Robert Lewis Dabney Article Index for
Robert Lewis
Website Links For
Robert Lewis
 

Information About

Robert Lewis Dabney




Robert Lewis Dabney ( March 5 , 1820January 3 , 1898 ) was an American Christian Theologian , a Southern Presbyterian pastor, and Confederate Army Chaplain . He was also chief of staff and Biographer to Stonewall Jackson . His biography of Jackson remains in print today.

Dabney and James Henley Thornwell were two of Southern Presbyterianism's most influential scholars. They were both Calvinist , Old School Presbyterians, and social conservatives. Conservative Presbyterians still study their theological works, particularly in the Presbyterian Church In America and Orthodox Presbyterian Church , though these churches reject Dabney and Thornwell's support of Antebellum Slavery .


BIOGRAPHY

Dabney studied at Hampden-Sydney College and the University Of Virginia ( M.A. , 1842 ), and graduated from Union Theological Seminary in 1846 .

He was then a Missionary in Louisa County, Virginia from 1846 to 1847 and Pastor at Tinkling Spring, Virginia from 1847 to 1853 , being also head master of a classical school for a portion of this time. From 1853 to 1859 he was professor of Ecclesiastical History and polity and from 1859 to 1869 adjunct professor of Systematic Theology in Union Theological Seminary, where he later became full professor of systematics. In 1883 , he was appointed professor of mental and Moral Philosophy in the University Of Texas .

By he was chaplain of the 18th Virginia regiment in the Confederate army, and in the following year was chief of staff to Jackson during the Valley Campaign and the Seven Days Battles .

After the Civil War Dabney spoke widely on Jackson and the Confederacy. He continued to hold Racial views typical in the South before the Civil War, and his continued support of slavery in speeches and a book published after the war and his strong loyalty to the Confederacy until the 1890s made him a visible figure in the post-war South (Hettle, 2003).

While at the University of Texas he practically founded and maintained the Austin School of Theology (which later became Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary), and in 1870 was Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church In The United States .


MAJOR WORKS



Also, the Banner Of Truth Trust reprinted many of Dabney's theological works in the late 20th Century.


BIBLIOGRAPHY

  • Johnson, T. C. J (1903). ''Life and Letters of Robert Lewis Dabney''.

  • Hettle, Wallace (2003). "The Minister, the Martyr, and the Maxim: Robert Lewis Dabney and Stonewall Jackson Biography," in ''Civil War History,'' Volume 49, Number 4, December 2003, pp. 353-369.''

  • Lucas, Sean Michael (2005). ''Robert Lewis Dabney: A Southern Presbyterian Life''. See also the review by Iain D Campbell.

  • Smith, Morton H. (1962). ''Studies in Southern Presbyterian Theology''. ISBN 0-87552-449-4

  • Woods, Henry M. (1936) "Robert Lewis Dabney: Prince Among Theologians and Men" , a memorial address delivered at Stonewall Church, Appomattox, Virginia , celebrating the founding of the Southern Presbyterian Church in 1861. ( PDF )



REFERENCES


}}}


EXTERNAL LINKS