Frederick Augustus Rauch n Germany, Friedrich August Rauch(27 July 1806,

Hesse-Darmstadt The Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen-Darmstadt) was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by a younger branch of the House of Hesse. It was formed in 1567 following the division of the Landgraviate of Hesse betwee ...

- 2 March 1841,

Mercersburg, Pennsylvania Mercersburg is a borough in Franklin County, located near the southern border of Pennsylvania, United States. The borough is southwest of Harrisburg, the state capital. Due to its location in a rural area, it had a relatively large percentage ...

) was an educator and the founding president of Marshall College. He was a professor of

systematic theology Systematic theology, or systematics, is a discipline of Christian theology that formulates an orderly, rational, and coherent account of the doctrines of the Christian faith. It addresses issues such as what the Bible teaches about certain topi ...

and is often credited as the originator of Mercersburg Theology, although

Philip Schaff Philip Schaff (January 1, 1819 – October 20, 1893) was a Swiss-born, German-educated Protestant theologian and ecclesiastical historian, who spent most of his adult life living and teaching in the United States. Biography Schaff was born ...

and

John Williamson Nevin John Williamson Nevin (February 20, 1803June 6, 1886), was an American theologian and educationalist. He was born in the Cumberland Valley, near Shippensburg, Franklin County, Pennsylvania. He was the father of noted sculptor and poet Blanche Nevi ...

were more integral in the development of its views.

Biography

He graduated from the

University of Marburg The Philipps University of Marburg (german: Philipps-Universität Marburg) was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Protestant university in the wor ...

, afterward studied at

Giessen Giessen, spelled Gießen in German (), is a town in the German state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen. The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 univers ...

and

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

, and became extraordinary professor at the University of Giessen. He was appointed to a full professorship at the University of Heidelberg at twenty-four years of age. "Such an appointment at so early an age has to my knowledge only once been repeated in this century, viz., in the case of Friederich Nietzsche, who is considered the profoundest philosophical thinker of modern Germany". He fled from Germany on account of a public expression of his political views, and landed in the United States in 1831. He learned English in

Easton, Pennsylvania Easton is a city in, and the county seat of, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city's population was 28,127 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Easton is located at the confluence of the Lehigh River, a river tha ...

, where he gave lessons on the

pianoforte The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

, and was for a short time professor of German in

Lafayette College Lafayette College is a private liberal arts college in Easton, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter and other citizens in Easton, the college first held classes in 1832. The founders voted to name the college after General Laf ...

. He was then chosen as principal of a classical school that had been established by the authorities of the

German Reformed Church German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

York, Pennsylvania York ( Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Yarrick''), known as the White Rose City (after the symbol of the House of York), is the county seat of York County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in the south-central region of the state. The populati ...

. A few months later, he was ordained to the ministry and appointed professor of biblical literature in the theological seminary at York, while retaining charge of the academy, which in 1835 moved to Mercersburg. Under his management, the school flourished, and in 1836 was transformed into Marshall College, of which he became the first president. Rauch died on 2 March 1841. He was buried in Mercersburg; however, his remains were later moved to

Lancaster, Pennsylvania Lancaster, ( ; pdc, Lengeschder) is a city in and the county seat of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It is one of the oldest inland cities in the United States. With a population at the 2020 census of 58,039, it ranks 11th in population amon ...

Writings

Learned in

German philosophy German philosophy, here taken to mean either (1) philosophy in the German language or (2) philosophy by Germans, has been extremely diverse, and central to both the analytic and continental traditions in philosophy for centuries, from Gottfried W ...

and theology, especially Hegelian thought, Rauch's particular contribution was the writing of his book ''Psychology: Or, A View of the Human Soul; Including Anthropology''. This was the first English exposition of

Hegelian philosophy Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (; ; 27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a German philosopher. He is one of the most important figures in German idealism and one of the founding figures of modern Western philosophy. His influence extends a ...

for an American audience.See E. Brooks Holifield, ''Theology in America: Christian thought from the Age of the Puritans to the Civil War'',

New Haven, CT New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,023 ...

: Yale University Press, 2003; p. 470. He left in an unfinished state works on "Christian Ethics" and "Aesthetics". A volume of his sermons, edited by Emanuel V. Gerhart, was published under the title ''The Inner Life of the Christian'' (Philadelphia, 1856).

Notes

References

* * Attribution * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rauch, Friedrich August 1806 births 1841 deaths German philosophers 19th-century German theologians German Christian theologians German male non-fiction writers 19th-century male writers Reformed Church in America members Presidents of Franklin & Marshall College University of Marburg alumni University of Giessen alumni Heidelberg University alumni German emigrants to the United States People from Mercersburg, Pennsylvania