Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

111 results found

Collins, Anthony

(Encyclopedia)Collins, Anthony, 1676–1729, English theologian; a friend of John Locke. He set forth the position of the deists and defended the cause of rational theology. His Discourse of Free Thinking (1713) wa...

Brainerd, David

(Encyclopedia)Brainerd, David brāˈnərd [key], 1718–47, missionary to the Native Americans, b. Haddam, Conn. Licensed to preach in 1742, he spent his brief years among the Native Americans, first in New York an...

Mattathias

(Encyclopedia)Mattathias mătˌəthīˈəs [key] [Gr. variant of Mattithiah]. 1, 2 Two in Luke's genealogy. 3 Father of the Maccabees. 4 Captain under Jonathan, the Maccabee. 5 Son of Simon, the Maccabee, murdered ...

Hawley, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Hawley, Joseph, 1723–88, political leader in the American Revolution, b. Northampton, Mass. He was a leader of the opposition to the revivalist preaching of Jonathan Edwards and helped bring about E...

Dwight, Theodore

(Encyclopedia)Dwight, Theodore, 1764–1846, American author, b. Northampton, Mass.; brother of Timothy Dwight and grandson of Jonathan Edwards. A leader of the Federalist party in New England, he became famous for...

Hopkins, Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Hopkins, Samuel, 1721–1803, American clergyman and theologian, b. Waterbury, Conn., grad. Yale, 1741. He was a leading disciple of Jonathan Edwards, whose theology was the foundation for his own sys...

Menasha

(Encyclopedia)Menasha mənăshˈə [key], city (1990 pop. 14,711), Winnebago co., E Wis., on Lake Winnebago and the Fox River, adjacent to its twin city of Neenah; settled 1840s, inc. 1874. Menasha's large paper-ma...

Trinity , doctrine in Christianity

(Encyclopedia)Trinity [Lat.,=threefoldness], fundamental doctrine in Christianity, by which God is considered as existing in three persons. While the doctrine is not explicitly taught in the New Testament, early Ch...

Miller, Perry

(Encyclopedia)Miller, Perry, 1905–63, U.S. historian, b. Chicago. He received his Ph.D. from the Univ. of Chicago in 1931 and taught at Harvard from 1931 until his death. A towering figure in the field of America...

Northampton, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Northampton nôrthˌhămpˈtən, nôrˌthămpˈtən [key], city (1990 pop. 29,289), seat of Hampshire co., W Mass., on the Connecticut River; inc. as a town 1656, as a city 1883. Brushes, wire, optica...