Charles Chauncy
Charles Chauncy was a prominent Boston-born minister and influential figure in New England's religious landscape, born in 1705 and graduated from Harvard College in 1721. He was ordained in the First Church of Boston in 1727, where he served for sixty years. Chauncy is known for advocating the liberalization of American Puritanism, particularly opposing the intense emotionalism associated with the Great Awakening, a significant religious revival led by clergymen such as Jonathan Edwards. He aligned himself with the "Old Lights," promoting reason and the benevolence of God over the conservative Calvinist doctrines of total depravity and predestination.
His writings, including the notable pamphlet "Seasonable Thoughts on the State of Religion in New England," reveal his critical stance on the revivalist movement. Chauncy also championed religious freedom and independence from Anglican control in the American colonies, as articulated in works like "The Appeal to the Public Answered" and "A Compleat View of Episcopacy." Additionally, he contributed to the development of liberal theological views that would eventually influence Unitarianism. Chauncy's legacy continued until his death in 1787, marking him as a key figure in shaping religious thought during a transformative period in American history.
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Charles Chauncy
- Born: January 1, 1705
- Birthplace: Boston, Massachusetts
- Died: February 10, 1787
Biography
Born in Boston in 1705, Charles Chauncy graduated from Harvard College in 1721. He became an ordained minister in the First Church of Boston in 1727. Over the course of sixty years in this position, he became one of the most influential clergymen in New England and one of the primary supporters of the liberalization of American Puritanism.
Chauncy published Seasonable Thoughts on the State of Religion in New England in 1743. In this pamphlet, and in other pamphlets that he published around this time, he expressed his opposition to the extravagant emotionalism of the Great Awakening, a religious revivalist movement espoused by clergyman Jonathan Edwards. In the disputes that resulted from the Great Awakening, which led to a schism in colonial church doctrine, Chauncy became a leader of the liberal “Old Lights,” which stood against the rigidly conservative Calvinist beliefs of total depravity and predestination espoused by Edwards’s “New Lights.” In his Letter to the Reverend Mr. George Whitefield, published in 1744, Chauncy criticized the emotional revivalism of George Whitefield, one of the major proponents of the Great Awakening. Chauncy expressed his belief in reason over passion and in the supreme benevolence of God.
Chauncy was also a staunch supporter of an independent American republic. In his The Appeal to the Public Answered, in Behalf of the Non-Episcopal Churches in America, published in 1768, and in his A Compleat View of Episcopacy, published in 1771, he warned of the threat to colonial religious freedom posed by the Church of England and opposed the establishment of an Anglican bishopric in the colonies. His sermons and pamphlets established his reputation as a supporter of the American cause. He wrote two anonymous tracts in which he expressed his support for the liberal doctrines of Universalism, which helped pave the way for Unitarianism. Chauncy died in 1787.