Joseph Hallett II (1656–1722) was an English nonconformist minister and

dissenting academy The dissenting academies were schools, colleges and seminaries (often institutions with aspects of all three) run by English Dissenters, that is, Protestants who did not conform to the Church of England. They formed a significant part of educatio ...

tutor.

Life

The son of Joseph Hallett I (1628?–1689), he was born and baptised on 4 November 1656. He was probably educated by his father, was ordained in 1683, and on the erection of James' Meeting (1687), the meeting-house in

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

was appointed his father's assistant. He had a similar post under George Trosse, his father's successor, and on Trosse's death (11 January 1713) became pastor. Towards the end of the year James Peirce became his colleague. Hallett ran in Exeter a nonconformist academy, which became noted as a nursery of unorthodox theological views. Its opening has been dated as early as 1690; it had a well-established reputation when John Fox entered it in May 1708. No suspicion of heresy attached to it until 1710, when Hallett's son Joseph III became an assistant tutor, and brought in discussion 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 views. Rumours spread as to the freedom of

christological In Christianity, Christology is a branch of theology that concerns Jesus. Different denominations have different opinions on questions such as whether Jesus was human, divine, or both, and as a messiah what his role would be in the freeing of ...

opinion permitted in the academy, until in September 1718 the Exeter assembly (a mixed body of Presbyterian and Congregationalist ministers) called for a declaration of belief in the

Holy Trinity The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, three ...

to be made by all its members. Hallett was the first to comply; his declaration, though adopted by some and not formally objected to by any, was not satisfactory to the majority. In November the 13 trustees who held the property of the Exeter meeting-houses applied to their ministers for further assurances of orthodoxy, and failed to obtain them. On the advice of five London ministers, of whom Edmund Calamy was one, the case was laid before seven

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

Presbyterian divines, whose decision led the trustees to exclude (6 March 1719) Hallett and Peirce from James' Meeting, and on 10 March from all the meeting-houses. In Calamy's view the trustees exceeded their powers; a vote of the congregation should have been taken. Hallett and Peirce secured a temporary place of worship, which was opened on 15 March. They were still members of the Exeter assembly. This body in May proposed that all its members should subscribe Thomas Bradbury's "gallery declaration" (see Salter's Hall controversy); at this point 56 did so, while 19 refused and seceded. On 6 May a paper was drawn up, apparently by Hallett, whose signature stood first, in which the charges of

Arianism Arianism (, ) is a Christology, Christological doctrine which rejects the traditional notion of the Trinity and considers Jesus to be a creation of God, and therefore distinct from God. It is named after its major proponent, Arius (). It is co ...

and of baptising in the name of the Father only are disclaimed. A new building, called the Mint Meeting, was erected for Hallett and Peirce (opened 27 December 1719); the congregation numbered about 300. Hallett's academy did not long survive these changes; it was closed in 1720. A list of 37 of his students was in the ''

Monthly Repository The ''Monthly Repository'' was a British monthly Unitarian periodical which ran between 1806 and 1838. In terms of editorial policy on theology, the ''Repository'' was largely concerned with rational dissent. Considered as a political journal, i ...

'', 1818, p. 89: they included James Foster and Peter King. Hallett died in 1722.

Works

Hallett published: *''Twenty-seven Queries'' addressed to

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

s, and printed in ''Gospel Truths Scripturally asserted … by John Gannacliff and Joseph Nott'', 1692. *''Christ's Ascension into Heaven'', 1693. *''A Sermon, … at the Funeral of … Geo. Trosse … to which is added a Short Account of his Life'', 1713. *''The Life of … Geo. Trosse … written by himself'', 1714.

Notes

Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Hallett, Joseph 1656 births 1722 deaths English Dissenters Dissenting academy tutors