Hodge's distinguishing characteristic as a theologian was his power as a thinker. He had a mind of singular acuteness, and though never a professed student of
metaphysics, he was essentially and by nature a metaphysician. His theology was that of the
Reformed confessions. He had no peculiar views and no peculiar method of organizing
theological dogmas; in this he may be identified with his father, who claimed at the end of his life that he had taught and written nothing new. Though he taught the same theology that his father had taught before him, he was independent as well as reverent. His first book and that by which he is best known was his
Outlines of Theology (
New York City, 1860; enlarged ed., 1878; reprinted 1996, ), which was translated into
Welsh,
modern Greek, and
Hindustani.
The Atonement (
Philadelphia, 1867; reprinted 1989, ) is still one of the best treatises on the subject. This was followed by his commentary on the
Westminster Confession of Faith (1869, ), a very useful book, full of clear thinking and compact statement. He contributed some important articles to encyclopedias – Johnson's, McClintock and Strong's, and the
Schaff-Herzog (the Schaff-Herzog encyclopedia furnished the kernel from which this article developed). He was one of the founders of the
Presbyterian Review, to the pages of which he was a frequent contributor. ==Sermons==