Thomas Buford Maston was born Nov. 26, 1897, and grew up in New Market, Tenn. He graduated from Carson-Newman College in 1920 and later received an honorary doctorate in 1958.
Maston received his master’s and Ph.D. in religious education from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary where he later taught for 41 years. He later received a master of arts degree from Texas Christian University and a Ph.D. in philosophy from Yale.
Referred to as the “conscience of Southern Baptists,” Maston became a pioneer in the field of Christian ethics and worked to lead the denomination into racial desegregation.
The author of 23 books and hundreds of articles on Christian ethics and Christian development, Maston influenced innumerable ministers and laymen.
— Al Lang
Carson-Newman University
Special collections librarian and archivist


