Biography

The son of a New York barrel-maker, Charles Augustus Briggs was born in 1841. While pursuing an education at the University of Virginia, Briggs came to know Christ. After a stint in the army during the Civil War, he continued his studies at Union Theological Seminary. His father’s poor health required Briggs to leave school to tend to the barrel-making business. A few years later, the First Presbytery of New York licensed Briggs to preach. Briggs and his wife, Julie, moved to Germany so that he could study at the University of Berlin. While there, he focused on theology and critical scholarship. Returning to America, Briggs took a pastorate in New Jersey for five years. Union Theological Seminary hired him as a Professor of Hebrew and would eventually chair the department. His ideas of Christian unity and criticism of denominations brought him into conflict with the Presbyterian Church which charged him with heresy. While he was acquitted by the local committee, the General Assembly suspended his license. He continued to preach but eventually joined the Episcopal Church and in 1899 became a Priest. Briggs co-authored the Hebrew and English Lexicon. He authored several other books including A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Psalms (1906-7), The Ethical Teaching of Jesus (1904), New Light on the Life of Jesus (1904), and Whither? A Theological Question for the Times (1889). He received several honorary degrees from various colleges. Briggs died from pneumonia in 1941.

Wailand Groenendyk
CCEL Staff Writer