PARTHENIUS II Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria [1788-1805] see 1783 and 1805
1789
EVANS, CHRISTMAS [1766-1838] – Welsh Baptist preacher who was born on Christmas Day, the son of a cobbler. He had some informal instruction by a well-known schoolmaster David Davis as well as a short period at his school. He joined the Baptist Church and was sent as a missionary to Caernarfon and was ordained in 1789. From 1791 to 1826 he ministered in Anglesey and apart from a short period in southern Wales he was in the Caernarfon area until the end of his life. Together with John Elias [see 1811] and William Williams [see 1744] Christmas Evans is enshrined in Welsh tradition as one of the three greatest figures in the history of the nation's preaching. These men were exceptionally able communicators with the largely uneducated public of the period. His sermons on such themes as the Prodigal Son or the Last Judgement became existential dramas of the most poignant kind at his hands. Evans’ preaching was inspired by profound personal godliness and a passion for souls however he tended to be somewhat wayward in his theological opinions.
NEOPHYTUS VII – Patriarch of Constantinople [1789-1794, 1798-1801] succeeded Procopius I [see 1785]. There is no additional information readily available.
UNITED EMPIRE LOYALISTS – Lord Dorchester, governor general of British North America, proposed in 1789 to honour all those who had by their actions adhered to the unity of the empire. These immigrants to British North America who came during and immediately after the American Revolution settled in the Niagara Peninsula and in Nova Scotia were inscribed on a list and entitled to distinguish themselves by affixing the letters U.E. to their names. The Loyalists migration from south of the border altered the distribution of French and British in Canada in favour of the British.
1790
BRANT, JOSEPH [1742‑1807] – Christian Mohawk Chief who was an Anglican convert. Educated in Connecticut he became the assistant to Sir William Johnson Indian commissioner who had sponsored his education. Chosen chief of the Mohawks he went to England in 1775 where he was well received. He was involved in the American War of Independence and afterwards was given an estate in Canada at the head of Lake Ontario. He built the first church in Upper Canada.
CARROLL, JOHN [1735-1815] – First Roman Catholic bishop in America. Educated in France by the Society of Jesus. When they were dissolved in 1773 he returned to America and became the leader of the Catholics in the colonies defending their rights to religious freedom. He founded Georgetown College for the training of native priests. He became in 1808 the first archbishop of Baltimore.
CLAPHAM SECT – The name given to a group of wealthy Anglican evangelicals who lived mainly in Clapham London. Its most famous member was William Wilberforce around whom included many talented people. Their most famous achievements were the establishment of Sierra Leone as a colony for ex slaves in 1807 and the abolition of the slave trade in the British colonies in 1833. There were also significant attempts to widen the basis of education and to make the evangelical message known to the upper classes. They were also closely connected with the foundation of the Church Missionary Society [1799], the British and Foreign Bible Society [1804], and the successful parliamentary battle of 1813 to legalise the sending of missionaries to India.
ENLIGHTENMENT, THE – A movement seen in particular clear-cut form in 18th century Germany. Karl Barth characterised it as “a system founded upon the presumption of faith in the omnipotence of human ability.” Emanuel Kant defined it in his Religion Within the Bounds of Reason Only in 1793 as follows: “The Enlightenment represents man's emergence from a self-inflicted state of minority. A minor is one who is incapable of making use of his understanding without guidance from someone else.” The concept was to seek a path yourself to absolute truth through pure reason. Deists rejected supernatural revelation and expressed the concept that man had developed beyond the need for Christianity. G. E. Lessing [see 1774] argued that truth was found in Christianity, Islam and Judaism, therefore toleration was imperative. Based upon the reliability of reason, The Enlightenment rejected both supernatural revelation and man's sinfulness.
FRONTIER RELIGION – A reference to the character of Christianity on the American frontier during the century of western expansion 1790-1890. Pioneer religion tended to encourage an individualistic faith, emotion filled meetings, and democratic church government. Employing revivals and camp meetings freely, Baptists and Methodists proved to be the most effective denominations in winning frontiersmen to the Christian faith. The Baptist ministers were generally farmers during the week and preachers of the ‘simple gospel’ on Sundays while the Methodist circuit-riding preachers with their message of free will and free grace seemed to offer the right combination of method and message for the scattered democratically minded frontiersmen.
GREGOIRE, HENRI [1750-1831] – Bishop of Blois who was a Roman Catholic bishop of the constitutional church during the French Revolution. He led the marathon session of the Third Estate during the attack on the Bastille in 1789. He was the first priest to sign a loyalty oath of the civil constitution of the clergy demanded by the constituent assembly of 1790. As bishop of Blois 1790-1801 he was elected president of the National Assembly in 1792. At the height of the Terror of 1793 Gregoire refused to reject his faith or remove his robes. His opposition to Napoleon's conciliation with the Vatican caused his resignation as bishop in 1801.
VAN ESS, LEANDER [1772-1847] – German biblical scholar who entered the Benedictine Order in 1790 and was ordained six years later. Appointed professor of Catholic theology at Marburg in 1812 he remained there for 10 years. In 1807 he collaborated with his cousin Karl and produced a German translation of the New Testament with the Old Testament following in 1822. Divergence from the Vulgate led to his version being placed on the Index. Nevertheless more than half a million copies of the New Testament were circulated with financial aid from the British and Foreign Bible Society.
