Biography

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Archibald Thomas Robertson was born near Chatham, Virginia, but grew up on a farm in North Carolina. In 1876, he was baptized and began his lifelong loyalty to the Southern Baptist Church. After graduating from Wake Forest College, he enrolled in the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary at Louisville, Kentucky and received the Th.M. in 1888. In 1892 Robertson was appointed professor at Southern Baptist and remained in that post until a day in 1934 when he dismissed his class early and went home and died of a stroke.

Robertson's books are still consulted today, particularly his Word Pictures in the New Testament and his landmark volume A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in Light of Historical Research. In all, he published forty-five books, several of which are still in print today. Robertson helped found the Baptist World Alliance in 1900. He was an important Southern Baptist and a well-respected scholar in his day. As the son-in-law of famous preacher John Broadus (Robertson's grave lies in the shadow of Broadus), Robertson sought to equip his students with the proper tools for good preaching. Here are some quotes of Robertson linking study of the Greek New Testament to preaching: "The greatest proof that the Bible is inspired is that it has withstood so much bad preaching!"; "God pity the poor preacher who has to hunt for something to preach - and the people who have to listen!"; and “Preaching… is the most dangerous thing in the world.”