MCGIFFERT, ARTHUR CUSHMAN
(4 March 1861, Sauquoit, NY- 25 February 1933, Dobbs Ferry, NY). Education: B.A., Western Reserve University, 1882; B.D., Union Seminary, NY, 1885; studied at Berlin, 1885- 86; Ph.D., Marburg, 1888. Career: professor, Lane Seminary, Cincinnati, OH, 1888-93; Professor of church history, Union Seminary, 1893-1927; president, Union Seminary, 1917-26; professor emeritus, 1927-33.
Grandson of a Scotch-Irish immigrant, Arthur Cushman McGiffert was one of the foremost leaders of American Christianity during the first third of the twentieth century. He was a controversial, but ultimately highly respected theologian, who came to maturity during the years of conflict between conservatism and modernity in Protestantism.
McGiffert was educated by leading theologians on both sides of the Atlantic. Philip Schaff was one of his teachers at Union, and in Germany he studied under G. Adolph Harnack, the leading historian of German Protestantism. From Harnack, who became a close friend, McGiffert developed an interest in editing and translating ancient Christian documents. In 1897 McGiffert published A History of Christianity in the Apostolic Age, an influential study of the early church. Widely respected by modernists, the book was condemned by conservatives, particularly because of a footnote in which McGiffert questioned whether Christ had intended the last supper as a perpetual Christian institution.
At the time McGiffert was a Presbyterian, and he was condemned by several presbyteries and assemblies. To avoid further conflict he withdrew from the church and became a Congregationalist-one indication of the degree to which the church had liberalized since the days when Congregationalists had shunned Horace Bushnell·. During the next three decades McGiffert wrote ten books and more than forty essays on topics as diverse as early Christianity, Martin Luther, and modem Protestant thought. He argued that religious "truth" is so conditioned by time that no creed or doctrine can exist forever. Like the early Pilgrim leader, John Robinson*, he held that "more light"--or at least different forms of light-would continue to influence Christian belief.
McGiffert was drawn to the Social Gospel, believing that Christianity was revealed most compellingly in contemporary social issues. He thought of Jesus as the grand exemplar of the Christian life and saw salvation as a social process. As president of Union Seminary, McGiffert was an effective fund-raiser, and he pioneered a close relationship between Union and Columbia University.
Bibliography
A: A History of Christianity in the Apostolic Age (New York, 1897); The Problem of Christian Creeds as Affected by Modern Thought (Buffalo, N.Y., 1901); Martin Luther (New York, 1911); Protestant Thought before Kant (London, 1911; New York, 1962); The Rise of Modern Religious Ideas (New York, 1915); A History of Christian Thought, 2 vols. (New York, 1932); Christianity as History and Faith (New York, 1934).
B: DAB 21, 527-29; DARB, 271-73; NCAB 24, 120; NIT 26 February 1933, 26; SH 7,114.
Grandson of a Scotch-Irish immigrant, Arthur Cushman McGiffert was one of the foremost leaders of American Christianity during the first third of the twentieth century. He was a controversial, but ultimately highly respected theologian, who came to maturity during the years of conflict between conservatism and modernity in Protestantism.
McGiffert was educated by leading theologians on both sides of the Atlantic. Philip Schaff was one of his teachers at Union, and in Germany he studied under G. Adolph Harnack, the leading historian of German Protestantism. From Harnack, who became a close friend, McGiffert developed an interest in editing and translating ancient Christian documents. In 1897 McGiffert published A History of Christianity in the Apostolic Age, an influential study of the early church. Widely respected by modernists, the book was condemned by conservatives, particularly because of a footnote in which McGiffert questioned whether Christ had intended the last supper as a perpetual Christian institution.
At the time McGiffert was a Presbyterian, and he was condemned by several presbyteries and assemblies. To avoid further conflict he withdrew from the church and became a Congregationalist-one indication of the degree to which the church had liberalized since the days when Congregationalists had shunned Horace Bushnell·. During the next three decades McGiffert wrote ten books and more than forty essays on topics as diverse as early Christianity, Martin Luther, and modem Protestant thought. He argued that religious "truth" is so conditioned by time that no creed or doctrine can exist forever. Like the early Pilgrim leader, John Robinson*, he held that "more light"--or at least different forms of light-would continue to influence Christian belief.
McGiffert was drawn to the Social Gospel, believing that Christianity was revealed most compellingly in contemporary social issues. He thought of Jesus as the grand exemplar of the Christian life and saw salvation as a social process. As president of Union Seminary, McGiffert was an effective fund-raiser, and he pioneered a close relationship between Union and Columbia University.
Bibliography
A: A History of Christianity in the Apostolic Age (New York, 1897); The Problem of Christian Creeds as Affected by Modern Thought (Buffalo, N.Y., 1901); Martin Luther (New York, 1911); Protestant Thought before Kant (London, 1911; New York, 1962); The Rise of Modern Religious Ideas (New York, 1915); A History of Christian Thought, 2 vols. (New York, 1932); Christianity as History and Faith (New York, 1934).
B: DAB 21, 527-29; DARB, 271-73; NCAB 24, 120; NIT 26 February 1933, 26; SH 7,114.