George Albert Coe

George Albert Coe (March 26, 1862 – 1951) was an educational theorist and scholar of religion. Alongside William James and Edwin Diller Starbuck he has been described as "one of the three leading pioneers in psychology of religion". During his time he was a leading figure in the field of religious education.

Biography

Coe was the son of a Methodist minister. In 1884 he completed his BA in the University of Rochester and subsequently received an MA in theology and a PhD in philosophy from Boston University. He also studied at the University of Berlin from 1890 to 1891. After completing his studies he held a professorship of philosophy at the University of Southern California and the Northwestern University before moving to the Union Theological Seminary in Columbia University. Here he was appointed professor of religious education and psychology.

He played a role in the foundation of the Religious Education Association (becoming President in 1909) and served as the editor of The Social Frontier, a publication of the Progressive Education Association. His writings promoted Liberal Protestantism and the Social Gospel. Coe was a Methodist who helped found the Methodist Federation for Social Action. Additionally he held memberships of the American Philosophical Association, the American Psychological Association, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

In the 1930s he founded the Committee on Militarism in Education and was involved in the American Committee for the Protection of Foreign Born. In the later part of his life he became sympathetic to Marxist ethics, stating that "Marx raised the fundamental ethical questions whether it is humane or just that a man's sustenance should depend on his contributing by his labor to the private profit of another". He considered that "we are not done with Marxism when we weight the merits and demerits of the Soviet government, nor when we choose between communist and anti-communist ideology" due to this ethical concern. He was one of 450 figures to sign a statement defending the "constitutional rights of the Communist Party of the United States" and was involved in the 'National Non-Partisan Committee' to defend those in the Smith Act trials of Communist Party leaders.