Henry Preserved Smith (October 12, 1847 – February 26, 1927) was an American biblical scholar. Smith was born in

Troy, Ohio Troy is a city in and the county seat of Miami County, Ohio, United States, located north of Dayton. The population was 26,305 at the 2020 census, making it the largest city in Miami County and the 55th largest city in Ohio; it is part of the Da ...

. He graduated at Amherst College in 1869 and studied

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

Lane Theological Seminary Lane Seminary, sometimes called Cincinnati Lane Seminary, and later renamed Lane Theological Seminary, was a Presbyterian theological college that operated from 1829 to 1932 in Walnut Hills, Ohio, today a neighborhood in Cincinnati. Its campus ...

in 1869–1872, in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

in 1872–1874 and in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

in 1876–1877. He was instructor in church history in 1874–1875, and in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

in 1875–1876, and was assistant-professor in 1877-1879 and professor in 1879-1893 of Hebrew and Old Testament

exegesis Exegesis ( ; from the Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Biblical works. In modern usage, exegesis can involve critical interpretation ...

in Lane Theological Seminary. In 1892 he was tried for

heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...

by the Presbytery of

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, was found guilty of teaching (in a pamphlet entitled ''Biblical Scholarship and Inspiration'', 1891) that there were "errors of historic fact," suppressions of "historic truths," etc., in the

Books of Chronicles The Book of Chronicles ( he, דִּבְרֵי־הַיָּמִים ) is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Chronicles) in the Christian Old Testament. Chronicles is the final book of the Hebrew Bible, concluding the third sec ...

, and that the "inspiration of the Holy Scriptures is consistent with the "unprofitableness of portions of the sacred writings," - in other words, that inspiration does not imply

inerrancy Biblical inerrancy is the belief that the Bible "is without error or fault in all its teaching"; or, at least, that "Scripture in the original manuscripts does not affirm anything that is contrary to fact". Some equate inerrancy with biblical i ...

- and he was suspended from the ministry. Smith retired from the denomination, and in 1893, upon becoming a professor at

Andover Theological Seminary Andover Theological Seminary (1807–1965) was a Congregationalist seminary founded in 1807 and originally located in Andover, Massachusetts on the campus of Phillips Academy. From 1908 to 1931, it was located at Harvard University in Cambridge. ...

, entered the ministry of the Congregational Church. From 1897 to 1906 he was a professor in Amherst College, and in 1907 became a professor in the

Meadville Theological School The Meadville Lombard Theological School is a Unitarian Universalist seminary in Chicago, Illinois. History Meadville Lombard is a result of a merger in the 1930s between two institutions, a Unitarian seminary and a Universalist seminary. M ...

. He published ''The Bible and Islam'' (1897), ''Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Books of Samuel'' (1899, in the "

International Critical Commentary The International Critical Commentary (or ICC) is a series of commentaries in English on the text of the Old Testament and New Testament. It is currently published by T&T Clark, now an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing. Initially started over one ...

") and ''Old Testament History'' (1903, in the "International Theological Library"). In ''Inspiration and Inerrancy'' (Cincinnati, 1893), he reprinted the papers on which the heresy charge was made, and outlined the case. His son was Preserved Smith.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Henry Preserved 1847 births 1927 deaths American biblical scholars Amherst College alumni Amherst College faculty Lane Theological Seminary alumni Leipzig University alumni People from Troy, Ohio

Further reading

External links