Carl F. Henry

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Carl F. H. Henry A 20th Century Theologian
In the book, Carl F. H. Henry by Bob E. Patterson, Bob states that Henry is one of America’s outstanding Protestant evangelical theologians and scholars. Henry has authored almost forty books, one of his latest being The God of Ages and the gods of this Age. He has lectured and taught on campuses, including Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Northern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fuller Theological Seminary, and several institutions in America and countries on every continent. He was the founding editor of Christianity Today magazine, reaching out to thousands of evangelicals on a biweekly base. This exposure enabled Henry to tactfully shape his message and become the principal journalist, in which he defined and defended conservative Protestantism, for the evangelical movement in the late 1950’s.
What is an evangelical? Richard Quebedeaux, America’s chronicler of Evangelicalism, defines an evangelical “ as a person who attests to the truth of, and acts upon, three major principles (1) the full authority of Scriptures in matters of faith and practice; (2) the necessity of personal faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord (conversion); and (3) the urgency of seeking the conversion of sinful men and women to Christ (evangelism)” (p.14). Carl Henry defines an evangelical as “ one who believes the evangel. The Good News is that the Holy Spirit gives spiritual life to all who repent and receive divine salvation proffered in the incarnate, crucified and risen Redeemer. The Christian message is what the inspired Scriptures teach—no more, no less—and an evangelical is a person whose life is governed by scriptural revelation of God and His purposes”(pp.14, 15).
As the eldest of eight children, born on January 22, 1913, in New York City. Henry’s parents, Karl and Johanna, were German immigrants and showed little on how they stood on religion, even though his mother was Ro...