Augustus Rauschenbusch was a Baptist

Baptist

Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...

 (Lutheran early in his career) clergyman who worked mostly in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

Biography

He graduated from the gymnasium

Gymnasium (school)

A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...

 at Elberfeld

Elberfeld

Elberfeld is a municipal subdivision of the German city of Wuppertal; it was an independent town until 1929.-History:The first official mentioning of the geographic area on the banks of today's Wupper River as "elverfelde" was in a document of 1161...

, and at 19 went to the University of Berlin

Humboldt University of Berlin

The Humboldt University of Berlin is Berlin's oldest university, founded in 1810 as the University of Berlin by the liberal Prussian educational reformer and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt, whose university model has strongly influenced other European and Western universities...

 to study for the Lutheran ministry. Subsequently he spent some time at the University of Bonn

University of Bonn

The University of Bonn is a public research university located in Bonn, Germany. Founded in its present form in 1818, as the linear successor of earlier academic institutions, the University of Bonn is today one of the leading universities in Germany. The University of Bonn offers a large number...

 in the study of natural science

Natural science

The natural sciences are branches of science that seek to elucidate the rules that govern the natural world by using empirical and scientific methods...

 and theology

Theology

Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...

. On the death of his father, who was a Lutheran pastor in Altena, the son was chosen in 1841 as his successor. His ministry here, while fruitful in spiritual results, excited so much opposition, and was so hampered by his ecclesiastical relations, that he resolved to emigrate to the United States.

He arrived in the U.S. in 1846, and preached for some time to the Germans in Missouri

Missouri

Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

. In 1847 he moved to New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, where he edited the German tracts published by the American Tract Society

American Tract Society

The American Tract Society is a nonprofit, nonsectarian but evangelical organization founded on May 11, 1825 in New York City for the purpose of publishing and disseminating Christian literature. ATS traces its lineage back through the New York Tract Society and the New England Tract Society to...

. While he was residing in New York, his views on the question of baptism

Baptism

In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...

 underwent a change, and in 1850 he entered the Baptist communion, though retaining his connection with the Tract Society until 1853. From 1853 to 1858, he served German Baptist churches in Missouri. In 1858 he was called to take charge of the German department of Rochester Theological Seminary, which place he continued to fill until 1888. He received the honorary degree of D.D. from the University of Rochester

University of Rochester

The University of Rochester is a private, nonsectarian, research university in Rochester, New York, United States. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. The university has six schools and various interdisciplinary programs.The...

.

In 1890 he returned to Germany where he devoted himself to literary work.

Works

• Geschichte der Erzväter (New York, 1859)
• Die Bedeutung des Fusswaschens Christi (Hamburg, 1861)
• Die Vorläufer der Reformation (Cleveland, 1875)
• Gehören die Apokryphen in der Bibel hinein (Hamburg, 1895)
• Die Entstehung der Kindertaufe (1897)
• Biblische Frauenbilder (1897)
• Die Entstehung der Kindertaufe im 3. Jahrhundert nach Christum and die Wiedereinführung der biblischen Taufe im 17. Jahrhundert (1898)
• Handbüchlein der Homiletik für freikirchliche Prediger und für Stadtmissionäre (Cassel, 1900)