William G. T. Shedd

William Greenough Thayer Shedd (June 21, 1820 – November 17, 1894) was an American Presbyterian theologian from Massachusetts. He also served as a professor of theology at Union Theological Seminary in New York for over sixteen years.

Life

William Greenough Thayer Shedd was the son of the Reverend Marshall Shedd and Eliza Thayer and was born in Acton, Massachusetts on June 21, 1820.

In 1835, Shedd enrolled at the University of Vermont and became a protégé of UVM president James Marsh. Under the influence of his mentor, Shedd was deeply affected by the thought of Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Transcendentalism. He graduated from UVM in 1839 and taught school for one year, during which time he began to attend the Presbyterian church. Being called to the ministry, Shedd entered Andover Theological Seminary in 1840 and studied under theologian Leonard Woods. He graduated in 1843.

After a short pastorate at Brandon, Vermont, he was successively professor of English literature at 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 as associate pastor of the Brick Church of New York City (1862–1863), professor 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.

Shedd's writings reveal the interplay of various intellectual voices such as Kant, Darwin, Emerson, Coleridge, Calvin, Locke, and German intellectuals such as Fichte and Schiller. He was known for his teachings on eternal punishment and damnation, his most notable work, Dogmatic Theology, devotes 56 pages to the topic, as opposed to only 2 pages on heaven.