Charles S. Braden

Born in Chanute, Kansas, to George Washington and Flora Birt Braden, Braden obtained his A.B. in 1909 from Baker University, and his B.D. in 1912 from Union Theological Seminary. He also spent time at Columbia University (1911–1912). In 1914 he became a Methodist minister and undertook missionary work in Bolivia (1912–1915) and Chile (1916–1922), before completing a Ph.D. in practical theology in 1926 at the University of Chicago. In 1943 he received a D.D. (doctorate of divinity) from Baker University. ==Career==

In 1926, he joined Northwestern University as an assistant professor, becoming an associate professor in 1936 and professor in 1943. Northwestern awarded him emeritus status in 1954. The couple had two sons. He married LaVenia Craddock Ulmer (d. 1964) in 1956. ==Selected works==

;Books • Spirits in Rebellion: The Rise and Development of New Thought, Southern Methodist University Press, 1963. • Christian Science Today: Power, Policy, Practice, Southern Methodist University Press, 1958. • Jesus Compared: A Study of Jesus and Other Great Founders of Religions, Prentice Hall, 1957. • War, Communism, and World Religions, Harper & Brothers, 1953. • The Scriptures of Mankind, An Introduction, The Macmillan Company, 1952. • These Also Believe: A Study of Modern American Cults and Minority Religious Movements, The Macmillan Company, 1949. • ''Man's Quest for Salvation'', Willett, Clark & Company, 1941. • ''The World's Religions, A Short History'', Abingdon Press, 1939. • Varieties of American Religion, Willett, Clark & Company, 1936. • Procession of the Gods, Harper & Brothers, 1936. (with Gaius Glenn Atkins) • Modern Tendencies in World Religions, George Allen & Unwin, 1933. • Religious Aspects of the Conquest of Mexico, Duke University Press, 1930. ;Articles • "Teaching the History of Religion", Journal of Bible and Religion, Vol. 17, No. 2 (Apr., 1949), pp. 108–111. • "The Sects", Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 256, Organized Religion in the United States (Mar., 1948), pp. 53–62. • "Why People Are Religious: A Study in Religious Motivation", Journal of Bible and Religion, Vol. 15, No. 1 (Jan., 1947), pp. 38–45. • ==Notes==