MUNGER, THEODORE THORNTON
(5 March 1830. Bainbridge, NY-11 January 1910. New Haven, CT). Education: B.A., Yale College, 1851; B.D. Yale Divinity School, 1855; studied at Andover Seminary, 1855. Career: Minister, Dorchester, MA, 1856-60; minister. Haverhill. MA. 1864-69; interim minister, Providence RI, 1869-71; minister, Lawrence, MA, 1871-75; minister, San Jose, CA, 1875-77; minister, North Adams, MA, 1877-85; minister, United Congregational Church, New Haven. CT. 1885-1900.
Theodore Thornton Munger is best known as the most loyal and articulate of Horace Bushnell's* followers. He shared his hero's enthusiasm for religious toleration and progressive thought. And he did much to popularize Bushnell's ideas, writing an account of his life and thought, Horace Bushnell. Preacher and Theologian.
Munger occupied several clerical posts before settling into an influential pulpit in New Haven. He did not publish his first book until he was fifty. but he was soon one of the most popular religious writers of his time. On the Threshold (1880). a series of sermons for young people sold twenty-five thousand copies-a considerable number for the time-and was then reissued as a Cambridge Classic. John Greenleaf Whittier described his second book. The Freedom of Faith, (1883) as "refreshing and tonic as the north wind."
Like Bushnell, Munger had an appealing style, bringing a literary flair to his work. Also like Bushnell he emphasized the role of spiritual intuition and human experience in religion. And he argued that Christians should focus their attention on the beliefs that united them, rather than the differences in their theologies. A descendent of John Eliot*, the "Apostle to the Indians," Munger is one of those Congregationalists who laid the groundwork for broadening the church through union with other denominations.
Bibliography
A: On the Threshold (Boston, 1881); The Freedom of Faith (Boston, 1883); The Appeal to Life (Boston, 1887); Character through Inspiration (Boston, 1897); Horace Bushnell; Preacher Il1Jd Theologian (Boston, 1899); Essays for the Day (Boston, 1904).
B: DAB 13,327-28; DARB, 326-27; NCAB 31, 339-40; NYT 12 January 1910,9; SH 8. 53; Benjamin W. Bacon, Theodore Thornton Munger: New England Minister (New Haven, 1913).
Theodore Thornton Munger is best known as the most loyal and articulate of Horace Bushnell's* followers. He shared his hero's enthusiasm for religious toleration and progressive thought. And he did much to popularize Bushnell's ideas, writing an account of his life and thought, Horace Bushnell. Preacher and Theologian.
Munger occupied several clerical posts before settling into an influential pulpit in New Haven. He did not publish his first book until he was fifty. but he was soon one of the most popular religious writers of his time. On the Threshold (1880). a series of sermons for young people sold twenty-five thousand copies-a considerable number for the time-and was then reissued as a Cambridge Classic. John Greenleaf Whittier described his second book. The Freedom of Faith, (1883) as "refreshing and tonic as the north wind."
Like Bushnell, Munger had an appealing style, bringing a literary flair to his work. Also like Bushnell he emphasized the role of spiritual intuition and human experience in religion. And he argued that Christians should focus their attention on the beliefs that united them, rather than the differences in their theologies. A descendent of John Eliot*, the "Apostle to the Indians," Munger is one of those Congregationalists who laid the groundwork for broadening the church through union with other denominations.
Bibliography
A: On the Threshold (Boston, 1881); The Freedom of Faith (Boston, 1883); The Appeal to Life (Boston, 1887); Character through Inspiration (Boston, 1897); Horace Bushnell; Preacher Il1Jd Theologian (Boston, 1899); Essays for the Day (Boston, 1904).
B: DAB 13,327-28; DARB, 326-27; NCAB 31, 339-40; NYT 12 January 1910,9; SH 8. 53; Benjamin W. Bacon, Theodore Thornton Munger: New England Minister (New Haven, 1913).