Samuel Hulbert Turner

Background

Samuel Hulbert Turner was born on January 23, 1790 in Philadelphia, Pa. He was the son of the Rev. Joseph Turner, a native of England, and Elizabeth (Mason), the daughter of a physician of Devonshire, England.

Education

He received his early education under private tutors and at the Quaker Academy on Fourth Street, near Chestnut, and in January 1806 entered the University of Pennsylvania.

Graduating in 1807, he prepared for the ministry under the personal direction of Bishop William White. Looking back on this course of study in later years, he acknowledged his great indebtedness to the learned bishop, but confessed that "a good deal of reading without much thought left my mind poorly disciplined". His awareness of this defect led him to seek the remedy, and he early developed habits of exact scholarship and sustained thinking.

Career

He was ordained deacon January 27, 1811, and priest in 1814.

His first charge was that of the church at Chestertown, Md. The parish was a small one and the young minister was free to devote much of his time to the further pursuit of his studies without neglecting his pastoral duties. His reputation for scholarship grew and he was offered a Latin professorship in St. John's College at Annapolis, which he declined.

Removing to Philadelphia in 1817, he was appointed, early the following year, superintendent of theological students in the diocese of Pennsylvania. The duties were not onerous, for only two young men were in his care; but one of these was Alonzo Potter, who was later to attain eminence as bishop of Pennsylvania.

At this time the Protestant Episcopal Church was formulating plans for a theological school, and on the establishment of the General Theological Seminary in New York, Turner was made professor in historic theology, his appointment dating from Oct. 8, 1818. When the institution was moved to New Haven in 1820, Turner went with it.

On its reorganization in New York in 1822 he became professor of Biblical learning and interpretation, a position which he held for forty years. He had, therefore, a large part in shaping the traditions of the seminary, and since theological education in the United States was then in its formative stage, his influence was not inconsiderable in wider circles. Along with his chair at the seminary he held for some years, beginning in 1830, the professorship of the Hebrew language and literature in Columbia College.

His earlier writings, all of them on Biblical subjects, were for the most part translations of the more conservative German books of the day; but in 1841 he published an original work entitled A Companion to the Book of Genesis, and this was followed by a series of commentaries dealing with other parts of the Bible. They were all characterized by solid learning and sober judgment. A reviewer remarked that his books showed an "intimate acquaintance with German theology" but were "in no respects tainted by its neology". At the same time, his sturdy, matter-of-fact exegesis with its resolute rejection of forced and fantastic interpretation of Holy Scripture played its part in paving the way for a just appreciation of that Biblical criticism which was later to revolutionize the study of the Bible, and would have sadly disturbed him. During the latter half of his ministry the effects of the Oxford Movement were making themselves felt in the Episcopal Church in the United States, and the seminary was necessarily involved in the long controversy which followed.

Turner, who opposed the movement but would have classed himself among the "moderates, " defended his position throughout with a becoming sobriety of argument. His appeal was always to learning, "without which, " in his own words, "piety is the more likely to degenerate into fanaticism and the suggestions of fancy to be taken for illapses of inspiration. "

He died on December 21, 1861.

His own account of his life, Autobiography of the Rev. Samuel H. Turner, D. D. , appeared in 1863.

Achievements

• Samuel Hulbert Turner is remembered for his writings, such as Autobiography of the Rev. Samuel H. Turner and A Companion to the Book of Genesis.

Works

More photos

• book

  • The Epistle to the Ephesians: In Greek and English, with an Analysis and Exegetical Commentary

    (This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)

  • A Companion to the Book of Genesis

    ( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)

  • Autobiography of the Rev. Samuel H. Turner: Late Professor of Biblical Learning and the Interpretation of Scripture

    (Autobiography of the Rev. Samuel H. Turner - Late Profess...)

Connections

He was married on May 23, 1826, to Mary Esther Beach of Cheshire, Connecticut, who died September 2, 1839. At his death in New York City, he was survived by two sons and a daughter.

Father:

Rev. Joseph Turner

He was a native of England.

Mother:

Elizabeth (Mason)

She was the daughter of a physician of Devonshire, England.

References

• A Sermon, Commemorative of the Life and Services of the Rev. Samuel H. Turner, Preached in St. Peter's Church, New York, Oct.r 8th, 1862, to Which is Prefixed the Address Delivered at the Funeral, Dec. 24th, 1861, By the Rt. Rev. Horatio Potter, Bishop