Benjamin Fiske Barrett ( – ) was an American clergyman. He has been described as "one of the most able and prolific defenders of

Swedenborgian The New Church (or Swedenborgianism) is any of several historically related Christian denominations that developed as a new religious group, influenced by the writings of scientist and mystic Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772). Swedenborgian or ...

thought in the United States in the nineteenth century." Benjamin Fiske Barrett was born on in

Dresden, Maine Dresden is a town in Lincoln County, Maine, United States, that was incorporated in 1794. The population was 1,725 at the 2020 census. History The town was originally settled in 1752 under the name Frankfort by French and German Huguenots, who ...

. He graduated from

Bowdoin College Bowdoin College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. When Bowdoin was chartered in 1794, Maine was still a part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The college offers 34 majors and 36 minors, as well as several joint eng ...

and the Cambridge Unitarian Seminary. He adopted the Swedenborgian doctrines. From 1840 to 1848 he officiated as pastor of the New Church Society in New York, and then in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

until 1850, when he retired from the pulpit, owing to poor health. He pursued a mechanical trade in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, and in four years regained his health and acquired a property. He then took charge of the first Swedenborgian church in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, at the same time editing the ''New Church Monthly.'' He is the author of ''A Life of

Swedenborg Emanuel Swedenborg (, ; born Emanuel Swedberg; 29 March 1772) was a Swedish pluralistic-Christian theologian, scientist, philosopher and mystic. He became best known for his book on the afterlife, ''Heaven and Hell'' (1758). Swedenborg had a ...

''; ''Lectures on the Doctrines of the New Jerusalem Church '' (New York, 1842); ''Lectures on the New Dispensation ''; ''Letters on the Divine Trinity''; ''The Golden Reed'' (New York, 1855); ''Catholicity of the New Church''; ''The Visible Church''; ''Beauty for Ashes'' (1856); ''

Episcopalianism Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

'' (1871); ''On Future Life'' (Philadelphia, 1872); ''The Golden City''; ''The New Church, its Nature and Whereabout''; ''Swedenborg and Channing''; ''A New View of Hell'' (1872); ''Report of the Inquiry into the Allegations against B. F. Barrett'' (1867); about fifty pamphlets and smaller treatises, and numerous magazine articles. His collected works were issued in Philadelphia (1875). He edited the ''Swedenborg Library,'' in twelve volumes, containing the substance of Swedenborg's teachings in extracts (Philadelphia, 1870, et seq.). Benjamin Fiske Barrett died on 6 August 1892 in Philadelphia.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barrett, Benjamin Created via preloaddraft 1808 births 1892 deaths Bowdoin College alumni American Swedenborgians