Harry Emerson Fosdick (May 24, 1878 – October 5, 1969) was an American pastor. Fosdick became a central figure in the Fundamentalist–Modernist controversy within American Protestantism in the 1920s and 1930s and was one of the most prominent liberal ministers of the early 20th century. Although a Baptist, he was called to serve as pastor, in New York City, at First Presbyterian Church in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

West Village The West Village is a neighborhood in the western section of the larger Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City. The traditional boundaries of the West Village are the Hudson River to the west, West 14th Street to th ...

, and then at the historic, inter-denominational

Riverside Church Riverside Church is an interdenominational church in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, on the block bounded by Riverside Drive, Claremont Avenue, 120th Street and 122nd Street near Columbia University's Mornin ...

Morningside Heights, Manhattan Morningside Heights is a neighborhood on the West Side of Upper Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Morningside Drive to the east, 125th Street to the north, 110th Street to the south, and Riverside Drive to the west. Morningside ...

Career

Born in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

, Fosdick graduated from

Colgate University Colgate University is a private liberal arts college in Hamilton, New York. The college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York and operated under that name until 1823, when it was renamed Hamilton Theolog ...

in 1900 and from Union Theological Seminary in 1904. While attending Colgate University he joined the

Delta Upsilon Delta Upsilon (), commonly known as DU, is a collegiate men's fraternity founded on November 4, 1834 at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It is the sixth-oldest, all-male, college Greek-letter organization founded in North Americ ...

fraternity. He was ordained a

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul c ...

minister in 1903 at

Madison Avenue Baptist Church The Madison Avenue Baptist Church is a Baptist church located in Manhattan, New York City. It is affiliated with the Alliance of Baptists, the American Baptist Churches USA, the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists, and the Baptist Pea ...

at 31st Street, Manhattan. He was called as minister to First Baptist Church,

Montclair, New Jersey Montclair () is a township in Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated on the cliffs of the Watchung Mountains, Montclair is a wealthy and diverse commuter town and suburb of New York City within the New York metropolitan area. ...

, in 1904, serving until 1915. He supported US participation in the First World War (later describing himself as a "gullible fool" in doing so), and in 1917 volunteered as an Army chaplain, serving in France. In 1918, he was called to First Presbyterian Church, and on May 21, 1922, he delivered his famous sermon ''Shall the Fundamentalists Win?'', in which he defended the

modernist Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

position. In that sermon he presented the Bible as a record of the unfolding of God's will, not as the literal "Word of God". He saw the

history of Christianity The history of Christianity concerns the Christian religion, Christian countries, and the Christians with their various denominations, from the 1st century to the present. Christianity originated with the ministry of Jesus, a Jewish te ...

as one of development, progress, and gradual change.

Fundamentalists Fundamentalism is a tendency among certain groups and individuals that is characterized by the application of a strict literal interpretation to scriptures, dogmas, or ideologies, along with a strong belief in the importance of distinguishi ...

regarded this as rank

apostasy Apostasy (; grc-gre, ἀποστασία , 'a defection or revolt') is the formal disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that ...

, and the battle-lines were drawn. Fosdick's sermon prompted a response from the Rev. Clarence Edward Macartney of

Arch Street Presbyterian Church Arch Street Presbyterian Church is a historic Presbyterian Church at 1724 Arch Street, located between the two Comcast skyscrapers in the Logan Square neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The building was designed by the architectural ...

in Philadelphia on July 13, 1922, with a sermon entitled "Shall Unbelief Win?". Like Fosdick's sermon, Macartney's sermon was published and sent to church leaders across America. "There are not a few," said Macartney, "who do not think of themselves as either 'Fundamentalists' or 'Modernists', but as Christians, striving amid the dust and the confused clamor of this life to hold the Christian faith and follow the Lord Jesus Christ, who will read this sermon with sorrow and pain." The national convention of the General Assembly of the old

Presbyterian Church in the USA The Presbyterian Church (USA), abbreviated PC(USA), is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination, denomination in the United States. It is the largest Presbyterianism, Presbyterian denomination in the US, and known for its liberal stance on ...

in 1923 charged his local presbytery in New York to conduct an investigation into Fosdick's views. A commission began an investigation, as required. His defense was conducted by a lay elder,

John Foster Dulles John Foster Dulles (, ; February 25, 1888 – May 24, 1959) was an American diplomat, lawyer, and Republican Party politician. He served as United States Secretary of State under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1959 and was briefly ...

(1888–1959, future Secretary of State under President Dwight D. Eisenhower in the 1950s), whose father was a well-known liberal Presbyterian seminary professor. Fosdick escaped probable censure at a formal trial by the 1924 General Assembly by resigning from the First Presbyterian Church (historic "Old First") pulpit in 1924. He was immediately called as pastor of a new type of Baptist church ministry at Park Avenue Baptist Church, whose most famous member was the industrialist, financier and philanthropist

John D. Rockefeller Jr. John Davison Rockefeller Jr. (January 29, 1874 – May 11, 1960) was an American financier and philanthropist, and the only son of Standard Oil co-founder John D. Rockefeller. He was involved in the development of the vast office complex in M ...

Rockefeller then funded the famed

ecumenical Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...

(later a member of the

American Baptist Churches The American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA) is a mainline/evangelical Baptist Christian denomination within the United States. The denomination maintains headquarters in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The organization is usually considered main ...

and

United Church of Christ The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Calvinist, Lutheran, and Anabaptist traditions, and with approximatel ...

denominations) in Manhattan's northwestern

Morningside Heights Morningside Heights is a neighborhood on the West Side of Upper Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Morningside Drive to the east, 125th Street to the north, 110th Street to the south, and Riverside Drive to the west. Morningside ...

area near

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 ...

, where Fosdick became pastor as soon as the doors opened in October 1930. Harry Emerson Fosdick Time cover

This prompted a ''Time'' magazine cover story on October 6, 1930 ''(pictured)'', in which ''Time'' said that Fosdick: Fosdick outspokenly opposed racism and injustice. Ruby Bates credited him with persuading her to testify for the defense in the 1933 retrial of the infamous and racially charged legal case of the Scottsboro Boys, which tried nine black youths before all-white juries for allegedly raping white women (Bates and her companion, Victoria Price) in Alabama.

Sermons and publications

Fosdick's sermons won him wide recognition. His 1933 anti-war sermon, "The Unknown Soldier", inspired the British priest Dick Sheppard to write a letter that ultimately led to the founding of the Peace Pledge Union. His ''Riverside Sermons'' was printed in 1958, and he published numerous other books. His radio addresses were nationally broadcast; he also wrote the hymn "God of Grace and God of Glory". Fosdick's book ''A Guide to Understanding the Bible'' traces the beliefs of the people who wrote the Bible, from the ancient beliefs of the

Hebrews The terms ''Hebrews'' (Hebrew: / , Modern: ' / ', Tiberian: ' / '; ISO 259-3: ' / ') and ''Hebrew people'' are mostly considered synonymous with the Semitic-speaking Israelites, especially in the pre-monarchic period when they were still ...

(which he regarded as practically pagan) to the faith and hopes of the

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 ...

writers. Fosdick was an advocate 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 ...

. He defended the teaching of evolution in schools and rejected

creationism Creationism is the religious belief that nature, and aspects such as the universe, Earth, life, and humans, originated with supernatural acts of divine creation. Gunn 2004, p. 9, "The ''Concise Oxford Dictionary'' says that creationism is 't ...

. He was involved in a dispute with the creationist

William Jennings Bryan William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 – July 26, 1925) was an American lawyer, orator and politician. Beginning in 1896, he emerged as a dominant force in the History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, running ...

. Fosdick reviewed the first edition of the book ''Alcoholics Anonymous'' in 1939, giving it his approval. AA members continue to point to this review as significant in the development of the AA movement. Fosdick was an active member of the American Friends of the Middle East, a founder of the

Committee for Justice and Peace in the Holy Land The Committee for Justice and Peace in the Holy Land was an organization founded in February 1948 by Virginia Gildersleeve and Kermit Roosevelt, Jr., for the purpose of lobbying the Truman administration to oppose the creation of the State of Isra ...

, and an active "

anti-Zionist Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionism. Although anti-Zionism is a heterogeneous phenomenon, all its proponents agree that the creation of the modern State of Israel, and the movement to create a sovereign Jewish state in the region of Palesti ...

". . He was a major influence on Martin Luther King Jr, who said that Fosdick was
the greatest preacher of this century
" King drew on Fosdick's writings and sermons for some of his own sermons.

Works

* ''The Second Mile'' (1908) * ''The Assurance of Immortality'' (1913) * ''The Manhood of the Master'' (1913) * ''The Meaning of Prayer'' (1915) * ''The Meaning of Faith'' (1917) * ''The Challenge of the Present Crisis'' (1918) * ''The Meaning of Service'' (1920) * ''Shall the Fundamentalists Win?'' (1921) (Reprinted by CrossReach Publications, 2015) * ''Christianity and Progress'' (1922) * ''Evolution and Mr. Bryan'' (1922) * ''Twelve Tests of Character'' (1923) * ''Science and Religion. Evolution and the Bible'' (1924) * ''The Modern Use of the Bible'' (1924) * ''Adventurous Religion, and Other Essays'' (1926) * ''A Pilgrimage to Palestine'' (1927) * ''What Religion Means to Me'' (1929) * ''As I See Religion'' (1932) * ''The Hope of the World; Twenty-Five Sermons on Christianity Today'' (1933) * ''The Secret of Victorious Living'' (1934) * ''The Power to See it Through'' (1935) * ''Successful Christian Living'' (1937) * ''A Guide to Understanding the Bible: The Development of Ideas Within the Old and New Testaments'' (1938) * ''Living Under Tension; Sermons on Christianity Today'' (1941) * ''On Being a Real Person'' (1943) * ''A Great Time to be Alive; Sermons on Christianity in Wartime'' (1944) * ''On Being Fit to Live With; Sermons on Post-War Christianity'' (1946) * ''The Man from Nazareth, as His Contemporaries Saw Him'' (1949) * ''The Meaning of Prayer'' (1950) * ''Rufus Jones Speaks to Our Time; An Anthology'' (1951) * ''Great Voices of the Reformation'' (1952) * ''A Faith for Tough Times'' (1952) * ''Sunday Evening Sermons; Fifteen Selected Addresses Delivered before the noted Chicago Sunday Evening Club'' with Alton Meyers Meyers (1952) * ''What is Vital in Religion; Sermons on Contemporary Christian Problems'' (1955) * ''Martin Luther'' (1956) * ''The Living of These Days; An Autobiography'' (1956) * ''A Book of Public Prayers'' (1959) * ''Jesus of Nazareth'' (1959) * ''Dear Mr. Brown'' (1961) * ''The Life of Saint Paul'' (1962) * ''The Meaning of Being a Christian'' (1964) * ''The Secret of Victorious Living'' (1966) * ''Harry Emerson Fosdick's Art of Preaching; An Anthology'' (1971) Works with a contribution by Fosdick * ''Seeing the Invisible'' by Harold Cooke (Introduction by Harry Emerson Fosdick) (1932) * ''You and Yourself'' by Albert George Butzer (Introduction by Harry Emerson Fosdick) (1933) * ''The Complete Sayings of Jesus; The King James Version of Christ's Own Words.'' by Arthur Hinds (Introduction by Harry Emerson Fosdick) (1942) * ''A Rauschenbusch reader, the Kingdom of God and the social Gospel'' Fosdick contributed a chapter (1957) * ''Riverside Sermons'' (1958)

Extended family

Fosdick's brother, Raymond Fosdick, was essentially in charge of philanthropy for

John D. Rockefeller, Jr. John Davison Rockefeller Jr. (January 29, 1874 – May 11, 1960) was an American financier and philanthropist, and the only son of Standard Oil co-founder John D. Rockefeller. He was involved in the development of the vast office complex in ...

, running the

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropy, philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, aft ...

for three decades, from 1921. Rockefeller funded the nationwide distribution of ''Shall the Fundamentalists Win?'', although with a more cautious title, ''The New Knowledge and the Christian Faith''. This direct-mail project was designed by Ivy Lee, who had worked since 1914 as an independent contractor in public relations for the Rockefellers. Fosdick's daughter, Dorothy Fosdick, was foreign policy adviser to Henry M. ("Scoop") Jackson, a

United States Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...

from

Washington state Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a U.S. state, state in the Northwestern United States, Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first President of the United States, U.S. p ...

. She also authored a number of books. He was the nephew of Charles Austin Fosdick, a popular author of adventure books for boys, who wrote under the pen name

Harry Castlemon Charles Austin Fosdick (September 6, 1842 – August 22, 1915), better known by his ''nom de plume'' Harry Castlemon, was a prolific writer of juvenile stories and novels, intended mainly for boys. He was born in Randolph, New York, and received ...

References

External links