Painting by John Singleton Copley

Elhanan Winchester

(September 30, 1751 – April 18, 1797)

Elhanan Winchester, born in Brookline, MA was an American preacher and revivalist who contributed to the spread of Christian Universalism throughout America. Originally a Baptist, he was encouraged by George de Benneville to read Universalist works and consider the idea of universal reconciliation. Converting to Universalism, Winchester preached throughout the Colonies and founded the first Universalist church in Philadelphia. With John Murray he convened the Oxford Universalist Convention (MA) and established the Philadelphia Convention of Universalists.

Traveling to England, Winchester in 1793 established a Universalist church in London. While there he wrote, The Universal Restoration, Exhibited in Four Dialogues Between a Minister and His Friend (1794). This work emphasized scriptural texts that supported universal human salvation and upheld the belief that afterlife punishment was of a remedial nature and not eternal.

It must be noted that Winchester was a fervent abolitionist, allowing converted slaves to attend his church when serving as a pastor at a Baptist church in South Carolina. After returning to the north, Winchester established to black churches. As in the South, he faced criticism in the North for doing so. The Reigning Abominations, Especially the Slave Trade, (1788).



Resources:

Elhanan Winchester: Preacher Patriot [External Link (Tentmakers Org.)]

"The Outcasts Comforted" - " A SERMON Delivered at the University in Philadelphia, January 4, 1782 To the Members of the BAPTIST CHURCH, who have been rejected by their Brethren, For holding the Doctrine of the final Restoration of all Things.By Elhanan Winchester." [External Link]

The Universal Restoration, Exhibited in Four Dialogues Between a Minister and His Friend (1794) [External Link Online] [PDF Version]

Painting by John Singleton Copley