Robert Spearman (1703–1761) was an English theologian, known as a Hutchinsonian.

Life

He was the eldest son of Robert Spearman, attorney of

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city in north east England **County Durham, a ceremonial county which includes Durham *Durham, North Carolina, a city in North Carolina, United States Durham may also refer to: Places ...

, by his wife Hannah, only daughter of William Webster, merchant, of

Stockton-on-Tees Stockton-on-Tees is a market town in County Durham, England, with a population of 84,815 at the 2021 UK census. It gives its name to and is the largest settlement in the wider Borough of Stockton-on-Tees. It is part of Teesside and the Tees Val ...

. He studied at

Durham School Durham School is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging boarding and day school in the English Public school (UK), public school tradition located in Durham, England, Durham, North East England. Since 2021 it has been part of th ...

and

Corpus Christi College, Oxford Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517 by Richard Fo ...

, but left without taking a degree. He then lived at Old Acres,

Sedgefield Sedgefield is a market town and civil parish in County Durham, England. It had a population of 4,986 in the 2021 census. It has the only operating racecourse in County Durham. Etymology The name ''Sedgefield'' is of Old English origin. It ...

. A pupil of John Hutchinson, Spearman survived him, edited his works, and wrote his life. He was the dedicatee of ''Two Dissertations concerning the Etymology and Scripture-Meaning of the Hebrew words Elohim and Berith'' (1751) by Thomas Sharp, with whom he was on good terms. Spearman died on 20 October 1761, leaving only female issue by his wife Anne, daughter of Robert Sharpe of

Hawthorn, County Durham Hawthorn is a village in County Durham, England. It is situated between Seaham and Easington. The only public building in the village of Hawthorn is the Staplyton Arms, a small public house situated in roughly the centre of the village. Clos ...

Works

Spearman's own writings were: *''An Enquiry after Philosophy and Theology, tending to show when and whence mankind came at the knowledge of these two important points'', Edinburgh, 1755; 2nd ed. Dublin, 1757 (a polemic against

Newtonian physics Classical mechanics is a physical theory describing the motion of objects such as projectiles, parts of machinery, spacecraft, planets, stars, and galaxies. The development of classical mechanics involved substantial change in the methods ...

); *''Letters to a Friend concerning the Septuagint Translation and the Heathen Mythology'', Edinburgh, 1759 (an attempt to derive all mythologies from a primeval revelation).

References

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Spearman, Robert 1703 births 1761 deaths English theologians People from Durham, England 18th-century Anglican theologians