Rev. John Vant Stephens, who has filled the Murdock chair of Church History in the Theological Seminary for ten years, is a Missourian. He is a graduate of Lincoln University, of the Theological Seminary, and of Union Seminary. In 1901 he was justly honored with the degree of D.D. by Trinity University. Dr. Stephens was for a considerable term of years secretary of the Board of Missions, and was called from a successful pastorate at Bowling Green, Ky., to the position which he how occupies. His studies in the special line of church history had begun long before the time of this call; his library is extensive, and his collection of books relating to the early history of our own Church large. He is one of the Church's representatives in the Pan-Presbyterian alliance, and is a member of the Executive Committee of the Western Section. He never returns to the Seminary from one of this committee's meetings without some trophies in the shape of rare books, discovered in out-of-the-way places. His published works include, besides a number of pamphlets on various subjects, the Following: "Infant Church Membership" (1897), "The Causes" (1898), "Cumberland Presbyterian Digest" (1899), "Elect Infants" (1900), "Evolution of the Cumberland Presbyterian Confession" (1902). In selecting Dr. Stephens to prepare that important work, the Digest, our General Assembly found the man of all our communion most fitted for that important work. Dr. Stephens' works on our church history and on points of doctrinal importance are known without our own bounds as well as within them, as clear and conclusive presentations of the truth.       F. K. FARR.
[Source: The Cumberland Presbyterian, December 3, 1903, page 714]

John Vant Stephens, D.D., Professor of Church History in the Theological School of Cumberland University from 1894 to 1909, was born near St. Louis, Missouri, September 16, 1857. In his twenty-third year he entered college, and received the A.B. degree from Lincoln University, Illinois, in 1884. After completing his college course he spent a year in Union Theological Seminary, New York City. he then came to Lebanon, where he completed his theological course in the Theological School of Cumberland University, being a member of the class of 1886, and receiving the B.D. degree.

After graduation he was settled over a mission church in Knoxville, Tennessee. His success in this field led the Oak Street Church in Chattanooga to call him there, which call he accepted. Later he served as Secretary of the Cumberland Presbyterian Board of Missions, with headquarters in St. Louis. While engaged in this service he was the editor of the Missionary Record, improving it and making it a standard publication. His last pastorate, before coming to Lebanon, was at Bowling Green, Ky.

In 1909-10 Dr. Stephens taught in the Presbyterian Seminary of the South, and was its President. In 1910 he became Professor Church History in Lane Seminary, Cincinnati, which service he continued until May, 1932, when he retired, rounding out thirty-eight years of continuous service as a theological teacher. He resides in Cincinnati.

The following books were written by him: Infant Church Membership, The Causes, The Cumberland Presbyterian Digest, The Evolution of the Cumberland Presbyterian Confession of Faith, Presbyterian Government, The Presbyterian Churches, and The Providential Purpose of Our Country. For four years he was the editor of the Teacher's Monthly Sunday School Magazine. Some years ago he was a member of the Committee which prepared the Intermediate Catechism of the Presbyterian Church. In 1935 he published a small but attractive volume, Cumberland University Theological School.
[Source: The History of Cumberland University, 1842-1935. By Winstead Paine Bone, 1935, pages 237-238]

An Affirmation (The Auburn affirmation) designed to safeguard the unity and liberty of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America: With Supplemental Events, Antecedent and Subsequent. Cincinnati, Ohio: Privately printed, 7 Lane Seminary Building, 1939. [Copy needed for archives]

Biographical Sketch of the Late Rev. Claiborn H. Bell, D.D. Lebanon, Tennessee, 1909. Have photocopy only. [Copy needed for archives]

Biographical Sketches and the Funeral Services of John Vant Stephens and Willie Harding Buchanan Stephens. Ohio, 1946. (compiled by John Vant Stephens, Jr.) [4 copies in archives]

The Causes Leading to the Organization of the Cumberland Church. Nashville, Tennessee: Cumberland Presbyterian Publishing House, 1898.

The Christianization of Great Britain, a Chapter in British-Anglo-Saxon History. Cincinnati, 1937. [1 copy in archives]

The Cumberland Presbyterian digest: A Compend of the Organic Law of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, Together with the Organic Laws of its General Agencies, and the Judicial Deliverances of its Supreme Judicatory. Nashville, Tennessee: Cumberland Presbyterian Publishing House, 1899.

The Cumberland University Theological School (The Lebanon Theological Seminary). 1939.

An Ecclesiastical Trinity, Abbreviated from "The New Lights," Published in 1942. Cincinnati, Ohio: The Lane Seminary Building, no date.

Elect Infants: Or, Infant Salvation in the Westminster Symbols. Nashville, Tennessee: Cumberland Presbyterian Publishing House, 1900. [Copy needed for archives]

Evaluations of the Genesis of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church: A Book Published June 27, 1941. Cincinnati, Ohio: The Lane Seminary Building, 1942.

The Evolution of the Confession of Faith of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Nashville, Tennessee: Cumberland Presbyterian Publishing House, 1902.

Fourscore: Life Story (abridged) of John Vant Stephens, for Thirty-Eight Years a Member of the Faculties of the Lebanon and the Lane Theological Seminaries. Cincinnati, Ohio, 1938. [2 copies in the archives]

The Genesis of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Cincinnati, Ohio: The Lane Seminary Building, 1941. [2 copies in the archives]

Historical Sketch of Missions in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. 1891. Have photocopy only. [Copy needed for archives]

Infant Church Membership: A Discussion of the Origin and Continuity of the Church, and the Baptism of Infants. Nashville, Tennessee: Cumberland Presbyterian Publishing House, 1897.

The Lebanon Theological Seminary: A Department in Cumberland University and the Theological Seminary of the South. Cincinnati, Ohio, 1934.

The Morning Dawn. A Sermon Delivered Before the Eleventh Annual Meeting of the Woman's Board of Missions of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, at Dallas, Texas, Sunday, May 3, 1891. St. Louis, Missouri, 1891.

The New Lights (the Christian Church). Cincinnati, Ohio: The Lane Seminary Building, 1942. [2 copies in archives]

The Organic Union of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church with the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. Cincinnati, Ohio: The Lane Seminary Building, 1943.[8 copies in archives]

The Presbyterian Churches, Divisions and Unions, in Scotland, Ireland, Canada and America. Philadelphia: The Presbyterian Board of Publication, 1910.

Presbyterian Government. Nashville, Tennessee: The Cumberland Press, 1907.

Presbyterianism. Divisions and Unions in Scotland, Ireland, Canada and America. Nashville, Tennessee: The Cumberland Press, 1906.

The Providential Purpose of Our Nation. Address Delivered at the Opening of Lane Theological Seminary September 19, 1918. Cincinnati, Ohio: 1918. [1 copy in archives]

The Puritans and Their Place in History. Privately printed, 1921.

A Review of Rev. Dr. W. P. Bone's History of Cumberland University Theological School (Lebanon Theological Seminary). Cincinnati, Ohio, 1936. [4 copies in archives]

The Saviors of the Reformation: A Chapter in Anglo-Scotch History. Address Delivered at the Opening of Lane Theological Seminary September 16, 1924. Cincinnati, Ohio: Privately printed, 1924. [4 copies in archives]

The Story of the Founding of Lane. Revised and enlarged. Cincinnati, Ohio, 1940. [1 copy in archivers]

The Story of the Founding of Lane. Address Delivered at the Centennial of Lane Theological Seminary, June 25, 1929. Cincinnati, Ohio, 1929. [Copy needed for archives]

The Story of the Founding of the Theological School in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Cincinnati, Ohio, 1933. [2 copies in archives]