Simon Browne was a dissenting minister and

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

. He was born in

Shepton Mallet Shepton Mallet is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Somerset, England, some southwest of Bath, Somerset, Bath, south of Bristol and east of Wells, Somerset, Wells. It had an estimated population of 10,810 in 2019. ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, England, in 1680.

Early life

Browne was preaching by the age of 20, and first became a minister at an independent church in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

before moving, in 1716, to preach at the Old Jewry meeting-house in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. He had a volume of

sermon A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present context ...

s published in 1722, and also a collection entitled ''Hymns and Spiritual Songs'', which included "Come, Holy Spirit, Heavenly Dove" and "And Now, My Soul, Another Year".

Self-blame

Browne was attacked by a highway robber in the early 1720s, and killed him in self-defence. Although he faced no legal consequences for this act, Browne was convinced that he had used excessive force, and had thus become a murderer. He developed the belief, that due to his act of murder, he had become eternally damned, and that his soul had been removed from his body. This belief has some similarities to the

Cotard delusion Cotard's syndrome, also known as Cotard's delusion or walking corpse syndrome, is a rare mental disorder in which the affected person holds the delusional belief that they are deceased, do not exist, are putrefying, or have lost their blood or ...

(although at the distance of some centuries, a definitive diagnosis is impossible).Berman D., ''Simon Browne: the soul-murdered theologian.'' Hist Psychiatry. 1996 Jun; 7(26 Pt 2): 257–63
Available online (for fee)
/ref>

Writings

Browne abandoned the ministry in late 1723 due to the sudden depression brought on by the highway robbery, and returned to Shepton Mallet. There he continued to write, including books for children, translations of Latin and Greek poetry, and an abstract of the Bible. He also published three theological works: ''A Fit Rebuke to a Ludicrous Infidel'', ''A Defence of the Religion of Nature and the Christian Revelation'', and ''A Sober and Charitable Disquisition Concerning The Importance of the Doctrine of the Trinity''. He also penned "1 Corinthians" in Matthews Henry's commentary as listed in the preface to volume 6.

Death

Simon Browne died in Shepton Mallet in 1732 and was buried in the meeting-house there.

References

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Browne, Simon People from Shepton Mallet English hymnwriters English Dissenters 1680 births 1732 deaths