RODGER S
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the Board of Regents of the University of New York, and in 1789 he was chosen moderator of the General Assembly at Philadel|)hia. In liSOi) his health became greatly impaired, and he died May 7, Iisil. Besides some miscellaneous articles in connection with the Epis- copal controversy, and several Sei'iuoris in the American Preucher, Dr. Kodgers published A Sermon before a Masonic Lodge, at Stockbridge, Mass. (1779): — A Xa- iional Thanksgivitig Strmun (1783) : — A Sermon on (he Jk'uth of Dr. Witherspoon (1794) : — anil A Sermon ut the Opening of the Cedar Street Church (1808). See Sprague, Annals of the Avier. Pulpit, iii, 154.
Rodgers. Ravaud Kearney, D.D., a Presbyte- rian minister, was born in New York, Nov. 3, 1796. He was the son of John K. B. Rodgers, M.D., surgeon in the lievolutionary army, practicing phj'sician, and professor in the inedical department of Columbia College, New- York city. His grandfather, John Rodgers, D.D., was minister of the First Church, in New York, founder of the Brick Church, and the first moderator of the Gen- eral Assembly in 1789. In the year 1815 Ravaud K. graduated at Princeton College, and in 1818 he grad- uated at the Princeton Theological Seminary. In 1820 he was ordained and installed pastor of the Sandy Hill and Glenn's Falls Presbj'terian churches, N. Y. He re- mained ten years in that field. He was an ardent, no- ble, earnest young preacher, and associated with Drs. Bullions, Proudfit, Prime, and others in the Bible cause, education, and all great works of social improvement and philanthropy. With a voice of trumpet power and glowing eloquence, he was a favorite at all great public meetings and anniversaries, and a leader in every good work, (jenial, warm-hearted, and generous, he was a general favorite. In the year 1830 he received a call i'rom tlie Presbj'terian Church at Bound Brook, N. J., and, accepting the same, was installed pastor; and at that place, and in the Synod and the State of New Jer- sey, he left the impress of a pure and useful life. No minister of that State was more generall}^ known or more universally respected. On all social occasions his presence was indispensable as the most agreeable and entertaining of men. As a member and officer of eccle- siastical bodies — whether General Assembly, Sj'nod, or Presbytery — his great excellence of character and pe- culiar executive ability were illustrated. For a long time he was stated clerk of the New Jersey Sj-nod, and a more faithfid, popidar, and accomplished servant never filled that office. His assiduity in the discharge of otlicial duty, his punctuality in attendance, his perfect knowledge of the law and practice of the Church, and liis clear, incisive, and able exposition of the constitu- tion, which was always at his command, rendered him an authority in the courts of the Church. He was a model pastor, knowing all his people and their families. He called his own sheep by name ; he carried them in his heart, and went about among them to do them good, for he was their trusted counsellor and confidential friend. He entered his pulpit with sermons thoroughly prepared, which he delivered with energy, life, and pow- er. Even down to old age he was strong in the work of the ministrj-, and at seventy-five could outwork many of his younger brethren. As he drew near to fourscore, he resigned his pastoral charge, which he had held un- broken for forty -five years. In 1874 he removed to Athens, Ga., where in the home of his daughter he spent the calm and beautiful evening of a long, laborious, and honored life. He was a philosopher as well as a Chris- tian, the divine presence being as real to him as the light of the sun; and living in that light, he was as ready to die as to live ; for, " whetlier living or dying, he was the Lord's." He died at Athens, Ga., Jan. 13, 1879. (\V. P. S.)
Rodigast, Sajiuei., rector of the gymnasium of the Gray Convent in Berlin from 1698 to 1708, and previous- ly adjunct professor in the University of Jena. He was intimately acquainted with Philip J. Spener to the time
of his death, in 1705. His claim to recognition in this place lies in his having composed the hymn Was Gott that, das ist icohlgethun (1675), which has become a classic, and is used wherever the German tongue is known. It was a favorite with Frederick William HI of Prussia, and was rendered on the occasion of his funeral, June 11, 1840.— Herzog, /("eaZ-AHc^Wo;;. s. v.
Rodiger, Emil, doctor and professor of the Oriental languages at the University of Berlin, was born Oct. 13, 1801, at Sangerhausen. In 1821 he left the gymnasium at Halle, and entered the university for the study of theology and philology. In 1828 he commenced liis lectures; in 1830 he was made extraordinarv, and in 1835 ordinary, professor of Oriental languages. In 1860 he was called to Berlin, where he died, Jinie 15, 1874. He was one of the first editors of the Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenldndischen Gesellschaft, which review also contains a great many of his articles pertaining to Oriental literature. He wrote, Cominentatio, quo Viil- ijata Opinio de Interpretihiis Arab. TAbr. V. T. f/istor, Refut. (Halle, \m») -.—Chrestom. Syr. c. Gloss, (ibid. 1838): — De Origine et Indole Arabicce Librorinn V.T. Nistoricorum Interpretaiionis Libri Duo (ibid. 1829). But his main work is his continuation of Gesenius's great Novus Thesaunjs Philolog.-ciilicus Linguce Itebr. et Chuld. V. T. (Lips. 1853). He also edited several edi- tions of his Teacher^s Hebrew Grammar. See Lite- rarischer Handweiser, 1874, p. 236 : Schneider, Theolo- gisches Jahrbuch, 1875, p. 375 sq. ; Winer, Theologisches llandbuch, i, 58 ; ii, 737 ; Fiirst, Bibiiotheca Judaica, iii, 162; Steinschneider, BiUiographisches Handbuch, p. 52 sq. ; and Index to vol. i-xxx of the Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenl. Gesellschaft. (B. P.)