Ezekiel Gilman Robinson, D.D. (Brown University, 1853), LL.D. was born at Attleborough, Bristol Co., Mass., March 13, 1815. He graduated in 1838 at Brown University, where he also spent the following year as resident graduate. In 1842 he graduated at Newton Theological Institution. He was pastor at Norfolk, Va., 1842-45. During eight months of this time (being an academic year) he served as chaplain at the University of Virginia, having received from the church leave of absence for this purpose. He was pastor at Cambridge, Mass., 1845-46. In 1846 he became Professor of Biblical Interpretation in the Western Theological
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Seminary, Covington, Ky. From 1850 to 1853 he was pastor of the Ninth Street church, Cincinnati.During all these years he had been steadily growing in power and reputation, and when he became Professor of Theology in Rochester Theological Seminary in the spring of 1853, the feeling was general that the field was the one above all others for which his abilities, his acquirements, and his mental traits peculiarly fitted him. The resignation of Dr. Conant in 1857 left Dr. Robinson the senior professor and virtual president, though the title of president was not conferred upon him till 1868. During the nearly twenty years of his connection with the seminary Dr. Robinson achieved a work the arduousness and the influence of which cannot easily be overestimated. The increase of students, the growth of the library, the enlargement of the endowment (chiefly through his personal exertions), the addition of new professors, the erection of adequate buildings, the extension of the course of study from two years to three, and above all the accession to the Baptist ministry of a large body of men, thoroughly equipped, mighty in the Scriptures, full of zeal for the truth and of love for God and man, and animated with a lofty sense of duty, - these were among the visible results of his labors. In 1867-68, Dr. Robinson traveled quite extensively in Europe.
In 1872 he became president of Brown University. In this position he has shown not only the high, broad, and exact scholarship which had already been universally recognized, but also great executive ability and power of leadership. The university has advanced in all the elements of prosperity, maintaining the position which naturally belongs to the oldest Baptist college in America. As an educator, Dr. Robinson's power lies not alone in the knowledge which he communicates, but in the mental and spiritual quickening which he imparts, in the example which is presented to the pupil of logical acuteness, of mental independence, of reverent love for truth, of loyalty to duty. He has been a peculiarly wise counselor to those who were of an inquiring disposition, and who were pressing their inquiries in a manner that was perilous to their faith. He has not repelled or awed them by the parade of authority, but he has pointed out to them the real sources of knowledge, and has so wisely guided their inquiries as to lead them to an intelligent and well-grounded faith. His labors as an instructor have not wholly withdrawn Dr. Robinson from the pulpit. His preaching is marked by logical power, singular clearness of definition and statement, directness of appeal to the conscience, a vivid presentation of the great facts of religion and the great lessons of duty. Dr. Robinson has not felt that his position as a minister of the gospel made it his duty to withdraw himself from all concern in public affairs. At critical times in the national history, especially when the existence of the nation was at stake, his utterances from the platform and the pulpit have been stirring beyond expression, arousing, deepening, and intensifying the spirit of patriotism. Dr. Robinson has not published largely. His addresses and sermons, though the result of intense and careful thought, have usually been unwritten in form. Some of his sermons and lectures have been reported with varying degrees of correctness. His most elaborate work was the revision of the translation of Neander's "Planting and Training of the Church" (which, in fact, amounted to a new translation). While at Rochester he was for several years the editor of the Christian Review, and wrote extensively for it.
============ [From The Baptist Encyclopedia, 1881; reprint 1988. Scanned and formatted by Jim Duvall.]
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