John Broadus
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John Albert Broadus (January 24, 1827 – March 16, 1895) was an American
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 ...
pastor and President of the
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) is a Baptist theological institute in Louisville, Kentucky. The seminary was founded in 1859 in Greenville, South Carolina, where it was at first housed on the campus of Furman University. The s ...
.


Early life

Born in 1827 in
Culpeper County, Virginia Culpeper County is a county located along the borderlands of the northern and central region of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 52,552. Its county seat and only incorporated community is ...
, Broadus was educated at home and at a private school. He taught in a small school before completing his undergraduate studies at the
University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...
in
Charlottesville, Virginia Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. It is the county seat, seat of government of Albemarle County, Virginia, Albemarle County, which surrounds the ...
.


Career

Broadus was ordained in 1850 and became pastor of the Baptist church in Charlottesville. In 1859, Broadus along with James P. Boyce, Basil Manly Jr., and William Williams, founded the
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) is a Baptist theological institute in Louisville, Kentucky. The seminary was founded in 1859 in Greenville, South Carolina, where it was at first housed on the campus of Furman University. The s ...
in Greenville, South Carolina. Broadus became professor of
New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...
interpretation and homiletics at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. With Manley, Broadus was also one of the first leaders of the Sunday School Board publishing operations. During the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
, he served as a Confederate chaplain to
Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a general officers in the Confederate States Army, Confederate general during the American Civil War, who was appointed the General in Chief of the Armies of the Confederate ...
's army in Northern Virginia. He delivered a lecture at the University of Virginia in memorial to Professor Gessner Harrison in 1873. In 2018 the President of the Seminary commissioned a "Report on slavery and racism within the history of the Southern Baptist Seminary" which found that Broadus and its principal founders combined owned 50 slaves, Broadus owning at least two slaves, and the faculty and trustees at the seminary defended the “righteousness of slavery” and supported the Confederacy's efforts to preserve slavery. After the war ended and public sentiment began to shift, Broadus 'repudiated' American slavery in 1882. In 1883, he delivered an address for the Confederate cause at
Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...
's Cave Hill Cemetery arguing both sides had justifiable reasons for war. In 1888, he became Southern Seminary's second president. In 1889, Broadus delivered the Beecher Lectures at
Yale Divinity School Yale Divinity School (YDS) is one of the twelve graduate and professional schools of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Congregationalist theological education was the motivation at the founding of Yale, and the professional school has ...
. Broadus died on March 16, 1895, in Louisville. He was buried in Cave Hill Cemetery.


Personal life

Broadus married Maria Carter Harrison on November 14, 1849. She died October 21, 1857. He remarried, to Charlotte Eleanor Sinclair (1836–1913) on January 4, 1859.


Legacy

Charles Spurgeon Charles Haddon Spurgeon (19 June 1834 – 31st January 1892) was an English Particular Baptist preacher. Spurgeon remains highly influential among Christians of various denominations, to some of whom he is known as the "Prince of Preachers." ...
called Broadus the "greatest of living preachers." Church historian Albert Henry Newman called Broadus "perhaps the greatest preacher the Baptists have produced." The official
gavel A gavel is a small ceremonial mallet/hammer commonly made of hardwood, typically fashioned with a handle. It can be used to call for attention or to punctuate rulings and proclamations and is a symbol of the authority and right to act officially ...
of the
Southern Baptist Convention The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), alternatively the Great Commission Baptists (GCB), is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist organization, the largest Protestant, and the second-largest Chr ...
controversially bears the name of Broadus and, in June, 2020, President J.D. Greear proposed the organization "retire the Broadus gavel" "amid nationwide protests around racial injustice that has led to the removal of Confederate statues and symbols." The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, named Broadus chapel, (modeled after the First Baptist Church in America, located in Providence, Rhode Island) in his honor. Lottie Moon was converted at an evangelistic meeting led by Broadus in 1858. Broadus had founded the Albemarle Female Institute which Moon attended and from which she graduated.


Selected works

* * * * * * * (see
James Petigru Boyce James Petigru Boyce (January 11, 1827 – December 28, 1888) was an American pastor, theologian, professor, chaplain, and a principle founder of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Biography Early life James Petigru Boyce was born in ...
) * *


References


Further reading

* * David S. Dockery and Roger D. Duke eds., John A. Broadus: A Living Legacy Studies in Baptist Life and Thought, ed. Michael A.G. Haykin. Nashville: Broadman and Holman Academic, 2008. 260 pp. *


External links


John Albert Broadus Papers



''Baptist Identity and Christian Higher Education'', monograph by Donald D. Schmeltekopf and Dianna M. Vitanza
{{DEFAULTSORT:Broadus, John Albert 1827 births 1895 deaths American slave owners People from Culpeper County, Virginia University of Virginia alumni American Baptist theologians Confederate States Army chaplains 19th-century Baptist ministers from the United States Burials at Cave Hill Cemetery Presidents of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Southern Baptist Theological Seminary faculty Southern Baptists Baptists from Virginia Baptists from Kentucky