W. G. T. Shedd

William Greenough Thayer Shedd (June 21, 1820 – November 17, 1894), American Presbyterian, was born in Acton, Massachusetts.

In 1839 he graduated at the University of Vermont, and in 1843 at Andover Theological Seminary. After a short pastorate at Brandon, Vermont, he was successively professor of English literature in the University of Vermont (1845–1852), professor of sacred rhetoric in Auburn Theological Seminary (1852–1854), professor of church history in Andover Theological Seminary (1854–1862), and, after one year (1862–1863) as associate pastor of the Brick Church of New York City, of sacred literature (1863–1874) and of systematic theology (1874–1890) in Union Theological Seminary. He died in New York City on November 17, 1894.

Dr Shedd was a high Calvinist and was one of the greatest systematic theologians of the American Presbyterian church. His great work was Dogmatic Theology (3 vols, 1888–1894). He served as editor of Coleridge's Complete Works (7 vols, New York, 1894), and he also wrote:

• Lectures on the Philosophy of History (1856), in which he applied to history the doctrine of organic evolution
• Discourses and Essays (1856)
• A Manual of Church History (2 vols, 1857), a translation of Guericke
• A History of Christian Doctrine (2 vols, 1863)
• Theological Essays (1877)
• Literary Essays (1878)
• Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans (1879)
• The Doctrine of Endless Punishment (1885)

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.