John Weemes

John Wemyss (c. 1579–1636), also spelled Weemes or Weemse, was a Church of Scotland minister, Hebrew scholar and exegete.

John Wemyss was born at Lathocker in eastern Fife, and educated at the University of St Andrews. In 1608, he was appointed minister of Hutton in Berwickshire, and in 1613 he was translated to Duns. For several years Wemyss acted as a representative of Presbyterian ministers in altercations with champions of episcopacy, for example at the Falkland Conference (4 May 1609) and the Perth Assembly of 1618 which issued the Five Articles. After appearing before the Court of High Commission in 1620 for disobeying the Articles, he apparently gave up ecclesiastical affairs and devoted himself to study and writing.

In his writings Wemyss gave prominence to Hebrew and to Jewish writings, from the Midrash through the medievals to the early moderns, which made him one of the pioneers in Scotland of the study of Jewish life and learning. John Wemyss is seen as one of the first Christian writers who presented a positive argument in favor of Jews being allowed to settle in a Christian country. His writings provided a positive view in favor of the resettlement of the Jews in England. In addition to readmission, Wemyss believed in the conversion of the Jews. He rooted his beliefs in the Biblical injunction regarding the treatment of strangers. Although his attitude to the Jews included both negative and positive views, he did express a hesitancy about persecuting them; this marked the start of the move to enlightenment tolerance.

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