Background
Jonathan Dickinson was born on April 22, 1688 in Hatfield, Massachusetts, United States. His parents, Hezekiah and Abigail, came of pioneer Connecticut Valley stock.
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Jonathan Dickinson was born on April 22, 1688 in Hatfield, Massachusetts, United States. His parents, Hezekiah and Abigail, came of pioneer Connecticut Valley stock.
Jonathan was graduated from Yale College in 1706 and forthwith turned to the study of theology.
Dickinson was ordained pastor of the church at Elizabeth Town, New Jersey, in September 1709.
The Elizabeth Town charge like many early New Jersey churches was Congregational and did not share its pastor’s admiration for the Presbyterian organization. Not until 1717 was Dickinson able to persuade his congregation to join the presbytery of Philadelphia.
Though the youngest of the members of the synod, he was soon regarded as one of the ablest. Twice he was elected moderator of that body, in 1721 and 1742. For nearly forty years he labored in behalf of the church, earning the reputation of being “one of the greatest and safest men of his age”. Within the synod faction was rife; many desired to enforce a rigid and narrow view of Presbyterianism. On several occasions, for example, it was proposed to compel the clergy to subscribe to the Westminster Confessions and Catechisms. Dickinson, in keeping with his Congregational heritage, opposed such measures on the ground that the rights of the clergy would be infringed. For many years by the exercise of rare judgment he was able to compose the differences between the factions.
Particularly bitter were the assaults made upon the actions and sermons of George Whitefield, the evangelist.
The need of a school to train young men for the ministry had become pressing.
At Neshaminy the Rev. William Tennant had founded a school which its opponents had derisively dubbed the “Log College. ”
In 1738, however, the synod decreed that no one without a degree from Harvard, Yale, or a European institution might be ordained without its consent. This ruling outraged the feelings of the Log College adherents and finally led, among other differences, to the “great schism. ” The dissatisfied presbyteries of New Brunswick and New York met at Elizabeth Town in 1745 and organized the Synod of New York, with Dickinson as moderator. He was not satisfied with the Log College. With a larger purpose in view he approached the Anglican Gov. Morris of New Jersey, but his application for a charter was refused. Shortly after, on October 22, 1746, Acting-Governor Hamilton, though also an Anglican, was prevailed upon to grant the first charter of the College of New Jersey.
The college was formally opened in May of 1747 at Elizabeth Town and Dickinson was elected its first president. Great must have been his joy when it was learned that the new governor, Jonathan Belcher, not only approved the undertaking but was willing to cooperate in obtaining a more secure charter. Plans were made to remove the college to Princeton, more centrally situated. Before these changes could he consummated Dickinson died suddenly, on October 7, 1747, from an attack of pleurisy.
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Dickinson defended Presbyterianism with great vigor against external criticism. His pen was active in all the religious controversies of his day, and indeed his ability to define authoritatively s, uch a variety of theological issues led Dr. Erskine of Edinburgh to remark that the British Isles had produced no such critics on Divinity in the eighteenth century as Dickinson and Edwards.
Dickinson not only defended the revival in the synod but repelled the attacks of those outside the church who dared question the sincerity of the mission. He was impatient of the erratic movements of the day, particularly Deism and Arminianism.
“It may be doubted whether, with the exception of the elder Edwards, Calvinism has ever found an abler or more efficient champion in this country, than Jonathan Dickinson”.
Dickinson married Joanna Melyen, the sister of his predecessor. He was survived by his second wife, Mary Crane Dickinson, whom he had married in April 1747.