Theologian/Philosopher
Centurion, 1881–1904
Born 4 April 1825 in New Albany, Indiana
Died 26 August 1904 in Newport, Rhode Island
Buried Princeton Cemetery
, Princeton, New Jersey
Proposed by Parke Godwin and Noah Hunt Schenck
Elected 5 March 1881 at age fifty-five
Seconder of:
Century Memorial
Professor Charles W. Shields, at the time of his death had held for nearly forty years the chair of Harmony of Science and Revealed Religion at Princeton University, whence he was graduated in 1844, and from the Theological Seminary four years later. He was particularly known for his earnest advocacy of church union, holding that the historic churches of the Reformation—the Lutheran, the Reformed, the Presbyterian, the Protestant Episcopal—were in a sense integral parts of the Church Catholic, and should be united in this country. He was the author of a number of books in the line of his teaching, chief among which were his Religion and Science in Relation to Philosophy, Philosophia Ultima, The Order of the Sciences, and Essays on Christian Unity. He was a man of independent judgment, vigorous intellect and soul, as well as attractive character.
Edward Cary
1905 Century Association Yearbook
