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Augustus Hopkins Strong (3 August 1836 – 29 November 1921) was a
Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...
minister and theologian who lived in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His most influential book, ''Systematic Theology'', proved to be a mainstay of Baptist theological education.


Early life and education

Augustus Hopkins Strong was born on August 3, 1836, in
Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...
. He was a descendant of "Elder John Strong, of Northampton, Massachusetts." His grandfather was a "physician of considerable eminence", who moved from
Warren, Connecticut Warren is a New England town, town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 1,351 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The town is part of the Northwest Hills Planning Region, C ...
, to
Scipio, New York Scipio is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Cayuga County, New York, Cayuga County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 1,713 at the 2010 census. Scipio is centrally located in the southern half of the ...
, in 1799, then to Rochester in 1821. His father, Alvah Strong, was the printer of such early Rochester newspapers as the ''Anti-Masonic Enquirer'', the ''Morning Advertiser'', and the ''Weekly Republican'', before becoming the longtime proprietor of '' The Daily Democrat''. Both his father and eldest uncle were deacons of the First Baptist Church of Rochester, and helped found the Rochester Theological Seminary (RTS), in 1850, the institution over which he would later preside. RTS would later become
Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School is a Baptist seminary in Rochester, New York. It is affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA. History 1820s–1960: Early history Four Baptist institutions merged over the course of the 19th and ...
. Strong's younger brother, Henry A. Strong, was a successful businessman and philanthropist who served as
Eastman Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company, referred to simply as Kodak (), is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in film photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorporated i ...
's first president. His youngest uncle became a Forty-niner in the California Gold Rush, after losing both his wife and infant son. A first cousin twice removed, Theodore C. Achilles would later become a diplomat, another such cousin would marry
Margaret Woodbury Strong Margaret Woodbury Strong (March 20, 1897 – July 16, 1969) was an American collector and philanthropist. Strong was an avid collector, especially of toys and her large collection formed the basis for the Strong National Museum of Play. ...
, and a niece would marry George R. Carter. After Strong graduated from
Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...
in 1857, he took a year to travel Europe, before he began his theological studies at
RTS RTS may refer to: Medicine * Rape trauma syndrome, the psychological trauma experienced by a rape victim * Revised Trauma Score, a system to evaluate injuries secondary to violent trauma * Rubinstein–Taybi syndrome, a condition characterized by ...
.


Career

In August 1861, Strong was named pastor of First Baptist Church,
Haverhill, Massachusetts Haverhill ( ) is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. Haverhill is located north of Boston on the New Hampshire border and about from the Atlantic Ocean. The population was 67,787 at the 2020 United States census. Located o ...
. After his four-year pastorate there, became pastor of First Baptist Church,
Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...
, from 1865 to 1872, and thereafter became president of
RTS RTS may refer to: Medicine * Rape trauma syndrome, the psychological trauma experienced by a rape victim * Revised Trauma Score, a system to evaluate injuries secondary to violent trauma * Rubinstein–Taybi syndrome, a condition characterized by ...
.. It was during his time as president that he wrote his ''Systematic Theology'', which was the main textbook of Protestant seminaries in North America. He received honorary doctorates from Rochester,
Alfred Alfred may refer to: Arts and entertainment *''Alfred J. Kwak'', Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series * ''Alfred'' (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne * ''Alfred'' (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák *"Alfred (Interlu ...
,
Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing and painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors Orange (colour), orange and black. In the ...
, Bucknell,
Princeton Princeton University is a private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the Unit ...
, and
Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...
Universities.


Personal life

Strong was married, and his eldest son was the American psychologist and philosopher Charles A. Strong. He died on Tuesday, November 29, 1921 in
Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...
, after which his body was returned to Rochester, where he was laid to rest in the week following, at Mount Hope Cemetery on December 5, in his family's vault, after lying in state in Alvah Strong Hall at the Seminary. Among others, Strong was eulogized by Rush Rhees, then president of the University of Rochester, and by Clarence A. Barbour, a succeeding president of the Seminary.


Theology

Strong held to a form of
inclusivism Inclusivism is one of several approaches in religious studies, anthropology, or civics to understand the relationship between different religions, societies, cultures, political factions etc. It asserts that there is beauty in the variety of diff ...
, that is, he believed that some people from non-Christian religions actually believe in the one true God, the God revealed in the Bible. Thus, it was Strong's view that their faith in God - to the limits of their knowledge and their rejection of the religion around them - constituted "an implicit faith in Christ."


Triadology

A.H Strong asserted that the unity of the
trinity The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, thr ...
is not like the unity of three persons among men, since men have only a specific unity of nature, being one species. However, within God the persons of the trinity have a numerical unity of nature, having the same essence. Thus, he asserted that within God the undivided essence belongs equally to each of the three persons, the plurality of the Godhead being a plurality of personal distinctions and not a plurality of essence, the one essence having three modes of subsistence. Strong asserted the eternal sonship of Christ to be scriptural. Stating that the Bible teaches both the doctrine of the
eternal generation of the Son The eternal generation of the Son is a Trinitarian doctrine, which is defined as a necessary and eternal act of God the Father, in which he generates (or begets) God the Son through communicating the whole divine essence to the Son. Generation is ...
and the
eternal procession of the Holy Spirit The Eternal procession of the Holy Spirit is a theological concept in trinitarianism that describes the relationship of the Holy Spirit within the Holy Trinity. The doctrine of the eternal procession of the Holy Spirit is related to the doctrine ...
.


Atonement

Strong's
Christology In Christianity, Christology is a branch of Christian theology, theology that concerns Jesus. Different denominations have different opinions on questions such as whether Jesus was human, divine, or both, and as a messiah what his role would b ...
began with Christ's presence at the creation of the human couple. Christ's sacrifice for the human race was understood as a Divine sharing of human suffering, in particular the curse of original sin genetically passed through his mother, Mary. The curse of the genetic connection to Adam was prior to the sin that Christ voluntarily took as He died in the
crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the condemned is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross, beam or stake and left to hang until eventual death. It was used as a punishment by the Achaemenid Empire, Persians, Ancient Carthag ...
.Aloisi, John. “Ethical Monism and Its Impact on Other Areas of Strong’s Theology.” ''Augustus Hopkins Strong and the Struggle to Reconcile Christian Theology with Modern Thought'', Boydell & Brewer, 2021, pp. 72–91
JSTOR website
Retrieved 16 June 2025.


Selected works

* * * * * * * * * * *


References


External links


Guide to the Augustus Hopkins Strong Papers, Yale University

Works by A. H. Strong at CCEL
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Strong, Augustus Hopkins 1836 births 1921 deaths Heads of universities and colleges in the United States Baptist ministers from the United States American Baptist theologians Baptist writers Religious leaders from Rochester, New York Yale College alumni Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School alumni Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School faculty Baptists from New York (state)