Heroes of the Faith — John Albert Broadus

2020 marks 125th anniversary of death of distinguished Baptist leader

John Albert Broadus (1827–1895) was a distinguished Baptist scholar, pastor, teacher and denominational leader.

This year is the 125th anniversary of his death.

He was born to Edmund and Nancy Broadus on Jan. 24, 1827, in Culpeper County, Virginia. He was educated at home and in a private school. When he was almost 16, he accepted Christ.

He enrolled in the University of Virginia in Charlottesville in 1846 to prepare for the ministry.

In 1850 he received his M.A. degree, was ordained as a minister and  married Maria Harrison. They had three daughters before Maria died in 1857. He remarried two years later.

He became an instructor in Latin and Greek at the University of Virginia and pastor of the Charlottesville Baptist Church in 1850. After one year, he resigned as a teacher to devote to full-time ministry as a pastor. 

Broadus held a revival in Charlottesville in 1858. Eighteen-year-old Lottie Moon, who became the famous Southern Baptist missionary to China, attended. Moon experienced a “religious awakening” and Broadus baptized her.

In 1859 he became a member of the first faculty of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary when it opened in Greenville, South Carolina. For the next 36 years, he was professor of New Testament interpretation and homiletics.

When the seminary closed during the Civil War, Broadus preached and also served as chaplain in Lee’s army in northern Virginia.

When the seminary reopened after the war, it struggled to survive. Broadus and founder and first president James Boyce worked diligently to keep it open. 

The seminary moved to Louisville, Kentucky, in 1877. 

Broadus became the second president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1889 and served until 1895.

Broadus authored many books. His “On the Preparation and Delivery of Sermons” (1870) had 26 editions and is a classic. “Lectures on the History of Preaching” (1876), “Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew” (1886) and “Commentary on the Gospel of Mark” (1905) are among his influential books.

He died March 16, 1895, and is buried in Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Joanne Sloan, a member of First Baptist Church, Tuscaloosa, has been a published writer of articles and books for 30 years. She has a bachelor’s degree double majoring in history and English from East Texas State University (now Texas A&M–Commerce) and a master’s degree specializing in English from the University of Arkansas (1978).