George Lawson (1598–1678) was an English

divine Divinity or the divine are things that are either related to, devoted to, or proceeding from a deity.divine

and writer. He was also

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

More, Shropshire More is a small village and civil parish in Shropshire, England. It lies near the border with Wales and the nearest town is Bishop's Castle. There is a parish church in the village. The civil parish extends greatly to the north of the village, ...

Biography

George Lawson was born in 1598, and educated at Puritan

Emmanuel College, Cambridge Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mon ...

. Lawson was a protégé of

William Laud William Laud (; 7 October 1573 – 10 January 1645) was a bishop in the Church of England. Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by Charles I in 1633, Laud was a key advocate of Charles I's religious reforms, he was arrested by Parliament in 1640 ...

. Lawson was a supporter of the

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

, and accordingly retained his rectory during the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

. Lawson wrote to Baxter on the appearance of the latter's ''Aphorismes of Justification'', 1649, and Baxter valued his criticisms; "especially", he writes, "his instigating me to the study of politicks ..did prove a singular benefit to me". Baxter says that he had seen in manuscript arguments by Lawson in favour of taking the engagement. He became

, before 22 April 1686. His religious views inclined to

Arminianism Arminianism is a branch of Protestantism based on the theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius (1560–1609) and his historic supporters known as Remonstrants. Dutch Arminianism was originally articulated in the ''Re ...

. He was buried at More 12 July 1678. Lawson, who was certainly not a

Yorkshireman Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

, must be distinguished from George Lawson (1606–1670) of Moreby, son of George Lawson of Poppleton, Yorkshire, who became rector of Eykring, Northamptonshire, and who may be identical with the George Lawson who was ejected as a

royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governme ...

from the vicarage of

Mears Ashby Mears Ashby is a village in the county of Northamptonshire, England. It lies between the county town of Northampton and Wellingborough and was in the West ward of borough council of Wellingborough area which also included Sywell prior to loca ...

, Northamptonshire, by the parliamentarians (Walker, Attempt, ii. 296), and then became schoolmaster at Houghton Conquest,

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council wa ...

Works

* ''Examination of the Political Part of Hobbes s "Leviathan,"'' London, 1657, 12mo. * ''Theo-Politica, or a Body of Divinity'', London, 1659, 8vo; 2nd ed. 1705, commended by Baxter. * ''Politica Sacra et Civilis''. London, 1660, 4to. * ''Exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews''. London, 1662, fol. * ''Magna Charta Ecclesiæ Universalis''. London, 1686, 8vo : 3rd ed. 1687.

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Biography

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