George Mish Marsden (born 1939) is an American

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

who has written extensively on the interaction between

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

and

American culture The culture of the United States of America is primarily of Western, and European origin, yet its influences includes the cultures of Asian American, African American, Latin American, and Native American peoples and their cultures. The U ...

, particularly on Christianity in American

higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completi ...

and on

American evangelicalism In the United States, evangelicalism is a movement among Protestant Christians who believe in the necessity of being born again, emphasize the importance of evangelism, and affirm traditional Protestant teachings on the authority as well as the ...

. He is best known for his award-winning biography of the

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

clergyman Jonathan Edwards, a prominent theologian of

Colonial America The colonial history of the United States covers the history of European colonization of North America from the early 17th century until the incorporation of the Thirteen Colonies into the United States after the Revolutionary War. In the ...

Biography

Marsden was born on February 25, 1939, in

Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the List of c ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. He attended

Haverford College Haverford College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Haverford, Pennsylvania. It was founded as a men's college in 1833 by members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), began accepting non-Quakers in 1849, and became coeducational ...

Westminster Theological Seminary Westminster Theological Seminary is a Protestant theological seminary in the Reformed theological tradition in Glenside, Pennsylvania. It was founded by members of the faculty of Princeton Theological Seminary in 1929 after Princeton chose to t ...

, and

Yale University 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 wo ...

, completing a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...

degree in American history under

Sydney E. Ahlstrom Sydney Eckman Ahlstrom (1919–1984) was an American historian. He was a Yale University professor and a specialist in the religious history of the United States. Biography Ahlstrom was born on December 16, 1919, in Cokato, Minnesota, the son ...

. He taught at

Calvin College Calvin University, formerly Calvin College, is a private Christian university in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Founded in 1876, Calvin University is an educational institution of the Christian Reformed Church and stands in the Reformed (Calvinist) ...

(1965–1986),

Duke Divinity School The Divinity School at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, is one of ten graduate or professional schools within Duke University. It is also one of thirteen seminaries founded and supported by the United Methodist Church. It has 39 regular ...

(1986–1992), and as Francis A. McAnaney Professor of History at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

(1992–2008). As of 2017 Marsden is

Emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

Professor of History at the University of Notre Dame. His former doctoral students include

Diana Butler Bass Diana Butler Bass (born February 19, 1959) is an American historian of Christianity and an advocate for progressive Christianity. She is the author of eleven books, many of which have won research or writing awards. Bass earned a PhD in re ...

Matthew Grow Matthew J. Grow (born 1977) is an American historian specializing in Mormon history. Grow authored a biography of Thomas L. Kane, ''Liberty to the Downtrodden'' (2009), and co-authored a biography of Parley P. Pratt (2011), with Terryl Givens. ...

, Thomas S. Kidd,

Steven Nolt Steven M. Nolt (born 1968) is an American scholar who serves as Senior Scholar and Professor of History and Anabaptist Studies at the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College. The author of fifteen books, most of wh ...

, and

Rick Ostrander Richard Ostrander, known as Rick Ostrander, is an American historian and higher education leader. He serves as Vice President for Research & Scholarship at the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. Career After earning a PhD in history ...

. He was awarded the

Bancroft Prize The Bancroft Prize is awarded each year by the trustees of Columbia University for books about diplomacy or the history of the Americas. It was established in 1948, with a bequest from Frederic Bancroft, in his memory and that of his brother, ...

for his book ''Jonathan Edwards: A Life'' in 2004, the

Merle Curti Award The Merle Curti Award is awarded annually by the Organization of American Historians for the best book in American social and/or American intellectual history. It is named in honor of Merle Curti Merle Eugene Curti (September 15, 1897 – March ...

in 2004,Merle Curti Award Winners
" ''Organization of American Historians.''Accessed 18 Apr. 2020. and the

Grawemeyer Award The Grawemeyer Awards () are five awards given annually by the University of Louisville. The prizes are presented to individuals in the fields of education, ideas improving world order, music composition, religion, and psychology. The religion awa ...

in Religion in 2005.

Selected works

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References

Footnotes

Bibliography

* * * 1939 births 20th-century American historians American male non-fiction writers 20th-century Calvinist and Reformed Christians 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers 21st-century Calvinist and Reformed Christians American Calvinist and Reformed Christians American evangelicals American historians of religion Calvin University faculty Duke Divinity School faculty Harvard Divinity School faculty Haverford College alumni Historians from Pennsylvania History of the Thirteen Colonies Intellectual historians Living people Presidents of the American Society of Church History University of Notre Dame faculty Westminster Theological Seminary alumni Yale University alumni Bancroft Prize winners 20th-century American male writers {{US-historian-stub