Bible Encyclopedias
Sears, Baarnas, D.D., LL.D.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

Search for…

Enter query below:

or

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

Prev Entry
Searles, Isaac

Next Entry
Sears, Clinton W.

Resource Toolbox

Print Article

an eminent Baptist minister, was born at Sandisfield. Massachusetts, November 19, 1802. In 1825 he graduated from Brown University, and four years later from Newton Theological Seminary. From 1827 to 1829 he was pastor of the First Baptist Church at Hartford, Connecticut. From 1830 to 1832 he was a professor in the Hamilton Literary and Theological Institution (now Madison University), and from 1833 to 1836 he studied theology at the German universities. During this period he inaugurated the German Baptist Church by immersing Reverend J.G. Oncken and six others in the Elbe, at Hamburg. He was a professor in the Newton Theological Seminary from 1835 to 1847, acting part of the time as president of the institution. He succeeded Horace Mann as secretary and executive agent of the Massachusetts Board of Education in 1848, and served in that position until 1855, when he became. president of Brown University. In March, 1867, Dr. Sears was selected as the general agent of the Peabody Educational Fund, and at once went to Virginia to live. In this position he did much towards promoting education in the South. When the fund was established not a single Southern state had a modern system of public schools, but within eight years no state was without such a system. He died at Saratoga Springs, N.Y., July 6, 1880. Dr. Sears succeeded professor James D. Knowles as editor of the Christian Review in 1838, and held the position for a number of years. He was also a contributor to the American Cyclopaedia, and the Bibliotheca Sacra. Among the works published by him were the following: Nohden's German Grammar with Additions (1842): — Classical Studies (1843): — The Ciceronian. (1844) — Select Treatises of Luther (1846): — Life of Martin Luther (1850): — Roget's Thesaurus (1854). Dr. Sears also published many addresses, educational reports, and miscellaneous essays, including his discourse at the centennial celebration of Brown University in 1864.