Francis Robert Otto Collection

Collection

Identifier: MU-PP-0100

Staff Only

Francis Robert Otto Collection Finding Aid

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Scope and Contents

The Otto Papers contains one binder entitled “The Case of Dr. Francis Robert Otto,” and a notation inside reading, “This copy by hand from Dr. Otto, September 25, 1990.” The binder is organized into sections, all of which deal with a controversial chapel sermon delivered by Dr. Otto (Dean of the Chapel) in 1967. Chapel attendance was at that time required at Mercer University. The binder contains a transcript of the sermon and related correspondence and news clippings. The collection also contain Newton Chapel worship services bulletins and worship prompters, primarily from 1989-90.

Dates

Creation: 1956-1987

Rights Statement

To quote in print, or otherwise reproduce in whole or in part in any publication, including on the World Wide Web, any material from this collection, the researcher must obtain permission from (1) the owner of the physical property and (2) the holder of the copyright. Persons wishing to quote from this collection should consult the reference archivist to determine copyright holders for information in this collection. Reproduction of any item must contain the complete citation to the original.

Biographical / Historical

Francis Robert Otto was born in May 3, 1920, in Bristol, Connecticut. He married Hellen V. Carson and had 3 children. He attended the University of Minnesota, where he earned the B.A. in 1946 and the M.A. in 1956. He graduated from Bethel Seminary in 1947, and later earned the Th.M. from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1953. His last degree was the Th.D. from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1959. He studied philosophy, Greek, and religion very early in his career and taught those subjects at Bethel College and the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary from 1948 to 1956. He arrived at Mercer University in 1956 and became Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Philosophy in 1959. He became Dean of Chapel in 1962.