Henry Clay Vedder (February 26, 1853 – October 13, 1935)[1] was an American Baptist church historian, seminary professor, editor and theologian. Vedder authored numerous articles and twenty-seven books on church history and theology.
He was an editor at the New York Baptist newspaper The Examiner from 1876 to 1894 and the Baptist Quarterly Review from 1929 to 1935.[4]
In 1894, he became professor of church history at Crozer Theological Seminary in Upland, Pennsylvania, and served in that capacity until 1926.[5] After his retirement from the Crozer Theological Seminary, Vedder joined the editorial staff of the Chester Times newspaper in Chester, Pennsylvania. In addition to numerous articles, Vedder authored twenty-seven books.[6]
Vedder shifted from orthodoxy to evangelical liberalism and became the subject of criticism by fundamentalists in the 1920s. Between 1908 and 1912 Vedder began to embrace socialism, evolution and pragmatism, a new interpretation of the atonement, and salvation as both individual and social.[7] Vedder joined "social gospel" efforts with theologian Walter Rauschenbusch.[8]
Vedder was married to Minnie Lingham Vedder and together they had a son Edward Bright Vedder who became a U.S. Army physician and noted researcher of beriberi.[9]
Four generations of Vedders have attended the University of Rochester including Henry Clay Vedder's son, Edward Bright Vedder who graduated in 1898, his grandson Henry Clay Vedder II attended the school before graduating from George Washington University and his great grandson, Henry Clay Vedder III graduated in 1998.[11]
Bibliographyedit
Baptists and Liberty of Conscience (Cincinnati, J.R. Baumes, 1883)
A Short History of the Baptists (1891, revised edition 1897, new edition, 1907)
The Higher Criticism (1892)
The dawn of Christianity, or, Studies of the apostolic church, (Philadelphia, American Baptist Publication Society, 1894)
American Writers of To-Day (1894, new edition, 1910)
A History of the Baptists of the Middle States (1898)
^ abcHarkness, R.E.E. (1935). "Henry Clay Vedder". Church History. 4 (4): 305–306. doi:10.1017/S0009640700130197. S2CID 161490512. Retrieved October 21, 2018.
^Straub, Jeffrey Paul (2018). The Making of a Battle Royal: The Rise of Liberalism in Northern Baptist Life 1870-1920. Eugene, Oregon: Pickwick Publications. pp. 257–258. ISBN 978-1-5326-1666-2. Retrieved October 20, 2018.
^Hughey, Sam (1999). "Henry C. Vedder". The Reformed Reader. Retrieved October 6, 2016.
^Wills, George A. (2009). Southern Baptist Seminary 18559-2009. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-977412-8. Retrieved October 20, 2018.
^"Henry Clay Vedder: His Life & Thought". www.thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved October 20, 2018.
^Garrett, James Leo (2009). Baptist Theology: A Four-century Study. Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press. pp. 313–314. ISBN 978-0-88146-129-9. Retrieved October 20, 2018.
^Wilcox, Jeffrey A. (2013). Schleiermacher's Influences on American Thought and Religious Life, 1835-1920. Eugene, Oregon: Pickwick Publications. p. 139. ISBN 978-1-60608-005-4. Retrieved October 20, 2018.
^"Papers of Edward Bright Vedder". www.urmc.rochester,edu. Retrieved October 21, 2018.