Moses B. Stuart (March 26, 1780 – January 4, 1852) was an American biblical scholar.
Life and career
Moses Stuart was born in
Wilton, Connecticut on March 26, 1780.
He was brought up on a farm, then attended
Yale University graduating with highest honours in 1799; in 1802 he was admitted to the Connecticut bar and was appointed as a tutor at Yale, where he remained for two years. In 1806 Stuart became the pastor of the Centre (
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 it ...
) Church of
New Haven. He was later appointed professor of sacred literature in the
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 1810.
[
He succeeded ]Eliphalet Pearson
Eliphalet Pearson (June 11, 1752 – September 12, 1826) was an American educator, the first Preceptor of Phillips Academy (1778–86), and the acting president of Harvard University (1804–06). He also co-founded the American Education Soc ...
(1752–1826), the first preceptor of the Phillips (Andover) Academy and in 1786–1806 was appointed professor of Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
and Oriental languages at Harvard
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher l ...
. At this time he knew hardly more than elementary Hebrew and not much more Greek; in 1801–12 he prepared for the use of his students a Hebrew grammar which they copied day by day from his manuscript; in 1813 he printed his ''Grammar'', which appeared in an enlarged form, with a copious syntax and praxis
Praxis may refer to:
Philosophy and religion
* Praxis (process), the process by which a theory, lesson, or skill is enacted, practised, embodied, or realised
* Praxis model, a way of doing theology
* Praxis (Byzantine Rite), the practice of fai ...
, in 1821, and was republished in England by Dr Pusey in 1831. Stuart was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...
in 1815 and the American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
in 1824.
He gradually made the acquaintance of German works in hermeneutics, first Johann Friedrich Schleusner, Seiler and Gesenius, and taught himself German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
, arousing much suspicion and distrust among his colleagues by his unusual studies. However, recognition soon followed, partly as a result of his ''Letter to Dr Channing on the Subject of Religious Liberty'' (1830), but more largely through the growing favour shown to German philology and critical methods.
In 1842 Stuart published a second edition of his work ''Hints on the Interpretation of Prophecy''. The historical setting of this work he alluded to in his Preface, writing, "It is time for the churches, in reference to the matters now before us, to seek some refuge from the tumultuous ocean on which they have of late been tossed." (p. 5) This setting he more explicitly addressed in his Appendix, where he replied to the book George Duffield
__NOTOC__
George Duffield MBE (born 30 November 1946) is an English retired flat racing jockey.
He served a seven-year apprenticeship with Jack Waugh, and rode his first winner on 15 June 1967 at Great Yarmouth Racecourse on a horse called Syl ...
, D.D., of Detroit, published in 1842,
Dissertations on the Prophecies Relative to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ
'. Stuart as well mentioned Duffield's view of William Miller in regard to the time of the Second Coming (p. 172).
Stuart's 1850 book ''Conscience and the Constitution'' took the position that slavery was an institution allowed by the Bible, but that, as it was actually practiced in the United States, slavery was morally wrong. Therefore there should be a voluntary emancipation of slaves by the Southern slave owners. However, Parker Pillsbury reported in his 1847 "Forlorn Hope of Slavery" that Stuart of Andover Theological Seminary wrote "to President Fisk of another Theological Seminary, that 'slavery may exist, without violating the Christian faith or the Church.'"
Stuart has been called the father of exegetical studies in America. He contributed largely by his teaching to the renewal of foreign missionary zeal—of his 1,500 students more than 100 became foreign missionaries, among them such skilled translators as Adoniram Judson
Adoniram Judson (August 9, 1788 – April 12, 1850) was an American Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalist and later Particular Baptist missionary, who served in Burma for almost forty years. At the age of 25, Judson was ...
, Elias Riggs
Elias Riggs (November 19, 1810 – January 17, 1901) was an American Presbyterian missionary and linguist.
Biography
Elias Riggs was born on November 19, 1810 in New Providence, New Jersey. He was the second son of Elias and Margaret (Congar) ...
and William G Schauffler.
In 1848 Stuart resigned his chair at Andover. He died in Andover
Andover may refer to:
Places Australia
*Andover, Tasmania
Canada
* Andover Parish, New Brunswick
* Perth-Andover, New Brunswick
United Kingdom
* Andover, Hampshire, England
** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station
United States
* Andov ...
on January 4, 1852.
Major works
*''Winer's Greek Grammar of the New Testament'' (1825), with Edward Robinson
*''Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews
The Epistle to the Hebrews ( grc, Πρὸς Ἑβραίους, Pros Hebraious, to the Hebrews) is one of the books of the New Testament.
The text does not mention the name of its author, but was traditionally attributed to Paul the Apostle. Most ...
'' (1827–1828)
*''Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans
The Epistle to the Romans is the sixth book in the New Testament, and the longest of the thirteen Pauline epistles. Biblical scholars agree that it was composed by Paul the Apostle to explain that Salvation (Christianity), salvation is offered ...
'' (1832)
*
Hints on the Interpretation of Prophecy
Second Edition'' (1842); this Andover printing lacks the Appendix containing his reply to Duffield. The 1851 New York printing of the same edition does contain Stuart's Appendix.
*''Commentary on the Apocalypse
Apocalypse () is a literary genre in which a supernatural being reveals cosmic mysteries or the future to a human intermediary. The means of mediation include dreams, visions and heavenly journeys, and they typically feature symbolic imagery ...
'' (1845)
*''Miscellanies'' (1846)
*Gesenius's ''Hebrew Grammar'' (1846), a version which involved Stuart in a long controversy with Thomas Conant, the earlier, and possibly more scholarly, translator of Gesenius
*''Commentary on Ecclesiastes'' (1851)
*''Commentary on the Book of Proverbs
The Book of Proverbs ( he, מִשְלֵי, , "Proverbs (of Solomon)") is a book in the third section (called Ketuvim) of the Hebrew Bible and a book of the Christian Old Testament. When translated into Greek and Latin, the title took on differen ...
'' (1852)
References
Further reading
Memorial sermons by:
* Parker Pillsbury (1847). ''The church as it is, or, The forlorn hope of slavery''. A. Forbes, printer.
* Edwards Amasa Park (Boston, 1852)
*William Adams (minister)
William Adams (January 25, 1807 – August 31, 1880) was a noted American clergyman and academic.
Early life
He was born in Colchester, Connecticut on January 25, 1807. He was one of five sons and six daughters born to John Adams (1772–1863) ...
(New York, 1852)
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stuart, Moses
1780 births
1852 deaths
American biblical scholars
Bible commentators
Andover Newton Theological School faculty
Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
People from Wilton, Connecticut
Yale University alumni