PITTS THEOLOGY LIBRARY
ARCHIVES AND MANUSCRIPTS DEPT.
DAVIDSON, SAMUEL, 1806-1898.
Letter
to Jonathan Hamer, 1854.
MANUSCRIPT NUMBER 271
EXTENT: .01 cubic ft. (1 folder)
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CITATION:
Samuel Davidson Letter to Jonathan Hamer, MSS 271, Archives and
Manuscripts Dept., Pitts Theology
Library, Emory University.
Biographical Note
Samuel
Davidson was a theologian and biblical scholar. Born
in 1806 at Kellswater, Ireland, Davidson was of Scottish
Presbyterian decent. In 1824, he began
attending the Royal Academical Institute in Belfast, but he did not
complete
his studies until 1832. He received his LL.D from Aberdeen University
in 1838.
In 1848, he received a D.D. from the University of Halle.
Davidson
was licensed to preach in 1833, but his vocation
was more academic than pastoral. From
1835 to 1841, Davidson was the professor of biblical criticism at
Belfast
College. During this period he began
experiencing growing tension with Presbyterian doctrine.
As a result of his changed opinions about
ecclesiology, Davidson left Belfast and began teaching at Lancaster
Independent
College in Manchester in 1842. Davidson
resigned his teaching post at Independent College in 1857 because of
controversy over his rejection of Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch. The Davidson controversy of 1857 centered on
an article he wrote for Horne’s Introduction to the study of the Holy
Scriptures. In the face of this uproar,
Davidson retired, but continued to publish works and see private
students until
his death in 1898.
Scope and Content Note
This collection consists of a letter written to
Jonathan
Hamer on April 6, 1854. In the letter, Davidson accepts Hamer’s
invitation to
preach.
Last Modified: 01/20/2004