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George Albert Coe

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George Albert Coe (March 26, 1862 in Monroe County, New York[1]–1951) was an educational theorist and scholar of religion. Alongside William James and Edwin Diller Starbuck he has been described as "one of the three leading pioneers in psychology of religion". During his time he was a leading figure in the field of religious education.[2]

Coe was the son of a Methodist minister. In 1884 he completed his BA in the University of Rochester and subsequently received an MA in theology and a PhD in philosophy from Boston University. He also studied at the University of Berlin from 1890 to 1891. After completing his studies he held a professorship of philosophy at the University of Southern California and the Northwestern University before moving to the Union Theological Seminary in Columbia University.[3][4] Here he was appointed professor of religious education and psychology.[5]

He played a role in the foundation of the Religious Education Association (becoming President in 1909) and served as the editor of The Social Frontier, a publication of the Progressive Education Association.[4][2] His writings promoted Liberal Protestantism and the Social Gospel.[6] Coe was a Methodist who helped found the Methodist Federation for Social Action.[7] Additionally he held memberships of the American Philosophical Association, the American Psychological Association, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.[8]

Coe was involved in the American Committee for the Protection of Foreign Born.[9] In the later part of his life he became sympathetic to Marxist ethics,[2] stating that "Marx raised the fundamental ethical questions whether it is humane or just that a man's sustenance should depend on his contributing by his labor to the private profit of another".[10] He considered that "we are not done with Marxism when we weight the merits and demerits of the Soviet government, nor when we choose between communist and anti-communist ideology" due to this ethical concern.[11] He was one of 450 figures to sign a statement defending the "constitutional rights of the Communist Party of the United States"[12] and was involved in the 'National Non-Partisan Committee' to defend those in the Smith Act trials of Communist Party leaders.[13]

His personal papers are held at the archives of Yale and Northwestern University. An adherent of liberal theology, his papers contain correspondences with liberal theologians such as Emil Brunner, Adelaide Teague Case, Harrison S. Elliot, and Harry Emerson Fosdick.[14][15] He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from the University of Southern California.[16]

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  1. ^ COE, George Albert in Who's Who in America (vol. 14, 1926 edition); p. 476
  2. ^ a b c Shook, John R. (2005). Dictionary Of Modern American Philosophers. Bloomsbury Academic Publishing. p. 511.
  3. ^ Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States Volume 5. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. 2016. p. 607.
  4. ^ a b Setran, David P. (Winter 2005). "Morality for the "Democracy of God": George Albert Coe and the Liberal Protestant Critique of American Character Education, 1917–1940". Religion and American Culture: A Journal of Interpretation. 15 (1): 107–144.
  5. ^ Asquith Jr., Glenn H. (Fall 1982). "Anton T. Boisen and the Study of "Living Human Documents"". Journal of Presbyterian History (1962-1985). 60 (3): 244–265.
  6. ^ Stevens, Maryanne (1987). "Rethinking George Albert Coe". Religious Education. 82 (1): 115–126.
  7. ^ Nicholson, Ian (1994). "Academic Professionalization and Protestant Reconstruction, 1890-1902: George Albert Coe's Psychology of Religion". Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences. 30 (4): 348–368.
  8. ^ History of Northwestern University and Evanston. Munsell Publishing Company. 1906. p. 576.
  9. ^ Hearing[s] Before the Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives, Eighty-fourth Congress, First-second Sessions Volume 7. US Government Printing Office. 1955. pp. 8278 and 8282.
  10. ^ Nelson Duke, David (2003). In the Trenches with Jesus and Marx Harry F. Ward and the Struggle for Social Justice. University of Alabama Press. p. 211.
  11. ^ Hedborg Craig, Robert (1992). Religion and Radical Politics An Alternative Christian Tradition in the United States. Temple University Press. p. 193.
  12. ^ Hearing[s] Before the Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives, Eighty-fourth Congress, First-second Sessions Volume 7. US Government Printing Office. 1955. pp. 7188–7191.
  13. ^ Hearing[s] Before the Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives, Eighty-fourth Congress, First-second Sessions Volume 7. US Government Printing Office. 1955. pp. 7207–8.
  14. ^ "George Albert Coe papers". archives.yale.edu. Archives at Yale.
  15. ^ "George A. Coe (1862-1951) Papers". northwestern.edu.
  16. ^ School & Society. 36: 44. 1932. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
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