Lewis Bayles Paton

Background

Lewis Bayles Paton was born on June 27, 1864 in New York City, United States. He was the son of Robert Leighton Stuart and Henrietta (Bayles) Paton.

Education

Lewis Bayles was graduated from the University of the City of New York (now New York University) in 1884, ranking high in his class. For one year he was teacher in a boys' school, and for nearly two years traveled widely in Europe, studying German, French, and Italian. From 1887 to 1890 he was a student at Princeton Theological Seminary, winning at his graduation a fellowship in Old Testament. Five semesters were then spent at the University of Berlin. During the earlier part of his teaching career he completed a thesis, published under the title The Original Form of the Holiness-Code (1897), for which he received the degree of doctor of philosophy from the University of Marburg.

Career

In 1892 Lewis Bayles Paton became a member of the faculty of Hartford Theological Seminary, where he remained for the rest of his life, being instructor one year, associate professor seven years, and from 1900 on, professor of Old Testament exegesis and criticism. On April 13, 1890, he was ordained by the Presbytery of Morris and Orange, but transferred to the Congregational Church in 1892. Despite his conservative instruction at Princeton, he became convinced of the truth of the critical view of the Old Testament before graduation, largely as a result of preparing a thesis on "The Historical Character of the Book of Chronicles. " While many institutions in America suffered grievously from the controversies which raged over the Old Testament, Hartford escaped, for although Paton was frank and straightforward in expressing his critical opinions, his thoroughly Christian spirit and attitude were evident to all. It was characteristic of him that when asked to contribute to a series called "Modern Sermons by World Scholars, " he should write upon Jesus Christ rather than upon some Old Testament theme.

The chief characteristics of Paton's work as teacher and writer were his keenly logical mind, his determination to get at all the facts and to arrange his treatment in the most orderly fashion. His class-room lectures, as well as his more public utterances and his writings, were marvels of comprehensiveness and lucidity. Students and fellow scholars alike saw in his work an object lesson of scholarly method. He served as director of the American School at Jerusalem in 1903 - 1904, and thereafter kept in close touch with all the new discoveries which bore even remotely upon his work, making much use of this material in his teaching and writing. For many years he was connected with the American Journal of Archaeology in an editorial capacity. Much of his literary work appeared in scholarly periodicals and in encyclopedias. He dealt with the background of Hebrew life and religion in many articles contributed to James Hastings' Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics (1908 - 1926), notably in those entitled "Baal" and "Canaanites. "

In the New Standard Bible Dictionary (2nd ed. , 1926) his most important articles were "Excavation and Exploration, " "Social Development of Israel, " and "Jerusalem. " He also published numerous articles in the Journal of Biblical Literature and American Journal of Theology. His books include The Early History of Syria and Palestine (1901); Jerusalem in Bible Times (1908); A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Esther (1908) in the International Critical Commentary Series; The Early Religion of Israel (1910); Spiritism and Cult of the Dead in Antiquity (1921);

Lewis Bayles Paton died on January 24, 1932.

Achievements

• Lewis Bayles Payton became famous mostly due to his publications in different periodicals and encyclopedias. He was also the editor of Recent Christian Progress (1909).

Works

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  • The Early History of Syria and Palestine

    (This is a a comprehensive history of the Levant during an...)

  • Spiritism and the cult of the dead in antiquity

    (Spiritism and the cult of the dead in antiquity. 356 Pages.)

  • The early religion of Israel

    (The early religion of Israel. 136 Pages.)

  • Jerusalem in Bible times

    (Jerusalem in Bible times. 196 Pages.)

Connections

Lewis Bayles Paton was married three times: first, in 1896, to Suvia Davison of Hartford, who died in 1904, second, in 1915, to Mrs. Loraine Seymour (Brown) Calhoun of Hartford, who died in 1924, and third, in 1925, to Katharine Hazeltine of Vassar College.

Father:

Robert Leighton Stuart

Mother:

Henrietta (Bayles) Paton

Spouse:

Suvia (Davison) Paton

Spouse:

Katharine Hazeltine Paton

Spouse:

Loraine Seymour (Brown) Calhoun Paton

Sister:

Henrietta Bayles Paton

Sister:

Elizabeth Allen (Paton) Mcgilvary

Sister:

Ethel Paton

Sister:

Julia Bayles Paton

Sister:

Lanice Belle (Paton) Dana

Daughter:

Suvia Lanice (Paton) Whittemore

stepdaughter:

Catharine Seymour Willson