A. T. Robertson
A. T. Robertson
Archibald Thomas (A. T.) Robertson, professor of New Testament 1895-1934, was born on November 6, 1863 in Pittsylvania County, Virginia. In 1879, Robertson entered Wake Forest College without a high school degree. While attending Wake Forest, he completed high school courses, the standard baccalaureate degree, and the Master of Arts program. Robertson showed a proclivity for languages at the school, winning medals in French and Latin and placing second in his Greek class.
After graduating from Wake Forest in 1885, Robertson moved to Louisville to attend Southern. He received a Th.M. in 1888 and worked as a teaching assistant for John Broadus. In 1890, Robertson became an associate professor at the seminary. He married Broadus’s daughter, Ella Broadus, on November 27, 1894. They had five children together. When Broadus died in 1895, Robertson became Southern’s professor of New Testament interpretation, a position he held for thirty-nine years.
Robertson was the premier New Testament scholar of his generation. A voluminous writer, Robertson published forty-five books: four grammars of the New Testament, fourteen commentaries and studies, six volumes in the series Word Pictures in the New Testament, eleven histories, and ten New Testament character studies. This body of literature reflects a general bent toward language study over theological reflection. His work A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in the Light of Historical Research, published in 1914, was the capstone of his career. It drew accolades from all corners of the globe and was used by diverse figures in their work, including Robertson’s seminary contemporaries, professors in secular institutions, and the Pope.
Robertson was an active churchman at Fourth Avenue Baptist Church, a frequent contributor to denominational papers and magazines, and a member of the editorial board of the Baptist Argus. He twice delivered the prestigious Stone Lectures at Princeton Seminary. He also played a pivotal role in the foundation of the Baptist World Alliance in the early 1900s. The quintessential scholar and Southern Baptist leader died of a stroke on September 24, 1934.