Gaius Glenn Atkins

Gaius Glenn Atkins (October 4, 1868 – April 5, 1956)[1][2] was a Congregational preacher, author, and professor at Auburn Theological Seminary

Gaius Glenn Atkins
Born	October 4, 1868 Mount Carmel, Indiana
Died	April 5, 1956 Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Ohio State University
Occupation	Minister
Spouse(s)	Ada Haynes

Early life and education

He was born in Mount Carmel, Indiana to Thomas Benjamin Atkins and Caroline Morris. He graduated from Ohio State University in 1888, and was a member of Beta Theta Pi and Phi Beta Kappa. He attended Cincinnati Law School in 1891, and graduated from Yale Divinity School in 1892. He received a D.D. from Dartmouth and L.H.D. in 1923 from the University of Vermont. In 1933, he obtained his Litt.D. from Ohio State University.[3]

Career

He worked at Mount Hermon School from 1892-1894. He was ordained in 1895. He served churches in Greenfield, Massachusetts (1894-1900), Burlington, Vermont (1900-1906), First Congregational Church in Detroit, Michigan (1906-1910, 1917), and at Central Congregational Church in Providence, Rhode Island from 1910 to 1917.[4][5] He was a professor of Homiletics at Auburn Seminary from 1927-1939. He authored many titles on religion, including Modern Religious Cults and Movements.[4][6] One sermon preached at Central Church in 1914 was entitled The Right and Wrong of Feminism.[5] Atkins was critical of religious and other movements such as Baháʼí Faith, Christian Science, Unity Church, New Thought, and Theosophy .[7]

In 1914, he was the winner of the Carnegie Church Peace Union prize for the best essay on international peace.[8]

He preached at Wellesley College in 1916, and gave the Ohio State commencement address in 1933.[9][10]

Family life

He married Ada Haynes in Bellbrook, Ohio in 1892. Children included Helen, Morris, Laurence, and Robert Atkins.

Publications

• Pilgrims of the Lonely Road (1913)
• The Maze of the Nations and the Way Out (1915)
• The Godward Side of Life (1917)
• Jerusalem Past and Present: The City of Undying Memories (1918)
• Modern Religious Cults and Movements (1923)
• Religion In Our Times (1932)
• Master Sermons Of The Nineteenth Century (1940)
• History of American Congregationalism (1942)

References

1. "Gaius Glenn Atkins". Find a Grave.
2. "DR. GAIUS ATKINS, EDUCATOR, WAS 88". The New York Times. April 6, 1956.
3. Banta, R. E. (1949). Indiana Authors and Their Books, 1816-1916: Biographical Sketches of Authors Who Published During the First Century of Indiana Statehood, with Lists of Their Books. Wabash College. p. 10
4. "Atkins, Gaius. Modern Religious Cults and Movements". Gorgias Press.
5. "Atkins, Gaius Glenn, 1868-1956". Library of Congress.
6. "Atkins, Gaius Glenn, 1868-1956". The Online Books Page.
7. Anonymous. (1925). Review: Modern Religious Cults and Movements. American Journal of Sociology 30 (5): 618.
8. "DR. GAIUS ATKINS, EDUCATOR, WAS 88". The New York Times. April 6, 1956.
9. Annual Reports [of] President and Treasurer. Wellesley College. 1917.
10. "The Ohio State University Commencement Address by Gaius Glenn Atkins, Spring 1933". Ohio State University. hdl:1811/54064.