Augustus Hopkins Strong (3 August 1836 – 29 November 1921) was a
Baptist
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...
minister and theologian who lived in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His most influential book, ''Systematic Theology'', proved to be a mainstay of Baptist theological education.
Early life and education
Augustus Hopkins Strong was born on August 3, 1836, in
Rochester, New York
Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...
.
He was a descendant of "Elder John Strong, of Northampton, Massachusetts."
[ His grandfather was a "physician of considerable eminence", who moved from ]Warren, Connecticut
Warren is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 1,351 at the 2020 census. The town was named for Revolutionary War General Joseph Warren.
On July 1, 2006, businessman Joseph Cicio placed most of Warren's com ...
, to Scipio, New York
Scipio is a town in Cayuga County, New York, United States. The population was 1,713 at the 2010 census. Scipio is centrally located in the southern half of the county, south of Auburn.
History
Scipio was part of the Central New York Military T ...
, in 1799, then to Rochester in 1821. His father, Alvah Strong, was the printer of such early Rochester newspapers as the ''Anti-Masonic Enquirer'', the ''Morning Advertiser'', and the ''Weekly Republican'', before becoming the longtime proprietor of '' The Daily Democrat''. Both his father and eldest uncle were deacons of the First Baptist Church of Rochester, and helped found the Rochester Theological Seminary (RTS), in 1850, the institution over which he would later preside.[ RTS would later become ]Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School
Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School is a Baptist seminary in Rochester, New York It is affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA.
History 1820s-1960: Early history
Four Baptist institutions merged over the course of the 19th and 20t ...
.
Strong's younger brother, Henry A. Strong
Henry Alvah Strong (August 30, 1838 – July 26, 1919) was an American photography businessman. He was the first president of the Eastman Kodak Company.
Early life and family
Henry Strong was born on August 30, 1838 in Rochester, New York. He g ...
, was a successful businessman and philanthropist who served as Eastman Kodak
The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...
's first president. His youngest uncle became a Forty-niners in the California Gold Rush, after losing both his wife and infant son. A first cousin twice removed, Theodore C. Achilles would later become a diplomat, another such cousin would marry Margaret Woodbury Strong, and a niece would marry George R. Carter
George Robert Carter (December 28, 1866 – February 11, 1933) was the second Territorial Governor of Hawaii, serving from 1903 to 1907.
Early life
Carter was born December 28, 1866, in Honolulu. His mother was Sybil Augusta Judd (1843–1906), ...
.
After Strong graduated from Yale College
Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...
in 1857, he took a year to travel Europe, before he began his theological studies at RTS
RTS may refer to:
Medicine
* Rape trauma syndrome, the psychological trauma experienced by a rape victim
* Revised Trauma Score, a system to evaluate injuries secondary to violent trauma
* Rubinstein–Taybi syndrome, a condition characterized by ...
.
Career
In August 1861, Strong was named pastor of First Baptist Church, Haverhill, Massachusetts
Haverhill ( ) is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. Haverhill is located 35 miles north of Boston on the New Hampshire border and about 17 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. The population was 67,787 at the 2020 United States Cen ...
. After his four-year pastorate there, became pastor of First Baptist Church, Cleveland, OH
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
, from 1865 to 1872, and thereafter became president of RTS
RTS may refer to:
Medicine
* Rape trauma syndrome, the psychological trauma experienced by a rape victim
* Revised Trauma Score, a system to evaluate injuries secondary to violent trauma
* Rubinstein–Taybi syndrome, a condition characterized by ...
.[.]
It was during his time as president that he wrote his ''Systematic Theology'', which was the main textbook of Protestant seminaries in North America. He received honorary doctorates from the Universities of Rochester
Rochester may refer to:
Places Australia
* Rochester, Victoria
Canada
* Rochester, Alberta
United Kingdom
*Rochester, Kent
** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area
** History of Rochester, Kent
** HM Prison ...
, Alfred
Alfred may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
*''Alfred J. Kwak'', Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series
* ''Alfred'' (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne
* ''Alfred'' (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák
*"Alfred (Interlu ...
, Brown
Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model used ...
, Bucknell, Princeton
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nine ...
, and Yale
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...
.
Personal life
Strong was married, and his eldest son was the American psychologist and philosopher, Charles A. Strong.
He died on Tuesday, November 29, 1921 in Pasadena, California
Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district.
I ...
, after which his body was returned to Rochester, where he was laid to rest in the week following, at Mount Hope Cemetery on December 5, in his family's vault, after laying in state in Alvah Strong Hall at the Seminary. Among others, Strong was eulogized by Rush Rhees, then president of the University of Rochester, and by Clarence A. Barbour, a succeeding president of the Seminary.[
]
Theology
Strong held a form of inclusivism
Inclusivism is one of several approaches in religious studies, anthropology, or civics to understand the relationship between different religions, societies, cultures, political factions etc. It asserts that there is beauty in the variety of di ...
, that is, he believed that some people from non-Christian religions actually believe in the one true God, the God revealed in the Bible. Thus, it was Strong's view that their faith in God—to the limits of their knowledge and their rejection of the religion around them—constituted "an implicit faith in Christ."
Selected works
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References
External links
Guide to the Augustus Hopkins Strong Papers, Yale University
Works by A. H. Strong at CCEL
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Strong, Augustus Hopkins
1836 births
1921 deaths
Heads of universities and colleges in the United States
Baptist ministers from the United States
American Baptist theologians
Baptist writers
Religious leaders from Rochester, New York
Yale College alumni
Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School alumni
Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School faculty
Baptists from New York (state)