to be a Shorter Catechism boy. They grow to be men. And better than that, they are exceedingly apt to grow to be men of God."

B.B. Warfield: "It is worth while to be a Shorter Catechism boy. They grow to be men. And better than that, they are exceedingly apt to grow to be men of God."   Read More

Posted on by Tim Hopper

Petition in Blood

A young Korean man writes a plea for entry into Bible College in his own blood.

A young Korean man writes a plea for entry into Bible College in his own blood.   Read More

Posted on by Tim Hopper

Machen’s Autobiography of His Stand for Truth

An account of personal experiences may be interesting for one or two reasons: (1) because the writer is in some way remarkable; (2) because, not being at all remarkable, he may be able to set forth in a concrete way the experience of a considerable body of men.   Read More

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Uncle Joe Hopper

The curious story of Uncle Joe Hopper, Presbyterian revivalist and untrained minster.

The curious story of Uncle Joe Hopper, Presbyterian revivalist and untrained minster.   Read More

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Hart on Machen (Audio)

Update: In September 2022, the Reformed Forum released an updated course on Machen taught by Dr. Hart.

In 2010, Dr. Darryl Hart (OPC assistant historian and Machen scholar) taught a Sunday school series at Glenside Presbyterian Church on J. Gresham Machen about J. Gresham Machen and the founding of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. Camden Bucey of the Reformed Forum kindly recorded the whole series for posterity.1

Here are the lectures:

  1. J. Gresham Machen: Fighter of the Good Fight
  2. What Prepared Machen to Fight?
  3. Machen and the Crisis of Western Civilization
  4. Ecumenism and Intolerance
  5. Liberalism, the Different Religion
  6. The Fight Against False Optimism
  7. The Fight Against Tyranny
  8. The Fight Against Liberalism: Foreign Missions
  9. The Fight Against Sentimentality
  10. The Basis on Which Machen Fought: The Bible
  11. Assessing Machen

Hart’s book on Machen, Defending the Faith: J. Gresham Machen and the Crisis of Conservative Protestantism in Modern America, is similarly excellent.

  1. The quality of the recording on the first couple of lectures is poor, but the improve over time. ↩︎

Posted on by Tim Hopper

Dunlaps of Kentucky

My grandfather's brief history of his mother's family, the Dunlaps of Kentucky.

My grandfather's brief history of his mother's family, the Dunlaps of Kentucky.   Read More

Posted on by Tim Hopper