Annals of the American Pulpit (9 vols.)

Annals of the American Pulpit is an invaluable tool for anyone interested in early American preachers and the history of the Protestant church in the United States. This classic compilation by William Buell Sprague offers easy access to a trove of biographical information on early American preachers, with hundreds of sketches of significant clergymen who died before 1850. Across these nine volumes Sprague collects biographical entries on preachers from the Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist, Lutheran, Trinitarian Congregationalist, Unitarian Congregationalist, and Episcopalian denominations. He also provides a brief historical introduction and outline of these churches’ beginnings in the United States. Browse this biographical dictionary to discover leading preachers in early America, or consult this comprehensive resource to research an American minister you come across in other reading.

Find primary source testimony about clergymen such as George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, and many lesser known ministers and theologians. Sprague designed the work to offer original testimony of character as far as possible, as well as attempting to maintain denominational partiality. He explains that he “embraced all who have been in any considerable degree distinguished, from the earliest settlement of the country to the [mid-nineteenth century]” and that “in the construction of the work, [he] had an eye indirectly to the history of the Church, as well as directly to the biography of its ministers. I have, therefore, kept each denomination by itself, and have arranged the names under each chronologically, so that the gradual changes in the ministry can easily be traced, and the progress of the denomination also, so far as it is identified with the character and doings of its ministers. A chronological index is placed at the beginning of each denomination, and an alphabetical index at the close.”

The Logos edition of Annals of the American Pulpit is the best place to research early American preachers. The Timeline enables you to instantly contextualize the people, places, and ideas discussed. Perform powerful searches with the Topic Guide to instantly gather relevant biblical texts and resources. And free tablet and mobile apps let you take the discussion with you. With Logos Bible Software, the most efficient and comprehensive research tools are in one place, so you get the most out of your study.