Reverend Luther Tracy Townsend (September 27, 1838 - 1922) was a Methodist minister and professor at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

, and the author of a number of theological and historical works. He was especially known for his opposition to

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

's theory of

evolution Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...

Biography

Luther Tracy Townsend was born on September 27, 1838, in

Orono, Maine Orono ( ) is a New England town, town in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. Located on the Penobscot River, Penobscot and Stillwater River (Maine), Stillwater rivers, it was first settled by Province of Maine, American colonists in 1774. ...

, to Luther K. Townsend and Mary True Call. His father died on November 16, 1839, and his mother took the family to

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

. He started work at the

Boston, Concord and Montreal Railroad The Concord and Montreal Railroad was a railroad incorporated in 1889 out of a merger between the Boston, Concord and Montreal Railroad and the Concord Railroad. Ownership The Boston, Concord and Montreal had previously become the Northern Di ...

in 1850. He infrequently attended the New Hampshire Conference Seminary, now known as the

Tilton School Tilton School is an independent, coeducational, college-preparatory school in Tilton, New Hampshire, Tilton, New Hampshire, serving students from 9th to 12th grade and postgraduate year, postgraduate students. Founded in 1845, Tilton's student b ...

. He graduated from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

with an A.B. in 1859. He then attended

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 Cambrid ...

and graduated in 1862. He enlisted as a private in the 16th New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry in 1862 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 was ordained by the

Methodist church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

, in 1864. On September 27, 1865, he married Laura C. Huckins, the daughter of David T. Huckins and Sarah F. White of

Watertown, Massachusetts Watertown is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, part of Greater Boston. The population was 35,329 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Its neighborhoods include Bemis, Coolidge Square, East Watertown, Watertown Sq ...

. Townsend served as pastor of a Methodist church after the Civil War, until 1868 when he began teaching Biblical languages, church history, and theology at Boston Theological Seminary, later known as

Boston University School of Theology The Boston University School of Theology (STH) is the oldest theological seminary of American Methodism and the founding school of Boston University, the largest private research university in New England. It is one of thirteen theological sc ...

. It was here he gained a reputation as a defender of traditional

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

beliefs and a critic of

Darwinism ''Darwinism'' is a term used to describe a theory of biological evolution developed by the English naturalist Charles Darwin (1809–1882) and others. The theory states that all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural sel ...

and

. Townsend resigned his position at

in 1893 to focus on writing and lecturing, and was a delegate to the 1893

World's Parliament of Religions There have been several meetings referred to as a Parliament of the World's Religions, the first being the World's Parliament of Religions of 1893, which was an attempt to create a global dialogue of faiths. The event was celebrated by another c ...

in Chicago. In addition to his writing, he served as a Methodist pastor in Baltimore and later in Washington, D. C. As a Christian

creationist Creationism is the religious belief that nature, and aspects such as the universe, Earth, life, and humans, originated with supernatural acts of divine creation, and is often pseudoscientific. Gunn 2004, p. 9, "The ''Concise Oxford Dictionary' ...

, Townsend attacked evolution and defended a literalist interpretation of the first chapters of Genesis over scientific research in his books such as ''Evolution or Creation'' (1896), ''Adam and Eve'' (1904) and ''Collapse of Evolution'' (1905). In ''Collapse of Evolution'', Townsend blamed evolutionary theory, among other things, for what he saw as the downward moral trend of society, and warned that if the theory was accepted it would lead to an increase in war, murder, and that the world would be "an asylum for an idiotic race and a mad house with padded cells without anyone to lock or unlock its doors." He was a member of the

Victoria Institute The Victoria Institute, or Philosophical Society of Great Britain, was founded in 1865, as a response to the publication of ''On the Origin of Species'' and ''Essays and Reviews''. Its stated objective was to defend "the great truths revealed in ...

, a creationist organization, and was one of the most well known clerical opponents of evolution at the time. Townsend was also a supporter of

William Menzies Alexander William Menzies Alexander (Shettleston, then in Lanarkshire, 12 May 1858 – Edinburgh 30 August 1929) was a Scotland, Scottish medical and theological writer. He was Moderator of the General Assembly for the Free Church of Scotland (since 1900 ...

's research on

demonic possession Spirit Possession is an altered state of consciousness and associated behaviors which are purportedly caused by the control of a human body and its functions by Supernatural#Spirit, spirits, ghosts, demons, angels, or Deity, gods. The concept ...

Publications

* ''Credo, and True and Pretended Christianity'' (1869) * ''Sword and Garment'' (1871)
''God-Man''
(1872) * ''Lost Forever, and Outlines of Theology'' (1873) * ''Arena and Throne'' (1874) * ''The Chinese Problem'' (1876) * ''The Supernatural Factor in Revivals'' (1877) * ''The Intermediate World'' (1878) * ''Elements of General and Christian Theology'' (1879) * ''Fate of Republics, and Studies in Poetry and Prose'' (1880) * ''Art of Speech'' (2 volumes, 1880-1881) * ''Studies in Eloquence and Logic and Mosaic Record and Modern Science'' (1881) * ''Bible Theology and Modern Thought'' (1883) * ''Faith-Work, Christian Science and other Cures'' (1885) * ''Hand-Book upon Church Trials, and the Bible and other Ancient Literature'' (1885) * ''Pulpit and Rhetoric'' (1886) * ''New Hampshire Volunteers'' (1896)
''History of the Sixteenth Regiment''
(1897) * ''Story of Jonah in the Light of Higher Criticism'' (1897) * ''Twelve discourses of the Credo series'' (1898)
''Evolution or Creation''
(1896) * ''Anastasis'' (1900)
''Collapse of Evolution''
(1905) * ''The Stars Not Inhabited: Scientific and Biblical Points of View'' (1914)

References

Sources

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Townsend, Luther Tracy 1838 births 1922 deaths American Christian writers Dartmouth College alumni Boston University faculty Critics of Christian Science American Christian creationists American Methodist clergy American male writers American lecturers American science writers American philosophers of religion Tilton School alumni