{{Short description|Unitarian clergyman (1784– 1812)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2021}} {{Infobox person/Wikidata | fetchwikidata=ALL | onlysourced=yes |occupation=[[Unitarianism|Unitarian]] preacher|image = 'Reverend Joseph Stevens Buckminster, D.D.' by Gilbert Stuart, Cincinnati.jpg |caption = ''Joseph Stevens Buckminster'', circa 1810, by [[Gilbert Stuart]] | dateformat=mdy}}
'''Joseph Stevens Buckminster''' (May 26, 1784 – June 9, 1812) was an influential [[Unitarianism|Unitarian]] preacher in [[Boston, Massachusetts]], and a leader in bringing the German [[higher criticism]] of the Bible to America.
==Biography== Born in [[Portsmouth, New Hampshire]], to the Rev. Joseph Buckminster,<ref name=Buckminster>''Memoirs of Rev. Joseph Buckminster, D. D., and of his son, Rev. Joseph Stevens Buckminster'' 1849. W. Crosby & H. P. Nichols, Boston, Publishers. p.458.</ref><ref name=Cyclopaedia>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0XZMAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA141 |title=The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography |volume=VII |publisher=James T. White & Company |page=141 |year=1897 |access-date=2021-02-23 |via=Google Books}}</ref> Buckminster was a precocious child. He learned Latin and the Greek New Testament at age four, entered [[Harvard College]] at 13, and graduated in 1800 at age 16 with both bachelor's and master's degrees. Upon his graduation, he spent two years as an instructor at Phillips Exeter Academy.<ref>''Dictionary of American Biography'', Vol. II (NY: C. Scribner's and Sons, 1958), p. 233.</ref> In 1805 he became minister of the [[Brattle Street Church]] in Boston, and quickly launched an almost legendary career of eloquent preaching, biblical scholarship, and literary production which set the tone for the pattern of the minister as a man of letters.
During 1806-07 he traveled through Europe and collected a library of 3,000 volumes that would become the foundation of the library of the [[Boston Athenæum]].<ref>Harvard University Library, Online Archival Search Information System, Biographical Note, HUC 8799.386.10</ref> Buckminster was elected a Fellow of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] in 1809.<ref name=AAAS>{{cite web|title=Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter B|url=http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterB.pdf|publisher=American Academy of Arts and Sciences|accessdate=September 9, 2016}}</ref> He was the most brilliant member of the [[Anthology Club]], an early editor of the [[Monthly Anthology]],<ref>J.S. Buckminister, On the Dangers and Duties on Phi Beta Kappa, 7 Monthly Anthology 146 (September 1809).</ref> and in 1811 was appointed Dexter Lecturer at Harvard where he occupied the first Chair in Scripture.
Buckminster died in Boston on June 9, 1812.<ref name=Buckminster /><ref name=Cyclopaedia/><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/71877130/died/ |title=Died |newspaper=The Pittsfield Sun |page=3 |date=1812-06-20 |access-date=2021-02-23 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
==Influence== Buckminster's influence on his contemporaries was striking. His mastery of the emerging "New Criticism" from German Biblical scholars led to his rational investigation of the Bible, subjecting its text to the same scrupulous scholarly investigation given other texts from antiquity. This approach heavily influenced [[William Ellery Channing]], and gave rise to the first section of Channing's 1819 "Baltimore Sermon" for the ordination of the Rev. [[Jared Sparks]]. Buckminster further convinced the young [[Edward Everett]] to study for the ministry instead of the law.
==Literature== * ''The Works of Joseph Stevens Buckminster'', 2 vols. (Boston, 1839). * [[Eliza Lee|Eliza (Buckminster) Lee]], ''Memoirs of the Buckminsters'' (Boston, 1851) * {{Cite Appletons'|wstitle=Buckminster, Joseph|year=1900|notaref=x}} * {{Cite NIE|wstitle=Buckminster, Joseph Stevens|year=1905}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{Gutenberg author | id=37691| name=Joseph Buckminster}} * {{Internet Archive author |sname=Joseph Stevens Buckminster}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Buckminster, Joseph Stevens}} [[Category:1784 births]] [[Category:1812 deaths]] [[Category:People from Portsmouth, New Hampshire]] [[Category:American Unitarians]] [[Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] [[Category:Harvard College alumni]] [[Category:Clergy from Boston]]