24 Facts About Solomon Stoddard

Solomon Stoddard was the pastor of the First Church of Christ in Northampton, Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Solomon Stoddard succeeded Rev Eleazer Mather, and later married his widow around 1670.

Solomon Stoddard was the first librarian at Harvard University and the first person in American history known by that title.

Solomon Stoddard was an influential religious leader in colonial New England, and was the grandfather of the prominent theologian Rev Jonathan Edwards.

For 55 years, Solomon Stoddard occupied an unparalleled position in the Connecticut River Valley region of Massachusetts.

Solomon Stoddard's theology was not widely accepted in Boston, but was popular on the frontier.

Opponents sometimes referred to him as "Pope" Solomon Stoddard, rhetorically placing him in the locally detested camp of the Roman Catholic Church.

Solomon Stoddard insisted that the sacrament of the Lord's Supper should be available to all who lived outwardly pious lives and had a good reputation in the community, even if they weren't full members of the church.

Solomon Stoddard accepted the offer, and relocated to Northampton, which in 1670 was on the frontier.

Solomon Stoddard was pastor of a group ministry of churches at Dorchester, Roxbury, and Springfield as well as Northampton, purchased from the Indians in 1653.

Solomon Stoddard's interest was to insure the growth of church congregations in a colony of second-generation pilgrims who were increasingly interested in the political and economic life of the frontier, as opposed to the pure idealism of their immigrant parents.

Solomon Stoddard taught that people who had grown up in the church and were not scandalous in behavior could receive communion as a means of grace; and have their children baptized, despite the fact that the Puritan tradition had previously required prospective members of the church to proclaim a spiritual "conversion".

Solomon Stoddard was ordained as pastor of Northampton on the strength of a Letter of Recommendation from Rev John Strong, regional convenor of the Congregational Church in neighbouring towns of Massachusetts and Connecticut.

Mather's orthodox Puritanism had witnessed declining numbers, yet Solomon Stoddard was able to revitalise the church through liberal reforms.

Solomon Stoddard believed that everyone should experience God's glory for himself, whether through Nature or Scripture.

When one sees this glory for himself, Solomon Stoddard preached that one's will is automatically affected.

Solomon Stoddard explained that "the gloriousness of God has a commanding power on the heart".

Solomon Stoddard's position was expressed through debates with his in-laws Cotton and Increase Mather.

Solomon Stoddard rejected the Puritan claim that no one could discern whether he was saved.

Solomon Stoddard explained that there was no biblical justification for allowing only sinners to take communion.

Later at the ambush of Dewey's Hole, Solomon Stoddard was almost killed by Indians.

Solomon Stoddard had a major influence on his grandson and was succeeded by him as the pastor of the church at Northampton.

Ultimately, Solomon Stoddard's power seems to derive more from his personality, political influence, and preaching ability, than from the force of his ideas.

Solomon Stoddard's Venerable Looks let us descry He taller was than Mean or common size, Of lovely Look, with majesty in's Eyes.