Abstract

This dissertation explores the relationship of natural theology to theological development among four generations of Northern Baptist theologians in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Chapter One outlines the issues at stake and introduces the four principal theologians of the study: Francis Wayland, Ezekiel Gilman Robinson, Augustus Hopkins Strong, and Walter Rauschenbusch. ;Chapter Two connects the emergence of natural theology in America to the most popular philosophical system among theologians in the nineteenth century: Scottish Common Sense Realism. Natural theology in the thought of Thomas Reid, Dugald Stewart, and William Hamilton is discussed. Recent assessments of the influence of Common Sense Philosophy on American theology are considered. ;Chapter Three charts the influence of natural theology in the thought of Francis Wayland, popularizer of Common Sense Philosophy and President of Brown University, and Ezekiel Gilman Robinson, Wayland's successor at Brown University. The influence of natural theology on the theological systems of both men is considered. Special attention is given to the doctrine of revelation. For his part, Wayland assumed the doctrine revelation and prioritized empirical inquiry in theological method. Robinson critiqued key aspects of the doctrine of revelation such as the unity and inspiration of the Bible. ;Chapter Four considers the theology of Augustus Hopkins Strong, Robinson's successor at Rochester Seminary. Strong is shown to be a theological icon of the Gilded Age who is forced to change the form of natural theology to fit current philosophical trends. This chapter deems Strong's work a mediating theological project which compromised historic Protestant doctrines with the chief casualty being the doctrine of biblical inerrancy. ;Chapter Five covers the development of Walter Rauschenbusch's thought as the heir to Strong's intellectual mantle. This chapter chronicles Rauschenbusch's loss of faith in natural theology and the subsequent reorientation of his theological system. Specifically, Rauschenbusch abandoned the idea of revelation as a meaningful theological category and opted instead for an anthropological approach to method. ;Chapter Six concludes the study by comparing and contrasting two institutions which emphasized natural theology: Rochester Seminary and Princeton Seminary. Final comments include reflection upon the Fundamentalist-Modernist controversy in the Northern Baptist Convention