John Smith (1618,

Achurch Achurch (formerly Asenciran sometimes referred to as Thorpe Achurch) is a village in the civil parish of Thorpe Achurch, in North Northamptonshire, England. Situated on a small rise above the River Nene, 5 miles South of the market town of Ound ...

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 ...

– 7 August 1652,

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

) was an English philosopher, theologian, and educator.

Life

Smith, educated at

Oundle School Oundle School is a public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging boarding school, boarding and day school) for pupils 11–18 situated in the market town of Oundle in Northamptonshire ...

, entered Emmanuel College,

, in 1636, took his

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

in 1640 and his

M.A. A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

in 1644, at which time he was chosen fellow of

Queens' College Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the 16 "old colleges" of the university, and was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. Its buildings span the River Cam with the Mathematical Bridge an ...

. His health seems to have been precarious from the first. His labours were principally confined to his office as teacher, for which he had remarkable qualifications. His preaching was with a rare degree of eloquence, which can still be felt in the ''Select Discourses'' (1660). In that work, he writes about several metaphysical and epistemological issues surrounding

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

— the existence of God, eternal life and rationality. He gained much local fame as a lecturer on mathematics. His personal character was such as to excite the admiration of his associates to a remarkable degree. As a "founder" of the

Cambridge Platonists The Cambridge Platonists were an influential group of Platonist philosophers and Christian theologians at the University of Cambridge that existed during the 17th century. The leading figures were Ralph Cudworth and Henry More. Group and its nam ...

, his special service was in developing a Christian

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

that was deeply rational and open to the new science yet directed to the practical goal of living a religious life. To these ends, Smith drew heavily from

Plotinus Plotinus (; , ''Plōtînos''; – 270 CE) was a Greek Platonist philosopher, born and raised in Roman Egypt. Plotinus is regarded by modern scholarship as the founder of Neoplatonism. His teacher was the self-taught philosopher Ammonius ...

References

External links

*
''Select Discourses''

Derek Michaud, ''Reason Turned into Sense: John Smith on Spiritual Sensation'' (Peeters, 2017)
The only extensive study of Smith in English. 1618 births 1652 deaths 17th-century Christian mystics People educated at Oundle School Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge Fellows of Queens' College, Cambridge Cambridge Platonists Protestant mystics English Anglican theologians 17th-century English theologians 17th-century English educators {{Christian-theologian-stub 17th-century Anglican theologians