Edwin Lewis (1881–1959) was an American

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

theologian primarily associated with

Drew University Drew University is a private university in Madison, New Jersey. Drew has been nicknamed the "University in the Forest" because of its wooded campus. As of fall 2020, more than 2,200 students were pursuing degrees at the university's three scho ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. Born in

Newbury, Berkshire Newbury is a market town in the county of Berkshire, England, and is home to the administrative headquarters of West Berkshire Council. The town centre around its large market square retains a rare medieval Cloth Hall, an adjoining half timbere ...

, England, Lewis became a

Methodist local preacher A Methodist local preacher, also known as a licensed preacher, is a layperson who has been accredited by the Methodist Church to lead worship and preach on a frequent basis. With separation from the Church of England by the end of the 18th century ...

at the age of seventeen. In 1900 he traveled to

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

as a

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

before continuing his education in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. He eventually became a professor of theology at Drew. Lewis' early work demonstrates the influence of Boston personalism, a school of Protestant liberal theology widespread among Methodists during the first half of the 20th century, and British

idealism In philosophy, the term idealism identifies and describes metaphysical perspectives which assert that reality is indistinguishable and inseparable from perception and understanding; that reality is a mental construct closely connected to ide ...

. His book ''Jesus Christ and the Human Quest'' is an example of his early perspective. In the book, Lewis argues that the Christian faith has its foundation in the nature of persons and personhood. In 1929 he was named one of three editors of the ''Abingdon Bible Commentary''. While preparing the massive reference work, Lewis claimed to have "rediscovered the Bible" for himself. He reacted strongly to the 1931 report '' Re-Thinking Missions: A Laymen's Inquiry after One Hundred Years'', which he believed hampered the Christian missionary effort, in his article "The Re-thought Theology of the Re-thinking of Missions" which appeared in the ''

Christian Century ''The Christian Century'' is a Christian magazine based in Chicago, Illinois. Considered the flagship magazine of US mainline Protestantism, the monthly reports on religious news; comments on theological, moral, and cultural issues; and review ...

''. Growing more suspicious of the subjective theological liberalism of the day, he published ''A Christian Manifesto'' in 1934. In the book, Lewis railed against liberal theology (which he referred to as

modernism Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

), reasserting classical Christian themes such as the transcendence of God, the sinfulness of humankind, the

divinity of Christ In Christianity, Christology (from the Greek grc, Χριστός, Khristós, label=none and grc, -λογία, -logia, label=none), translated literally from Greek as "the study of Christ", is a branch of theology that concerns Jesus. Differ ...

, and the objective work of the atonement. Lewis wrote: "No statement of Christian belief which does not include a supernatural reference...is a true statement." He followed ''A Christian Manifesto'' with ''A Philosophy of Christian Revelation'' and ''The Creator and the Adversary'', both of which continued his reclamation of Christian orthodoxy from an

Arminian Arminianism is a branch of Protestantism based on the theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius (1560–1609) and his historic supporters known as Remonstrants. Dutch Arminianism was originally articulated in the ''Re ...

perspective. Lewis argued that God triumphs over evil by outsuffering and outloving his adversary. Lewis contributed sixty signed articles to the original edition of ''Harper's Bible Dictionary'' first published in 1952.Miller, Madeleine S. and J. Lane Miller (1952). ''Harper's Bible Dictionary'', p. vii. Lewis' work proved influential to an entire generation of Methodist theologians, notably Carl Michalson and Albert C. Outler.

Works

Books

* ''Jesus Christ and the Human Quest''. New York, NY: The Abingdon Press, 1924.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Edwin 1881 births 1959 deaths 20th-century Protestant theologians American Christian theologians Arminian theologians

Lewis Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...