Leonard Woods (theologian)

For his son, president of Bowdoin College, see Leonard Woods (college president).
Leonard Woods

Leonard Woods (June 19, 1774 – August 24, 1854)[1] was an American theologian. He was widely known for upholding orthodox Calvinism over Unitarianism.

In 1796, Woods graduated from Harvard, and was soon ordained pastor in 1798 of the Congregational Church at West Newbury, MA. He was the first professor of Andover Theological Seminary and between 1808 and 1846, occupied the seminary's chair of Christian theology. He helped establish several societies including the American Tract Society, the American Education Society, the Temperance Society, and the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Woods was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1812.[2]

Woods was also an influential and outspoken proponent of slavery in the run-up to the American Civil War. He helped organize a petition drive among ministers to support the Compromise of 1850 and help stamp out antislavery clergy.[3]

His son-in-law, Edward A. Lawrence, Sr., was a pastor, professor, and author.[4][5] Woods' grandson, Edward A. Lawrence, Jr., was the namesake of Lawrence House Baltimore.

  1. ^ Bowden, Henry Warner, ed. (1977). "Woods, Leonard". Dictionary of American religious biography (1st ed.). Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. pp. 530–531. ISBN 0-8371-8906-3.
  2. ^ "Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter W" (PDF). American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
  3. ^ Applegate, Debby (2006). The most famous man in America : the biography of Henry Ward Beecher (1st pbk ed.). Three Leaves Press. p. 246. ISBN 978-0-385-51397-5.
  4. ^ Chapman, George Thomas (1867). "Alumni 1834". Sketches of the Alumni of Dartmouth College: From the First Graduation in 1771 to the Present Time, with a Brief History of the Institution (Public domain ed.). Riverside Press. p. 273. Retrieved 28 April 2022. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  5. ^ Phillips, Charles W. (11 June 2018). Edwards Amasa Park: The Last Edwardsean: The Last Edwardsean. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. ISBN 978-3-647-56030-4. Retrieved 28 April 2022.