George Frederick Wright (January 22, 1838 – April 20, 1921) was an American

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...

and a professor at

Oberlin Theological Seminary Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest coeducational liberal arts college in the United States and the second oldest continuously operating coeducational institute of hi ...

, first of

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chris ...

language and literature (1881 – 1892), and then of "harmony of science and

revelation In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing of some form of truth or knowledge through communication with a deity or other supernatural entity or entities. Background Inspiration – such as that bestowed by God on the ...

" (until retirement in 1907). He wrote prolifically, publishing works in geology, history, and theology. Early in his career he was an outspoken defender of

Darwinism Darwinism is a theory of biological evolution developed by the English naturalist Charles Darwin (1809–1882) and others, stating that all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural selection of small, inherited variations tha ...

, and later in life he emphasised his commitment to a form of

theistic evolution Theistic evolution (also known as theistic evolutionism or God-guided evolution) is a theological view that God creates through laws of nature. Its religious teachings are fully compatible with the findings of modern science, including biologica ...

Biography

G. F. Wright was born in Whitehall, New York. He graduated from

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest coeducational liberal arts college in the United States and the second oldest continuously operating coeducational institute of highe ...

in 1859 and received an M.A. from Oberlin Theological Seminary in 1862. In 1887 he obtained a

D.D. A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ran ...

from

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

and an LL.D. from

Drury College Drury University, formerly Drury College and originally Springfield College, is a private university in Springfield, Missouri. The university's mission statement describes itself as "church-related". It enrolls about 1,700 undergraduate and grad ...

. He was made a Fellow of the

Geological Society of America The Geological Society of America (GSA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of the geosciences. History The society was founded in Ithaca, New York, in 1888 by Alexander Winchell, John J. Stevenson, Charles H. Hitch ...

in 1890. In 1861, during the Civil War, he served in the Union army for 5 months. He pastored

Congregational Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

churches in

Bakersfield, Vermont Bakersfield is a town in Franklin County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,273 at the 2020 census. Geography Bakersfield is located in southeastern Franklin County, bordered by Lamoille County to the southeast. Vermont Route 108 pas ...

(1861 – 1872) and

Andover, Massachusetts Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was settled in 1642 and incorporated in 1646."Andover" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th ed., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 387. As of th ...

(1872 – 1881). He then accepted a professorship of New Testament language and literature at Oberlin Theological Seminary. In 1892 he took a newly created professorship in "harmony of science and revelation". In 1907 he was made professor emeritus and retired on a

Carnegie Pension Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans in ...

. He also frequently lectured at the Lowell Institute. He was assistant geologist with the Pennsylvania Geological Survey in 1881 and 1882, and with the

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

from 1884 to 1892. He was president of the

Ohio Historical Society Ohio History Connection, formerly The Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society and Ohio Historical Society, is a nonprofit organization incorporated in 1885. Headquartered at the Ohio History Center in Columbus, Ohio, Ohio History Connect ...

from 1907 until shortly before he died. His geology interests took him all over the world — Alaska, Greenland, China, Mongolia, Manchuria, Siberia, Turkestan, and the Caucasus and Lebanon mountains — gathering original information for the books he published. Early in life, Wright arose as a leader of the

Christian Darwinists 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'' (Χρ� ...

. During his time pastoring in Andover, Wright developed a friendship with Christian Darwinist

Asa Gray Asa Gray (November 18, 1810 – January 30, 1888) is considered the most important American botanist of the 19th century. His ''Darwiniana'' was considered an important explanation of how religion and science were not necessarily mutually excl ...

, and encouraged him to publish more openly on his views harmonizing their common evangelical

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 C ...

faith with the new biology and geology. He also helped edit Gray's collection of essays, '' Darwiniana''. Wright apparently believed that humanity might still be an act of

special creation In creationism, special creation is a belief that the universe and all life in it originated in its present form by fiat or divine decree. Catholicism uses the phrase "special creation" in two different senses: * in the context of theistic evolu ...

, but he otherwise taught that the biblical creation stories were meant to teach theological truths, and thus should not be expected to reveal scientific knowledge. However, after a crisis of faith in the 1890s brought on by

Charles Augustus Briggs Charles Augustus Briggs (January 15, 1841 – June 8, 1913), American Presbyterian (and later Episcopalian) scholar and theologian, was born in New York City, the son of Alanson Briggs and Sarah Mead Berrian. He was excommunicated from the Presby ...

higher criticism Historical criticism, also known as the historical-critical method or higher criticism, is a branch of criticism that investigates the origins of ancient texts in order to understand "the world behind the text". While often discussed in terms of ...

, he readjusted his views on origins to line up more closely with a literalist reading of the biblical creation stories. In his later writings, including the chapter he wrote for ''

The Fundamentals ''The Fundamentals: A Testimony To The Truth'' (generally referred to simply as ''The Fundamentals'') is a set of ninety essays published between 1910 and 1915 by the Testimony Publishing Company of Chicago. It was initially published quarterly in ...

'', he accepted geologic time, but argued that human origins required divine intervention, and that biological variation extending to form new species would be evidence of design. He stated "By no stretch of legitimate reasoning can Darwinism be made to exclude design. Indeed, if it should be proved that species have developed from others of a lower order, as varieties are supposed to have done, it would strengthen rather than weaken the standard argument from design." That is, he subscribed to

Bibliography

*
Logic of Christian Evidences
' (Andover, 1880) *
Studies in Science and Religion
' (1882) *
An Inquiry concerning the Relation of Death to Probation
' (Boston, 1882) *
The Divine Authority of the Bible
' (1884) * ''The Glacial Boundary in Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky'' (Cleveland, 0., 1884) *
The Ice Age in North America, and its Bearings upon the Antiquity of Man
' (New York, 1889; 5th ed., 1911) * ''Charles Grandison Finney'' (Boston, 1891

*
Man and the Glacial Period
' (New York, 1892) * ''Greenland Icefields and Life in the North Atlantic'' (1896) *
Scientific Aspects of Christian Evidences
' (1898) * ''Asiatic Russia (1902) *
Scientific Confirmations of Old Testament History
' (Oberlin, 0., 1907) *
Early Man: How to Promote Peace in a Family
' *
Origin and Antiquity of Man
' (1912) *
The Mosaic Authorship Of The Pentateuch
, in '' The Fundamentals: A Testimony to the Truth'', Chapter 2. *
The Testimony of the Monuments to the Truth of the Scriptures
in ''The Fundamentals: A Testimony to the Truth'', Chapter 16. *
The Passing of Evolution
, In ''The Fundamentals: A Testimony to Truth'', Chapter 69. * Many articles in ''

Bibliotheca Sacra ''Bibliotheca Sacra'' (colloquially referred to as "BibSac") is a theological journal published by Dallas Theological Seminary, first published in 1844 and the oldest theological journal in the United States. It was founded at Union Theological ...

'' Edited: * ''

'' (1884 – c. 1920) * ''Records of the Past'' (1905 – c. 1920)

Notes

References

*
Wright, George Frederick
, Christian Classics Library, 1907 * G.F. Wright,

", ''Representative Citizens of Ohio: Memorial-Biographical'', 1917. * Peter Collopy,
Darwiniana
, Everything2 * Ron Numbers, "George Frederick Wright: From Christian Darwinist to Fundamenalist", ''Isis'' 79(1988):624–645. * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, George Frederick 1838 births 1921 deaths American Christian writers Oberlin College alumni Brown University alumni American geologists Fellows of the Geological Society of America Theistic evolutionists