John Hassler Dietrich (1878–1957) was a Unitarian minister, born at

Chambersburg Chambersburg is a borough in and the county seat of Franklin County, in the South Central region of Pennsylvania, United States. It is in the Cumberland Valley, which is part of the Great Appalachian Valley, and north of Maryland and the Mas ...

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, ...

, is called the "Father of Religious Humanism".Mason Olds, ''American Religious Humanism'' (Fellowship of Religious Humanists 1996) Chapter 4: John H. Dietrich: The Father of Religious Humanism, p 53 He was educated at

Franklin and Marshall College Franklin & Marshall College (F&M) is a private liberal arts college in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It employs 175 full-time faculty members and has a student body of approximately 2,400 full-time students. It was founded upon the merger of Frankli ...

and at the

Lancaster Theological Seminary Lancaster Theological Seminary is a seminary of the United Church of Christ in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1825 by members of the German Reformed Church in the United States to provide theological education for prospective clergy an ...

in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, ordained in the ministry of the

Reformed Church Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Cal ...

in 1905, and defrocked in 1911 for failing to affirm primary

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

beliefs. His religious development evolved to

Humanism Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humani ...

and

Unitarianism Unitarianism (from Latin ''unitas'' "unity, oneness", from ''unus'' "one") is a nontrinitarian branch of Christian theology. Most other branches of Christianity and the major Churches accept the doctrine of the Trinity which states that there i ...

, in which he served various

pastorate A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

s, including First Unitarian Society of

Spokane Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Ca ...

(1911-1916), and then First Unitarian Society of

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

(1916-1938). He retired to

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...

, where he died. He is buried in the crypt of

First Unitarian Church of Chicago The First Unitarian Church of Chicago is a Unitarian Universalist ("UU") church in Chicago, Illinois. Unitarians do not have a common creed and include people with a wide variety of personal beliefs, and include atheists, agnostics, deists, mo ...

. He was the author of: * ''The Gain for Religion in Modern Thought'' (1908) * ''The Religion of a Sceptic'' (1911) * ''Substitutes for the Old Beliefs'' (1914) * ''From Stardust to Soul'' (1916) * ''The Religion of

Evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

'' (1917) * ''The Religion of Humanity'' (1919) * ''The Fathers of Evolution'' (1927)

External links

John Hassler Dietrich UUAJohn H. Dietrich: Religion Without God?HUUmanistsThe Founding of the Humanist Church and the History of Religious HumanismDietrich's Sermons at First Unitarian Society of Minneapolis
- Ongoing Archiving Project to Digitize all of Dietrich's Addresses *https://www.amazon.com/Douglas-Kenneth-Peary/e/B001K8Z9P2 Editor ongoing of All the Dietrich Sermons "The Life and Teachings of John Hassler Dietrich, The Father of Modern Humanism.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dietrich, John H. 20th-century Christian clergy American theologians 1957 deaths 1878 births Franklin & Marshall College alumni People from Chambersburg, Pennsylvania Religious naturalists American Unitarian clergy American humanists 20th-century American clergy

See also

External links

References