Charles Francis Aiken
Charles Francis Aiken STD (8 April 1863 – 8 July 1925) was an American Roman Catholic priest, theologian, author and educator.
Biography
Charles Francis Aiken was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He attended grammar and high school in Somerville and later at Harvard University where he studied classics. Graduating in 1884, Aiken then began his lifelong teaching career at the Heathcote School of Buffalo (1884–1886) before leaving to become a priest.
In 1886 he returned to Boston to enter St. John's Theological Seminary and was ordained in 1890. From there, Aiken would go on to attend the Catholic University of America, where he distinguished himself as a theology student, and earned his degree in 1892. After graduation, Aiken returned to the Archdiocese of Boston ostensibly to resume the duties of a local priest.
In 1894 Aiken was recalled to Washington to serve on the faculty under Thomas Bouquillon. Tapped for his youth, Aiken was required to study in Europe for the better part of two years to prepare for his new position.
Initially serving as a theology instructor at CUA (1897–1900), Aiken soon came to the attention of the University of Pennsylvania Philosophy Department under William Romaine Newbold. Asked to teach medieval philosophy as a guest professor, it was during this era that Aiken began to cement his academic reputation.
Back at the Catholic University, Aiken served as an associate professor (1900–1906), and ordinary professor of apologetics (1906–1924). He eventually rose to Dean of the Faculty of Theology (1909–1913).
He was a noted contributor to many scholarly journals including American Ecclesiastical Review, The American Catholic Quarterly Review, and Catholic World. He also wrote several entries for the Catholic Encyclopedia.
Works
- The Dhamma of Gotama the Buddha and the Gospel of Jesus the Christ (1900).
- "The Testimony of St. Paul to the Fact of the Resurrection," Ecclesiastical Review, Vol. XXXII, No. 4 (1905).
- "Traces of Penance in Non-Revealed Religions," The Catholic University Bulletin, Vol. XI, No. 3 (1905).
- "The Myth of Soulless Woman," The Catholic World, Vol. CVI (1918).
- "Churchmen in Christian Gaul and the Recognition of Woman's Soul," The Ecclesiastical Review, Vol. LIX, No. 1 (1918).
- "Buddhist Legends and the New Testament Teaching," The Ecclesiastical Review, Vol. LXVII, No. 4 (1922).
