Thomas Smyth (June 14, 1808 – August 20, 1873) was an American Presbyterian minister. He served as minister of Second Presbyterian Church in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

for more than 40 years, from 1832 until his death. Smyth was born in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

and studied at Belfast College, graduating in 1829. He then emigrated with his family to the United States in 1830, and completed his studies at

Princeton Theological Seminary Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a Private university, private seminary, school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Establish ...

, graduating in 1831. He later received a

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (DD or DDiv; ) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity (academic discipline), divinity (i.e., Christian theology and Christian ministry, ministry or other theologies. The term is more common in the Englis ...

degree from Princeton also. 342 Meeting St

Smyth commenced pulpit supply at Second Presbyterian Church in Charleston in 1832, and was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

in 1834. He married Margaret Milligan Adger, daughter of James Adger, a wealthy local merchant, on July 9, 1832. At times the family wealth would be a point of conflict between Smyth and some members of his congregation, who voiced their opposition to Smyth receiving a raise in salary. Some members of the congregation also thought he preached too long. Barry Waugh argues that Smyth nevertheless had a fruitful ministry, as evidenced by the fact that at least thirty-six men from his congregation entered the ministry. Thomas and Margaret Smyth had nine children. Their son, James Adger Smyth, served as

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

of Charleston from 1896 to 1903, while another son, Joseph Ellison Adger Smyth, became a prominent industrialist. Smyth was an Old School Presbyterian. He wrote numerous books, and after his death his complete works were published in ten volumes. Smyth was especially interested in

presbyterian polity Presbyterian (or presbyteral) polity is a method of church governance (" ecclesiastical polity") typified by the rule of assemblies of presbyters, or elders. Each local church is governed by a body of elected elders usually called the session ...

. Along with

Charles Hodge Charles Hodge (December 27, 1797 – June 19, 1878) was a Reformed Presbyterian theologian and principal of Princeton Theological Seminary between 1851 and 1878. He was a leading exponent of the Princeton Theology, an orthodox Calvinist theo ...

, he argued that elders and ministers held separate offices in the church, as opposed to the view of Robert Lewis Dabney and James Henley Thornwell that elder and minister constituted the same office. Along these lines, Smyth argued that a ruling elder was not a '' presbuteros'' in his 1845 work ''The Name, Nature, and Functions, of Ruling Elders: Wherein it is Shown from the Testimony of Scripture, the Fathers, and the Reformers, that Ruling Elders are not Presbyters or Bishops, and that as Representatives of the People, their Office Ought to be Temporary''. In 1850, Smyth wrote ''The Unity of the Human Races Proved to be the Doctrine of Scripture, Reason, and Science. With a Review of the Present Position and Theory of Professor Agassiz''. In it, he rejected

Louis Agassiz Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz ( ; ) FRS (For) FRSE (May 28, 1807 – December 14, 1873) was a Swiss-born American biologist and geologist who is recognized as a scholar of Earth's natural history. Spending his early life in Switzerland, he recei ...

' theory of

polygenism Polygenism is a theory of human origins which posits the view that humans are of different origins (polygenesis). This view is opposite to the idea of monogenism, which posits a single origin of humanity. Modern scientific views find little merit ...

and defended

monogenism Monogenism or sometimes monogenesis is the theory of human origins which posits a common descent for all humans. The negation of monogenism is polygenism. This issue was hotly debated in the Western world in the nineteenth century, as the assum ...

, the theory that all humans had a common descent. Smyth thus argued for the full humanity of Africans. Colin Kidd suggests that he was the "most influential defender of monogenesis in the nineteenth-century United States". Smyth tried to take a moderate approach to

slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

. He sought to reform the institution of slavery by arguing for the humane treatment of slaves. Barry Waugh notes that "in Charleston, he was thought an

Abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...

, while in Britain, he was seen as a supporter of slavery." Smyth was instrumental in the establishment of Zion Presbyterian Church for black people, and for this he was vilified by some Southerners. When the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

started, however, he became an ardent

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

. Smyth was a

bibliophile A bookworm or bibliophile is an individual who loves and frequently reads or collects books. Bibliophilia or bibliophilism is the love of books. Bibliophiles may have large, specialized book collections. They may highly value old editions, aut ...

and specialized in the history of

Calvinism Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyteri ...

. He had a library of 20,000 volumes, the majority of which he eventually sold to Columbia Theological Seminary.

References

External links

Online Books by Thomas Smyth

Thomas Smyth
at Log College Press
A Guide to the Complete Works of Rev. Thomas Smyth, D.D.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smyth, Thomas 1808 births 1873 deaths People educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution Princeton Theological Seminary alumni Christian clergy from Belfast Clergy from Charleston, South Carolina Irish emigrants to the United States Presbyterian Church in the United States of America ministers Presbyterian Church in the United States ministers American book and manuscript collectors Ecclesiologists 19th-century Calvinist and Reformed theologians American Calvinist and Reformed theologians