Robert Spearman (1703–1761) was an English theologian, known as a

Hutchinsonian John Hutchinson (1674 – 28 August 1737) was an English theologian and natural philosopher. He was born at Spennithorne, Yorkshire, and served as steward in several families of position, latterly in that of the Duke of Somerset, who ultimately ...

Life

He was the eldest son of Robert Spearman, attorney of

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county *Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in No ...

, by his wife Hannah, only daughter of William Webster, merchant, of

Stockton-on-Tees Stockton-on-Tees, often simply referred to as Stockton, is a market town in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham, England. It is on the northern banks of the River Tees, part of the Teesside built-up area. The town had an estimated ...

. He studied at

Durham School Durham School is an independent boarding and day school in the English public school tradition located in Durham, North East England and was an all-boys institution until 1985, when girls were admitted to the sixth form. The school takes pupils a ...

and

Corpus Christi College, Oxford Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517, it is the 12th ...

, but left without taking a degree. He then lived at Old Acres,

Sedgefield Sedgefield is a market town and civil parish in County Durham, England. It had a population of 5,211 as at the 2011 census. It has the only operating racecourse in County Durham. History Roman A Roman 'ladder settlement' was discovered by C ...

. A pupil of John Hutchinson, Spearman survived him, edited his works, and wrote his life. He was the dedicatee of ''Two Dissertations concerning the Etymology and Scripture-Meaning of the Hebrew words Elohim and Berith'' (1751) by Thomas Sharp, with whom he was on good terms. Spearman died on 20 October 1761, leaving only female issue by his wife Anne, daughter of Robert Sharpe of

Hawthorn, County Durham Hawthorn is a village in County Durham, England. It is situated between Seaham and Easington. The only public building in the village of Hawthorn is the Staplyton Arms, a small public house situated in roughly the centre of the village. Close ...

Works

Spearman's own writings were: *''An Enquiry after Philosophy and Theology, tending to show when and whence mankind came at the knowledge of these two important points'', Edinburgh, 1755; 2nd ed. Dublin, 1757 (a polemic against

Newtonian physics Classical mechanics is a physical theory describing the motion of macroscopic objects, from projectiles to parts of machinery, and astronomical objects, such as spacecraft, planets, stars, and galaxies. For objects governed by classical mech ...

); *''Letters to a Friend concerning the Septuagint Translation and the Heathen Mythology'', Edinburgh, 1759 (an attempt to derive all mythologies from a primeval revelation).

References

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Spearman, Robert 1703 births 1761 deaths English theologians People from Durham, England 18th-century Anglican theologians