Simon Browne was a

dissenting Dissent is an opinion, philosophy or sentiment of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or policy enforced under the authority of a government, political party or other entity or individual. A dissenting person may be referred to as ...

minister and

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

. He was born in

Shepton Mallet Shepton Mallet is a market town and civil parish in the Mendip District of Somerset, England, some south-west of Bath, south of Bristol and east of Wells. It had an estimated population of 10,810 in 2019. Mendip District Council is based t ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, England, in 1680.

Early life

Browne was preaching by the age of 20, and first became a minister at an independent church in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

before moving, in 1716, to preach at the

Old Jewry meeting-house The Old Jewry Meeting-house was a meeting-house for an English Presbyterian congregation, built around 1701, in the Old Jewry, a small street in the centre of the City of London. Its first minister was John Shower. In 1808 new premises were buil ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. He had a volume of

sermon A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present contexts. El ...

s published in 1722, and also a collection entitled ''Hymns and Spiritual Songs'', which included "Come, Holy Spirit, Heavenly Dove" and "And Now, My Soul, Another Year".

Self-blame

Browne was attacked by a highway robber in the early 1720s, and killed him in self-defence. Although he faced no legal consequences for this act, Browne was convinced that he had used excessive force, and had thus become a murderer. He developed the belief, that due to his act of murder, he had become eternally damned, and that his soul had been removed from his body. This belief has some similarities to the

Cotard delusion Cotard's syndrome, also known as Cotard's delusion or walking corpse syndrome, is a rare mental disorder in which the affected person holds the delusional belief that they are dead, do not exist, are putrefying, or have lost their blood or intern ...

(although at the distance of some centuries, a definitive diagnosis is impossible).Berman D., ''Simon Browne: the soul-murdered theologian.'' Hist Psychiatry. 1996 Jun; 7(26 Pt 2): 257–63
Available online (for fee)
/ref>

Writings

Browne abandoned the ministry in late 1723 due to the sudden depression brought on by the highway robbery, and returned to Shepton Mallet. There he continued to write, including books for children, translations of Latin and Greek poetry, and an abstract of the Bible. He also published three theological works: ''A Fit Rebuke to a Ludicrous Infidel'', ''A Defence of the Religion of Nature and the Christian Revelation'', and ''A Sober and Charitable Disquisition Concerning The Importance of the Doctrine of the Trinity''. He also penned "1 Corinthians" in Matthews Henry's commentary as listed in the preface to volume 6.

Death

Simon Browne died in Shepton Mallet in 1732 and was buried in the meeting-house there.

References

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Browne, Simon People from Shepton Mallet English hymnwriters English Dissenters 1680 births 1732 deaths