John Smith (Platonist)

John Smith (1618, Achurch, Northamptonshire – 7 August 1652, Cambridge)^[1] was an English philosopher, theologian, and educator.

Life[]

Smith entered Emmanuel College, Cambridge, in 1636, took his B.A. in 1640 and his M.A. in 1644, at which time he was chosen fellow of Queens' College.^[2] His health seems to have been precarious from the first. His labours were principally confined to his office as teacher, for which he had remarkable qualifications. His preaching was with a rare degree of eloquence, which can still be felt in the Select Discourses (1660). In that work, he writes about several metaphysical and epistemological issues surrounding Christianity — the existence of God, eternal life and rationality. He gained much local fame as a lecturer on mathematics. His personal character was such as to excite the admiration of his associates to a remarkable degree. As a "founder" of the Cambridge Platonists, his special service was in developing a Christian philosophy that was deeply rational and open to the new science yet directed to the practical goal of living a religious life. To these ends, Smith drew heavily from Plotinus.

References[]

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Gilman, D. C.; Peck, H. T.; Colby, F. M., eds. (1905). New International Encyclopedia (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead. Missing or empty |title= (help)

External links[]

• Works by John Smith at Post-Reformation Digital Library
• Select Discourses
• Derek Michaud, Reason Turned into Sense: John Smith on Spiritual Sensation (Peeters, 2017) The only extensive study of Smith in English.

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