thumb|right|200px|Arthur Cushman McGiffert
Arthur Cushman McGiffert (March 4, 1861 – February 25, 1933), American theologian, was born in Sauquoit, New York, the son of a Presbyterian minister of Scots-Irish descent.
Biography
He graduated at Western Reserve College in 1882 and at Union Theological Seminary in 1885, studied in Germany (especially under Harnack) in 1885–1887, and in Italy and France in 1888, and in that year received the degree of doctor of philosophy at Marburg. He was instructor (1888-1890) and professor (1890-1893) of church history at Lane Theological Seminary, and in 1893 became Washburn professor of church history in Union theological seminary, succeeding Philip Schaff. He became the 8th president of Union Seminary in 1917
He died in Dobbs Ferry, New York, on February 25, 1933, at the age of 71.
Career
thumb|200px|Arthur McGiffert in [[The Broad Ax on May 14, 1900]]
His published work, except occasional critical studies in philosophy, dealt with church history and the history of dogma. His best known publication is a History of Christianity in the Apostolic Age (1897). This book, which sustains critical historical eminence to this day, by its independent criticism and departures from traditionalism, aroused the opposition of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church; though the charges brought against McGiffert were dismissed by the Presbytery of New York, to which they had been referred, a trial for heresy seemed inevitable, and McGiffert, in 1900, retired from the Presbyterian ministry and retained his credentialed status by eager recognition from a Congregational Church.
Works
- A Dialogue between a Christian and a Jew (1888)
- Eusebius: Church History, Life of Constantine the Great, etc. [Translated by A.C. McGiffert, and others.] (1890)
- Primitive and Catholic Christianity: an address (1893)