James Henley Thornwell

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James Henley Thornwell (December 9, 1812 – August 1, 1862) was an American Presbyterian preacher and religious writer.

Born in Marlboro District, South Carolina on December 9, 1812; Thornwell graduated from South Carolina College at nineteen, studied briefly at Harvard, then entered the Presbyterian ministry. He became prominent in the Old School Presbyterian denomination in the south, preaching and writing on theological and social issues. He taught at South Carolina College, eventually served as its president, and went on to teach at Columbia Theological Seminary. Thornwell founded the Southern Presbyterian Review, edited the Southern Quarterly Review, and had a prominent role in establishing the Presbyterian Church in the Confederate States of America. Thornwell preached the first sermon and wrote the first address for the new denomination. He died on August 1, 1862 after a long struggle with tuberculosis.

Thornwell, in the words of Professor Eugene Genovese, attempted "to envision a Christian society that could reconcile-so far as possible in a world haunted by evil-the conflicting claims of a social order with social justice and both with the freedom and dignity of the individual."

[edit] References

• Thornwell, James Henley. The Collected Writings of James Henley Thornwell, 4 vols. Edited by John B. Adger and John L. Girardeau, 1871-1873.
• Palmer, B.M. The Life and Letters of James Henley Thornwell, 1875.