The Life and Works of Dr. Richard Furmanritings

Being a Compilation of Biographical Tributes on, and Sermons, Addresses and Circular Letters by Dr. Richard Furman (1755-1825)

Pastor of First Baptist Church, Charleston, South Carolina. First President of the Triennial Baptist Convention. First President of the South Carolina Baptist Convention.

Though this compilation does not claim to be an exhaustive collection of the rich source material on or by Richard Furman; it is an attempt to assemble some representative biographical tributes as well as published works of Furman himself. Most of these selections have been unavailable to the general public for the nearly two centuries, and it is a delight to be able to present them to a new generation.

Here is an opportunity to become acquainted with an effective and humble servant of Jesus Christ who continues to be America’s most influential Baptist.

Table of Contents:

Life

I. Biographical Summaries and Tributes

1. Richard Furman in Baptist Encyclopedia, William Cathcart

2. Dr. Richard Furman, in A History of the Baptists, by Thomas Armitage

3. Richard Furman, from the Rev. William B. Johnson in Annals of the American Pulpit

4. Biography of Richard Furman in Two Centuries of the First Baptist Church of Southern Carolina, Henry Alan Tupper

5. Richard Furman and His Place in American Baptist History, Edwin Charles Dargan in Bulletin Furman University

II. A Biography of Richard Furman (1913)

1. Biography of Richard Furman

2. His Sickness and Death

3. Miscellaneous Letters

4. Co-operation in the Attainment of Religious Liberty

5. His First Pastorate at the High Hills of Santee

6. Political and Religious Conditions out of Which Arose Ministerial Education

7. Richard Furman’s Contribution to the Triennial Convention

8. Eulogy of Gen. A. Hamilton

Works

I. Sermons and Addresses

1. On the Constitution and Order of the Christian Church (1791)

2. Unity and Peace (1794)

3. Rewards of Grace Conferred on Christ’s Faithful People: A Sermon, Occasioned by the Decease of the Rev. Oliver Hart (1796)

4. An Oration, Delivered at the Charleston Orphan-House (1796)

5. Humble Submission to Divine Sovereignty. The Duty of a Bereaved Nation: A Sermon, Occasioned by the Death of His Excellency General George Washington (1800)

6. America’s Deliverance and Duty. A Sermon on the Anniversary of American Independence, July 4, 1802

7. A Letter from Dr. Furman of Charleston, to Dr. Rippon of London, regarding a camp meeting he attended (1802)

8. Conversion Essential to Salvation (1816)

9. Address of the Convention (1817)

10. Sketch of the Life of the Rev. Edm’d Botsford

11. On the Analogy Between the Dispensation of Grace by the Gospel, and a Royal Marriage Feast

II. Circular Letters

Introduction by Wood Furman

1. On the Relation the Children of Church Members bear to the Church, and the Duties arising from that Relation (1792)

2. On the Duty of Churches to provide for the instruction and improvement of persons called by them to the ministry: previous to their entering on the work (1797)

3. On the use of Reason in Religion (1798)

4. On the Languishing State of Religion in the Southern States (1799)

5. On Religious and Civil Duties (1800)

6. On Growth in Grace (1804)

7. On the Communion of Saints (1806)

8. On Covetousness (1808)

9. Of Infant Salvation (1813)