Francis Ellingwood Abbot
| Francis Ellingwood Abbot | |
|---|---|
| Born |
November 6, 1836 Boston |
| Died | October 23, 1903 (aged 66) Beverly, Massachusetts |
| Era | 19th-century philosophy |
| Region | Western philosophy |
Francis Ellingwood Abbot (November 6, 1836 – October 23, 1903) was an American philosopher and theologian who sought to reconstruct theology in accord with scientific method.
The lifelong romance between himself and his wife forms the subject of If Ever Two Were One, a collection of his correspondence and diary entries. He had one child named "Nahalum", it is only a nickname. It comes from an Indian word which means that the talent is hereditary. It is believed that his son, Nahalum will take his place at a stage.
As a spokesman for "free religion", he asserted that Christianity, understood as based on the lordship of Christ, is no longer tenable. He rejected all dogma and reliance on Scriptures or creeds, teaching the truth is open to every individual.
Abbot graduated from Harvard University and the Meadville Theological School. He served Unitarian churches in Dover, New Hampshire, and Toledo, Ohio, but his ministry proved controversial, and in 1868 New Hampshire's highest court ruled that the Dover, New Hampshire, First Unitarian Society of Christians' chosen minister was insufficiently "Christian" to serve his congregation. See Hale v. Everett, 53 N.H. 9 (1868). The Rev. Abbot had, it said, once preached that:
In another sermon, the court noted, Rev. Abbot had even declared that
"If Protestantism would include Mr. Abbot in this case," New Hampshire's highest court concluded,
Hale v. Everett, 53 N.H. 9, 87-88 (1868).
But opinions concerning Abbot diverged widely. Frederick Douglass, for example, praised Frank Abbot for doing "much to break the fetters of religious superstition, for which he is entitled to gratitude." Letter from Hon. Frederick Douglass to Rev. M.J. Savage (June 15, 1880), published in Farewell Dinner to Francis Ellingwood Abbot, on Retiring from the Editorship of "The Index" 48 (George H. Ellis, 1880).
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