FOSDICK, HARRY EMERSON (5878— ), American divine, was born at Buffalo, N.Y., on May 24, 1878. He graduated from Colgate university in 1900, and from Union theological seminary, New York city, in 1904. Ordained into the Baptist ministry in 1903, he was pastor of the First church, Montclair, N.J., 1904-15. He rapidly acquired a high reputation as a preacher especially among the universities. Becoming instructor in homi letics at Union theological seminary in 1908, he was appointed Morris K. Jesup professor of practical theology in 1915. In 1918 he was installed as a special preacher of the First Presbyterian church of New York. His plea that the door of Christian fellowship be left open to all who sincerely desired to fol low Christ regardless of specific credal belief made him the subject of attack, however, and the judicial commission of the Church decided that Dr. Fosdick must take the vows of a Pres byterian or vacate his pulpit. Upon his resignation, which took effect in 1925, the Park avenue Baptist church of New York called him to its pastorate, agreeing to open its membership to all Christians without insisting on its traditional ordinance of baptism.
Dr. Fosdick's works include The Second Mile (19o9) ; The Manhood of the Master (1913) ; The Assurance of Immortality (1913) ; The Meaning of Prayer (1915) ; The Challenge of the Present Crisis (1917) ; The Meaning of Faith (1917) ; The Meaning of Service (192o) ; Christianity and Progress (1922) ; Twelve Tests of Character (1923) ; The Modern Use of the Bible (Yale lectures, 1924) ; Adven turous Religion (1926) ; A Pilgrimage to Palestine (1927); Spiritual Values and Eternal Life (1927) ; Modern Use of the Bible (1929).