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John Gerstner

American theologian

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 28, 2026
Entity authorityQ6235204
Source-derived summary

John Henry Gerstner (November 22, 1914 – March 24, 1996) was an American Reformed and Presbyterian theologian and professor of Church History at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and Knox Theological Seminary. He was an expert on the life and theology of Jonathan Edwards.

Career

Gerstner earned both a Master of Divinity degree and a Master of Theology degree from Westminster Theological Seminary. He earned his Doctor of Philosophy degree in Church History from Harvard University in 1945. He was originally ordained in the United Presbyterian Church of North America, then (due to church unions) with the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America and the Presbyterian Church (USA). In 1990, he left the PCUSA for the Presbyterian Church in America.

Gerstner counted among his students noted author and preacher R. C. Sproul, founder of Ligonier Ministries; Dr. Arthur Lindsley, Senior Fellow at the C.S. Lewis Institute, Dr. Walter (Wynn) Kenyon, Professor of Biblical Studies and Philosophy, Chair of the Philosophy Department and Division of Ministry and Human Services at Belhaven University; Rev. Robert Ingram, founding board member and Headmaster of The Geneva School; and Dr.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “John Gerstner” as american theologian. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1914, 1996, 1945, 1990—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1914-11-22. The account is most persuasive where John, Gerstner and American can be independently traced.
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The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as american theologian. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 28, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6235204. VIAF identifies the subject as 7562053. The Library of Congress control number is n50016514. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1914, 1996, 1945 and 1990.

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from John Gerstner” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.