Biography Rev John Weiss National Day of Humiliation Fasting Prayer 1863 President Abraham Lincoln

Rev. John Weiss (1818-1879)
by Mary Katherine May

Rick and Mary May operate the webstore Quality Music and Books.

As a pastor on the fringes of Unitarian theology, Reverend John Weiss was not a Christian. His words are relevant for Christians, in that there is a lot in what he writes that pertains to the United States of America in 2009. I believe that there is much to think upon and discuss, for the student and non-student alike.

The Unitarian writings from the mid-19th century and earlier are not of the type we see today coming from the Unitarian/Universalist Church. Many of the sermons and documents from this former time period will appear to be very Christian in thought and teaching, and I believe we can use them as such, despite the difference of faith--the Unitarian belief being that Jesus was not God as in the Holy Trinity.

If you would like to explore the subject further, when researching look closely at pastors whose writings come from Boston, Massachusetts and surrounding areas. You will be surprised that many are from the Unitarian Church.

Reverend John Weiss (1818-1879) was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of a German Jewish barber. He attended Harvard, where one of his classmates was Henry David Thoreau.

Following graduation, he taught school in Jamaica Plain for a time. Weiss then returned to Harvard and its Divinity School, and after completion was ordained in Watertown and began his first ministry.

Rev. Weiss was a man of strong convictions, and was outspoken about abolitionism and women’s rights. This led to his removal from the Watertown pastorate, after which he went to a church in New Bedford for a time before returning to his first post. Denying the fullness of Christianity, he was also considered to hold on-the-edge views in the Unitarian church, naming himself a theistic naturalist.

Regarding his Unitarian pastoral role, he said, “Time was that when the brains was out a man would die, but now they make a Unitarian minister of him.”

Octavius Brooks Frothingham gives John Weiss along with Wasson and Higginson credit to have “nursed in the Transcendental School.”

Of his friend’s faith, Frothingham states “Weiss treads the border-land between religion and science, recognizing the claims of both, and bringing to their adjustment as fine intellectual scales as any of his contemporaries.”

One of my recent acquisitions was a copy of the address the Rev. Weiss delivered to his church in Watertown on the day proclaimed by President Lincoln as one of fasting and prayer.

This year we honor the memory of President Abraham Lincoln on the 200th anniversary of his birth. The words Weiss wrote in his address (on this blog site) over 200 years ago not only relevant in 2009, but should also create questions and thoughts for discussion, and lead to topics you will want to explore in the future.