George Frederick Wright (January 22, 1838 – April 20, 1921) was an American geologist and a professor at Oberlin Theological Seminary, first of New Testament language and literature (1881 – 1892), and then of "harmony of science and revelation" (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, and later in life he emphasised his commitment to a form of theistic evolution.
In 1861, during the Civil War, he served in the Union army for 5 months.
He pastored Congregational churches in Bakersfield, Vermont (1861 – 1872) and Andover, Massachusetts (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. 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 from 1884 to 1892. He was president of the Ohio Historical Society 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. During his time pastoring in Andover, Wright developed a friendship with Christian Darwinist Asa Gray, and encouraged him to publish more openly on his views harmonizing their common evangelical Calvinist 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, 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' higher criticism, 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, 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 theistic evolution.
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) online version
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)
Works by George Frederick Wright at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
January 13, 2023
george, frederick, wright, mayor, honolulu, george, wright, january, 1838, april, 1921, american, geologist, professor, oberlin, theological, seminary, first, testament, language, literature, 1881, 1892, then, harmony, science, revelation, until, retirement, 1. For the mayor of Honolulu see George F Wright George Frederick Wright January 22 1838 April 20 1921 was an American geologist and a professor at Oberlin Theological Seminary first of New Testament language and literature 1881 1892 and then of harmony of science and revelation 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 and later in life he emphasised his commitment to a form of theistic evolution George Frederick Wright Contents 1 Biography 2 Bibliography 3 Notes 4 References 5 External linksBiography EditG F Wright was born in Whitehall New York He graduated from Oberlin College in 1859 and received an M A from Oberlin Theological Seminary in 1862 In 1887 he obtained a D D from Brown University and an LL D from Drury College He was made a Fellow of the Geological Society of America in 1890 In 1861 during the Civil War he served in the Union army for 5 months He pastored Congregational churches in Bakersfield Vermont 1861 1872 and Andover Massachusetts 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 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 from 1884 to 1892 He was president of the Ohio Historical Society 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 During his time pastoring in Andover Wright developed a friendship with Christian Darwinist Asa Gray and encouraged him to publish more openly on his views harmonizing their common evangelical Calvinist 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 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 higher criticism 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 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 theistic evolution Bibliography EditLogic 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 online version 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 SacraEdited Bibliotheca Sacra 1884 c 1920 Records of the Past 1905 c 1920 Notes EditThis article includes a list of references related reading or external links but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations July 2014 Learn how and when to remove this template message References Edit Wright George Frederick Christian Classics Library 1907 G F Wright G Frederick Wright Archived 2006 10 17 at the Wayback Machine 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 Ronald L Numbers 1992 The Creationists The Evolution of Scientific Creationism Alfred A Knopf ISBN 0 679 40104 0 Sketch of George Frederick Wright Popular Science Monthly Vol 42 December 1892 External links EditWorks by George Frederick Wright at LibriVox public domain audiobooks Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title George Frederick Wright amp oldid 1126268235, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
