Samuel Angus (27 August 1881 – 17 November 1943) was professor of New Testament and Church History at St Andrew's College in the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's ...

from 1915-43.

Early life

Angus was born near Ballymena, County Antrim, Ireland, the eldest son of John Cowan Angus, farmer, and his wife Sarah, née Harper. He studied at the Collegiate School, Ballymena, and won a scholarship to Queen's (University) College, Galway, receiving a B.A. in 1902 and an M.A. in 1903.Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 7, 1979
/ref> Angus then studied at Princeton Theological Seminary and Princeton University, gaining his PhD in 1906. He was appointed as a chaplain of the Scotch Church in Algiers, before being elected to St Andrew’s College, University of Sydney in 1915.

Career

Angus's outspoken views of Christian theology were criticized by the Presbyterian Church of Australia, leading to formal charges of

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 ...

. National Library of Australia website, Record ID:35007149
/ref> Angus was later acquitted of these charges after an investigation conducted by the Juridical Commission of the Church. Angus rejected many of the core traditional Christian beliefs, including the doctrine of the

Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God th ...

, the

Biblical inspiration Biblical inspiration is the doctrine in Christian theology that the human writers and canonizers of the Bible were led by God with the result that their writings may be designated in some sense the word of God. This belief is traditionally ass ...

, the virgin birth and bodily

resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. In a number of religions, a dying-and-rising god is a deity which dies and is resurrected. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions, whic ...

of Christ. Angus earned an M.A. at

Queen's College, Galway The University of Galway ( ga, Ollscoil na Gaillimhe) is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. A tertiary education and research institution, the university was awarded the full five QS stars for excellence in 201 ...

, and a second M.A. and a PhD from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

. He attended

Princeton Theological Seminary Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a private school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1812 under the auspices of Archibald Alexander, the General Assembly of t ...

, but did not complete a degree. He held a lectureship at

Hartford Theological Seminary The Hartford International University for Religion and Peace (formerly Hartford Seminary) is a private theological university in Hartford, Connecticut. History Hartford Seminary's origins date back to 1833 when the Pastoral Union of Connectic ...

from 1906 to 1910 and another in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

in 1912. Angus served as Visiting Professor of Education at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

from 1929 to 1931. Angus also spent some time as the Curator at

Nicholson Museum The Nicholson Museum was an archaeological museum at the University of Sydney home to the Nicholson Collection, the largest collection of antiquities in both Australia and the Southern Hemisphere. Founded in 1860, the collection spans the ancient ...

in Sydney.

Works

* Truth and Tradition: a Plea for Practical and Vital Religion and for Reinterpretation of Ancient Theologies, Sydney 1934 *The Mystery Religions and Christianity (1925)
The Religious Quests of the Graeco-Roman World: A Study in the Historical Background of Early Christianity
(June 1929), Biblo-Moser *The Sources of the First Ten Books of Augustine's De Civitate Dei (1906)
The Environment of Early Christianity
(1914), Studies in Theology C. Scribner ASIN: B00088EPA0 *What Is A Mystery Religion? (?)Republished: Kessinger Publishing, Language: English *Christianity and dogma (1933), Angus & Robertson ASIN: B00088YJZ6 *Forgiveness and life (Posthumously 1962); Chapters from an uncompleted book, "The Historical Approach to Jesus." Publisher: Angus and Robertson ASIN: B0007JN3FS *The koine: The language of the New Testament (1910) Princeton University Press ASIN: B0008BGFM8 *Man and the new order (1941), Angus and Robertson ASIN: B0007JZWKW *Religion in national life: Address to the University Association of Canberra, 6 October 1933 ASIN: B00088YJYW *Alms for oblivion: chapters from a heretic's life (1943), Angus and Robertson

Family

Angus married Katherine Duryea in 1907; they had no children.

References

External links