author

Lyford P. (Lyford Paterson) Edwards

1882–1984

An Episcopal priest and early sociology teacher, he wrote influential studies that linked social change, religion, and revolution. Best known for The Natural History of Revolution, he brought a thoughtful, firsthand approach to public life and historical upheaval.

1 Audiobook

The Transformation of Early Christianity from an Eschatological to a Socialized Movement A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Literature in Candidacy for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy

The Transformation of Early Christianity from an Eschatological to a Socialized Movement A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Literature in Candidacy for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy

by Lyford P. (Lyford Paterson) Edwards

About the author

Born in 1882, Lyford Paterson Edwards was an American Episcopal clergyman and scholar whose work moved between religion and sociology. His best-known book, The Natural History of Revolution (1927), examines major revolutions comparatively and became a notable early contribution to the study of revolutionary movements.

Edwards also wrote The Transformation of Early Christianity from an Eschatological to a Socialized Movement (1919), reflecting his long-standing interest in how religious ideas change within society. Sources available here also describe him as one of the early teachers of sociology in American higher education and associate him with St. Stephen's College, where his teaching was remembered as unusually direct and field-based.

He lived a remarkably long life, from 1882 to 1984. While detailed biographical records are limited in the sources I could confirm, his surviving work shows a writer interested in how institutions, beliefs, and social crises reshape one another over time.