Jonathan Mayhew

Jonathan Mayhew ( born October 8, 1720 Martha 's Vineyard, † July 9, 1766 in Boston, Massachusetts) was a leading proponent of the early Christian Unitarianism in North America.

Life

Mayhew was born in 1720 on the island of Martha 's Vineyard in the Province of Massachusetts Bay, the fifth child of the settler Thomas Mayhew. His father was active as a missionary among others among the living on the island and the Umkgebung Indians. Jonathan Mayhew himself studied theology at Harvard University and was ordained three years after his graduation in 1747 as pastor of the Congregational Church in Old West Boston.

Theologically positioned Mayhew, however ( despite his Congregational origin) against Calvinism, arguing, for example, against the idea of a complete Verderbtbeit of man. Instead represented Mayhew liberal and anti-Trinitarian positions, which made him an early representative of the North American Unitarianism. Mahew combined his theology with political commitment and entered vehemently for Civil Liberties. For him, the commitment was Christian duty against injustice. He is also attributed to the pronounciation No taxation without representation. In 1767 he turned to the example against the British Stamp Act and called for early a union of the North American colonies. He got himself to have what he vehemt but rejected them suspected of the riots against the Stamp Act contributed. His sermons and writings were printed both in Boston and in London and had a strong influence on the American independence movement, Formative. At one of his most famous works was Discourse Concerning Unlimited Submission, which was released on the 100th anniversary of the execution of former English King Charles I, in which he clearly takes a position against the monarchy and positioned themselves as Republicans. In 1763, he sharply criticized the practice of still existing Anglican Missionary Society Society for the Propagation of the Gospel ( German Society for the Propagation of the Gospel ) British priest to North America to send out. In 1749 he earned his doctorate in theology from the University of Aberdeen and in 1765 he was appointed as a lecturer in theology at Harvard University, but only a year later, on July 9, 1766 Jonathan Mayhew died in Boston.