John Jay Butler professor at Bates College and Hillsdale College

John Jay Butler (April 9, 1814 – 1891) was an

ordained minister In Christianity, a minister is a person authorised by a church or other religious organization to perform functions such as teaching of beliefs; leading services such as weddings, baptisms or funerals; or otherwise providing spiritual guidance ...

and theologian in the early

Free Will Baptist Free Will Baptists or Free Baptists are a group originating from General Baptists that emphasizes the teaching of free salvation and free will. The movement can be traced back to the General Baptists in 17th century England. In 1702, Paul Palm ...

movement in

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

, serving as Professor of Systematic Theology at

Cobb Divinity School Cobb Divinity School (also known as Bates Theological Seminary or the Free Will Baptist Bible School) was a Baptist theological institute. Founded in 1840, it was a Free Will Baptist graduate school affiliated with several Free Baptist institution ...

Bates College Bates College () is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine. Anchored by the Historic Quad, the campus of Bates totals with a small urban campus which includes 33 Victorian ...

in Maine and later at

Hillsdale College Hillsdale College is a Private university, private, Conservatism in the United States, conservative, Christian liberal arts college in Hillsdale, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1844 by members of the Free Will Baptists. Women were admi ...

in Michigan.

Biography

He was born in

Berwick, Maine Berwick is a town in York County, Maine, United States, situated in the southern part of the state beside the Salmon Falls River. Today's South Berwick was set off from Berwick in 1814, while North Berwick was partitioned from the town in 18 ...

and graduated at

Bowdoin College Bowdoin College ( ) is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. It was chartered in 1794. The main Bowdoin campus is located near Casco Bay and the Androscoggin River. In a ...

in 1837. Following his graduation, he began teaching, including for several months as an assistant teacher in the

Parsonsfield Seminary Parsonsfield Seminary, which operated from 1832 to 1949, was a Free Will Baptist school in North Parsonsfield, Maine, in the United States. Also known as the North Parsonsfield Seminary, its preserved campus of four buildings is located on State ...

. Butler graduated from

Andover Theological Seminary Andover Theological Seminary (1807–1965) was a Congregationalist seminary founded in 1807 and originally located in Andover, Massachusetts on the campus of Phillips Academy. From 1908 to 1931, it was located at Harvard University in Cambrid ...

in 1844 and then became a professor of systematic theology in the

Whitestown Seminary The Oneida Institute ( ) was a short-lived Presbyterian school in Whitesboro, New York, United States, that was a national leader in the emerging abolitionist movement. Existing from 1827 to 1843, the school was radical and the first that accept ...

Whitestown, New York Whitestown is a town in Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 18,667 at the 2010 census. The name is derived from Judge Hugh White, an early settler. The town is immediately west of Utica and the New York State Thruway (In ...

from 1844 to 1854 in the school's graduate department, which later became known as

. In 1854 when the school moved to New Hampshire he continued to hold the professorship of systematic theology in the

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

New Hampton, New Hampshire New Hampton is a town in Belknap County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,377 at the 2020 census. A winter sports resort area, New Hampton is home to George Duncan State Forest and to the New Hampton School, a private prepara ...

for 16 years, and starting in 1870 at

Lewiston, Maine Lewiston (; ) is the List of municipalities in Maine, second most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine, with the city's population at 37,121 as of the 2020 United States census. The city lies halfway between Augusta, Maine, Augusta, the sta ...

for 3 years when the school moved there. In 1860,

granted him the degree of

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (DD or DDiv; ) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity (academic discipline), divinity (i.e., Christian theology and Christian ministry, ministry or other theologies. The term is more common in the Englis ...

. In 1873, Butler was appointed chair of Hebrew Language and Literature at

where he taught until his death in 1891.

Writings

In 1834, Butler became the assistant editor of '' The Morning Star'', a Free Will Baptist publication. He was also the author of several notable theological works: *
Natural and Revealed Theology
' (

Dover, New Hampshire Dover is a city in Strafford County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 32,741 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the most populous city in the New Hampshire Seacoast Region (New Hampshire), Seacoast region and ...

, 1861) *
Commentary on the New Testament
' (1870) * ''Commentary on the Acts, Romans, and First and Second Corinthians'' (1871) *
Lectures on systematic theology: embracing the existence and attributes of God, the authority and doctrine of the scriptures, the institutions and ordinances of the gospel
' (with Ransom Dunn, 1892)

References

* ''History of Bowdoin College: With Biographical Sketches of Its Graduates, from 1806 to 1879''; J. R. Osgood & Co., 1882 * ''The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans''; John Howard Brown, 1904 1814 births 1891 deaths American Christian theologians 19th-century American theologians American Protestants Arminian theologians Bates College faculty Free Will Baptists Hillsdale College faculty People from Berwick, Maine {{US-Christian-clergy-stub