William Greenough Thayer Shedd (June 21, 1820November 17, 1894), son of the Reverend Marshall Shedd and Eliza Thayer, was an American

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

theologian 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 ...

born in

Acton, Massachusetts Acton is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, approximately west-northwest of Boston along Massachusetts Route 2 west of Concord and about southwest of Lowell. The population was 24,021 in April 2020, according to the Unite ...

. In 1835, Shedd enrolled at the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is amon ...

, and became a protégé of UVM president James Marsh. Under the influence of his mentor, Shedd was deeply affected by the thought of

Samuel Taylor Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge (; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake ...

and

Transcendentalism Transcendentalism is a philosophical movement that developed in the late 1820s and 1830s in New England. "Transcendentalism is an American literary, political, and philosophical movement of the early nineteenth century, centered around Ralph Wald ...

. He graduated from UVM in 1839 and taught school for one year, during which time he began to attend the

church. Being called to the ministry, Shedd entered

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. ...

in 1840 and studied under theologian Leonard Woods. He graduated in 1843. After a short pastorate at

Brandon, Vermont Brandon is a town in Rutland County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,129. History On October 20, 1761, the town of Neshobe was chartered to Capt. Josiah Powers. In October 1784, the name of the town was chang ...

, he was successively professor of

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

at the University of Vermont (1845–1852), professor of sacred rhetoric in Auburn Theological Seminary (1852–1854), professor of

church history __NOTOC__ Church history or ecclesiastical history as an academic discipline studies the history of Christianity and the way the Christian Church has developed since its inception. Henry Melvill Gwatkin defined church history as "the spiritua ...

in Andover Theological Seminary (1854–1862), and, after one year (1862–1863) as associate pastor of the Brick Church of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, of sacred literature (1863–1874) and of systematic theology (1874–1890) in Union Theological Seminary. He died in New York City on November 17, 1894.Gomes, 17-18 Dr. Shedd was a high

Calvinist 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 Ca ...

and was one of the most notable systematic theologians of the American Presbyterian church. His great work was ''Dogmatic Theology'' (3 vols, 1888–1894). He served as editor of

Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge (; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake ...

's ''Complete Works'' (7 vols, New York, 1894). He also wrote:
''The Influence of Temperance Upon Intellectual Discipline: A Discourse Delivered Before the Temperance Society of the University of Vermont''
(1844) *''Lectures on the Philosophy of History'' (1856), in which he applied to history the doctrine of organic evolution *''Discourses and Essays'' (1856) *''A Manual of Church History'' (2 vols, 1857), a translation of Guericke *''A History of Christian Doctrine'' (2 vols, 1863) *''Homiletics and Pastoral Theology'' (1867) *''Sermons to the Natural Man'' (1871) *''Theological Essays'' (1877) *''Literary Essays'' (1878) *''Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans'' (1879) * ''Sermons to the Spiritual Man'' (1884) *''The Doctrine of Endless Punishment'' (1885)

References

External links

* * * 1820 births 1894 deaths American Calvinist and Reformed theologians 19th-century Calvinist and Reformed theologians University of Vermont alumni Andover Newton Theological School alumni Andover Newton Theological School faculty University of Vermont faculty Union Theological Seminary (New York City) faculty Auburn Theological Seminary faculty {{Christian-bio-stub