Channing, William Ellery

William Ellery (1780-1842), an American clergyman. He was a native of Newport, Rhode Island, and a graduate of Harvard College. He studied medicine, taught in Virginia, took up theology, and entered upon his first charge at Medford, Massachusetts. He preached his first sermon from the text, "Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have give I thee." In 1803 he had a call to Boston. In 1819 he preached a famous sermon in which he announced two articles of belief. He declared the Bible to be "a book written for men, in the language of men, and its meaning to be sought in the same manner as that of other books." He also declared his belief that Christ was a great moral teacher; no more, no less. This made him the recognized leader of the Unitarian movement in New England, a position which he held until his death. He was also an earnest advocate of the abolition of slavery, supporting the views of Garrison. He was a man of wide reading and a fine writer. His life was simple and fearless. He was a man of unaffected piety. He was respected thoroughly, even by those who could not accept his views. Coleridge said of Channing, "He has the love of wisdom, and the wisdom of love." A bronze statue of Channing stands in the public garden in Boston, opposite the church of which he was long a pastor. See Unitarians