He had been tried (but not convicted) for heresy in 1836, mostly due to the views he expressed in Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Epistle to the Romans (1834) of the imputation of the sin of Adam, original sin and the atonement; the bitterness stirred up by this trial contributed towards widening the breach between the conservative and the progressive elements in the church.

[3] According to the Encyclopædia Britannica: "He was an eloquent preacher, but his reputation rests chiefly on his expository works, which are said to have had a larger circulation both in Europe and America than any others of their class.

The popularity of these works rested on how Barnes simplified Biblical criticism so that new developments in the field were made accessible to the general public.

The day he died, he spent the morning in the city, dined with us cheerfully as usual, and afterwards walked with my daughter about a mile and a quarter into the country, to visit some friends in deep affliction.

They reached the house, and he conversed for a few minutes, when he threw back his head, breathed rather heavily, and before the physician, who was immediately summoned, could arrive, he had passed away.

[10]The Presbyterian Historical Society in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has a collection of Barnes' original manuscripts, notes, sermons and lectures.