Robert Elliott Speer
Encyclopedia
Robert Elliott Speer was an American
religious leader and authority on missions.
He was born at Huntingdon
, Pa.
, graduated from Phillips Academy
in 1886 and from Princeton
in 1889, and studied at Princeton Theological Seminary
in 1890-91. In 1891 he was appointed secretary of the American Presbyterian Mission
. He visited missions in Persia
, India
, China
, Korea
, and Japan
in 1896-97, and in South America
in 1909 and later made similar tours. In Princeton he was greatly influnced by Arthur Tappan Pierson
. Under his leadership the foreign missions of the Presbyterian church became remarkably successful. Although he published two articles in the The Fundamentals
, he is often considered a liberal because he sided with the Presbyterian Church (USA)
and opposed John Gresham Machen
during the anti-liberal/modernist controversies of the 1930's
.
Including some of his inspirational books, he published:
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
religious leader and authority on missions.
He was born at Huntingdon
Huntingdon, Pennsylvania
Huntingdon is a borough in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania. It is the county seat of Huntingdon County. It is located along the Juniata River, west of Harrisburg, about halfway between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg, in an agricultural and fruit-growing region, with valuable forests and deposits of...
, Pa.
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, graduated from Phillips Academy
Phillips Academy
Phillips Academy is a selective, co-educational independent boarding high school for boarding and day students in grades 9–12, along with a post-graduate year...
in 1886 and from Princeton
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
in 1889, and studied at Princeton Theological Seminary
Princeton Theological Seminary
Princeton Theological Seminary is a theological seminary of the Presbyterian Church located in the Borough of Princeton, New Jersey in the United States...
in 1890-91. In 1891 he was appointed secretary of the American Presbyterian Mission
American Presbyterian Mission
American Presbyterian Mission was an American Presbyterian missionary society, operated by the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, that was involved in sending workers to countries such as China during the late Qing Dynasty and to India in nineteenth century...
. He visited missions in Persia
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
, and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
in 1896-97, and in South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
in 1909 and later made similar tours. In Princeton he was greatly influnced by Arthur Tappan Pierson
Arthur Tappan Pierson
Arthur Tappan Pierson was an American Presbyterian pastor, early fundamentalist leader, and writer who preached over 13,000 sermons, wrote over fifty books, and gave Bible lectures as part of a transatlantic preaching ministry that made him famous in Scotland and England...
. Under his leadership the foreign missions of the Presbyterian church became remarkably successful. Although he published two articles in the The Fundamentals
The Fundamentals
The Fundamentals or The Fundamentals: A Testimony To The Truth edited by A. C. Dixon and later by Reuben Archer Torrey is a set of 90 essays in 12 volumes published from 1910 to 1915 by the Bible Institute of Los Angeles. They were designed to affirm orthodox Protestant beliefs and defend against...
, he is often considered a liberal because he sided with the Presbyterian Church (USA)
Presbyterian Church (USA)
The Presbyterian Church , or PC, is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States. Part of the Reformed tradition, it is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the U.S...
and opposed John Gresham Machen
John Gresham Machen
John Gresham Machen was an American Presbyterian theologian in the early 20th century. He was the Professor of New Testament at Princeton Seminary between 1915 and 1929, and led a conservative revolt against modernist theology at Princeton and formed Westminster Theological Seminary as a more...
during the anti-liberal/modernist controversies of the 1930's
Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy
The Fundamentalist–Modernist Controversy was a religious controversy in the 1920s and 30s within the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America that later created divisions in most American Christian denominations as well. The major American denomination was torn by conflict over the...
.
Including some of his inspirational books, he published:
- The Man Christ Jesus (1896)
- A Memorial of a True Life: Biography of H. M. Beaver (1898)
- The Man Paul (1900)
- Presbyterian Foreign Missions (1901)
- Missionary Principles and Practice (1902)
- The Principles of Jesus (1902)
- A Memorial of Horace Tracy Pitkin (1903)
- Young Man's Questions (1903)
- Missions and Modern History (two volumes, 1904)
- The Marks of a Man (1907)
- Christianity and the Nations (1910)
- The Light of the World (1911)
- South American Problems (1912)
- Studies of Missionary Leadership (1914)
- John's Gospel (1915)
- The Stuff of Manhood (1917)
- The Christian Man the Church and the War (1918)
- The Gospel and the New World (1919)
- A Missionary Pioneer in the Far East (1922)
- Seeking the Mind of Christ (1926)
- The Unity of the Americas (1926)
- Some Living Issues (1930)
- The Finality of Jesus Christ (1933)
- Five Minutes a Day (1953)
See also
- 19th Century Protestant Missions in China
- List of Protestant missionaries in China
- Christianity in ChinaChristianity in ChinaChristianity in China is a growing minority religion that comprises Protestants , Catholics , and a small number of Orthodox Christians. Although its lineage in China is not as ancient as the institutional religions of Taoism and Mahayana Buddhism, and the social system and ideology of...
External links
- "Religion: Robert E. Speer" (Time Magazine. Monday Mar. 03, 1924.)