Jeremiah Jones (1693–1724) was an independent tutor and biblical critic.

Youth

He was born in Wales in 1693. His father was David Jones of

Llangollen Llangollen () is a town and community (Wales), community, situated on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, in Denbighshire, Wales. Its riverside location forms the edge of the Berwyn range, and the Dee Valley section of the Clwydian Range and Dee Val ...

, who married Maria, eldest daughter of Samuel Jones (1628–1697) at

Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...

on 15 August 1687. In 1696 David Jones became pastor of the independent congregation at

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is sited on the River Severn, northwest of Wolverhampton, west of Telford, southeast of Wrexham and north of Hereford. At the 2021 United ...

, where he died in 1718. Jeremiah Jones was educated by his uncle, Samuel Jones (1680–1719), at

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

(where in 1711 he was a fellow-student with

Thomas Secker Thomas Secker (21 September 16933 August 1768) was an Archbishop of Canterbury in the Church of England. Early life and studies Secker was born in Sibthorpe, Nottinghamshire. In 1699, he went to Richard Brown's free school in Chesterfield, ...

) and then at

Tewkesbury Academy The Tewkesbury Academy was an important centre of learning for the Dissenters of Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, England during the early century. It was run by Samuel Jones and its students included both Dissenters such as Samuel Chandler and ...

, to which Samuel Jones had moved the academy early in summer 1713.

Career

His first settlement was as minister of the independent congregations at

Market Harborough Market Harborough is a market town in the Harborough District, Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, close to the border with Northamptonshire. The population was 24,779 at the United Kingdom census, 2021, 2021 census. It is the ad ...

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

, and

Cold Ashby Cold Ashby is a village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire in England. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish's population was 255 people, increasing to 278 at the 2011 census. The villages name means 'Ash-tree farm/settlement' or ' ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

. In 1719 he succeeded George Fownes as minister of the independent congregation at

Nailsworth Nailsworth is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Stroud District in Gloucestershire, England, lying in one of the Stroud Valleys in the Cotswolds, on the A46 road, south of Stroud and about north-east of Bristol and Bat ...

in the parish of Avening,

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

, and at the same time took charge of his deceased uncle's students, and removed them from Tewkesbury. However, the academy soon declined in size and reputation:Herbert McLachlan, ''English education under the Test Acts: being the history of the nonconformist academies, 1662–1820'' (1931), 126–31, 191–2, 299 between 1719 and 1722 only four students were sent to him by the presbyterian board. Nevertheless, his popularity as a preacher was shown by the enlargement of his meeting-house, and by the attendance of persons of station. His character as a scholar made him known beyond his own denomination. A hard student, he was of social disposition, and took pleasure in playing bowls. He died prematurely in 1724.

Legacy

Jones is best remembered for his admirable investigation of the grounds for attributing canonicity to the received books of the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

, to the exclusion of others. His treatise on this subject was long unique, and for its time exhaustive. Though now superseded in details, its breadth of treatment and fulness of materials render it still valuable. It was entitled ''A New and Full Method of Settling the Canonical Authority of the New Testament'' and was left ready for the press at his death. A third volume, published in 1727, contains the special application of his method to the Gospels and Acts, with a reprint of an earlier publication. His earlier publication, ''A Vindication of the Former Part of St. Matthew's Gospel'' (1719), dedicated to his uncle, is a criticism of

William Whiston William Whiston (9 December 166722 August 1752) was an English theologian, historian, natural philosopher, and mathematician, a leading figure in the popularisation of the ideas of Isaac Newton. He is now probably best known for helping to inst ...

's endeavour to reconcile the chronology of the evangelists by a theory of ‘dislocations’ in the existing

Gospel of Matthew The Gospel of Matthew is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells the story of who the author believes is Israel's messiah (Christ (title), Christ), Jesus, resurrection of Jesus, his res ...

. It would appear from the preface that Jones had been in correspondence with Whiston. Jones is said to have projected another volume ‘on the apostolical fathers;’ more probably he meant to apply his method of determining canonicity to the remaining books of the New Testament.

References

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Jeremiah English biblical scholars 1693 births 1724 deaths English Dissenters Dissenting academy tutors