Moses Lowman (1680–1752) was an English nonconformist minister, known as a Biblical commentator.
Life
Born in London, he became a student at the
Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...
in 1697, but a year later abandoned law for divinity. On 17 September 1698 he entered the
university of Leyden, and studied theology at
Utrecht
Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...
under
Gerard de Vries and
Witsius.
In 1710 he became assistant to Mr. Grace, presbyterian minister at
Clapham
Clapham () is a district in south London, south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (including Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth.
History
Ea ...
; from 1714 till his death Lowman acted as chief minister to the congregation there. In 1716 Lowman contributed to the second volume of the religious periodical called ''Occasional Papers'', and in 1735 he preached, at Salters' Hall a sermon entitled ''The Principles of Popery Schismatical''. Though very active, he does not seem to have shown ability as a preacher.
Lowman died on 2 May 1752;
Samuel Chandler preached his
funeral sermon.
Works
Lowman entered into controversy with
Anthony Collins the deist in ‘Argument from Prophecy that Jesus is the Messiah vindicated, in some considerations on the Prophecies of the Old Testament as grounds and reasons of the Christian Religion,’ a treatise written in 1718, but not printed till 1733. It was praised by
John Leland.
Lowman was known as an authority on Jewish antiquities, his reputation resting mainly on his ‘Dissertation on the Civil Government of the Hebrews,’ 1740, 2nd edit., with appendix, 1745. It was written in answer to
Thomas Morgan's ''Moral Philosopher'', and said to have been approved by
William Sherlock and other Anglican churchmen. Lowman's ‘Paraphrase and Notes upon the Revelation of St. John’ (1737, 1745; 1791, 1807) was commended by
Philip Doddridge; it formed the concluding portion of collective editions of the ‘Commentaries’ of
Simon Patrick,
William Lowth,
Daniel Whitby
Daniel Whitby (1638–1726) was a controversial English theologian and biblical commentator. An Arminianism in the Church of England, Arminian priest in the Church of England, Whitby was known as strongly anti-Calvinism, Calvinistic and later gav ...
, and
Richard Arnald.
Lowman's other works are:
* ‘A Defence of Protestant Dissenters, in answer to Sherlock's “Vindication of the Corporation and Test Acts,”’ 1718.
* ‘Remarks on Dr. Sherlock's Answer to the Bishop of Bangor's “Common Rights of Subjects,”’ 1719.
* ‘An Argument to prove the Unity and Perfections of God à priori,’ 1735.
* ‘Considerations on Mr. Foster's “Discourse on Jewish Theocracy,”’ 1744. Directed to the Baptist
James Foster.
* ‘A Rationale of the Ritual of the Hebrew Worship, in which the design and usefulness of that Ritual are explained and vindicated,’ 1748.
* Three posthumous tracts, with preface, revised and published by Samuel Chandler and
Nathaniel Lardner, 1756.
References
;Attribution
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lowman, Moses
1680 births
1752 deaths
18th-century English Presbyterian ministers
18th-century English writers