John Oxlee
Encyclopedia
John Oxlee was an English philologist and writer on theology
.
, was born at Guisborough
in Cleveland
, Yorkshire, on 25 September 1779, and was educated at Sunderland. After devoting himself to business for a short time he studied mathematics and Latin, and made such rapid progress in Latin that in 1842 Dr. Vicesimus Knox
appointed him second master at Tunbridge grammar school. While at Tunbridge he lost, through inflammation, the use of an eye, yet commenced studying Hebrew, Chaldee, and Syriac.
In 1805 he was ordained to the curacy of Egton
, near Whitby
. In 1811 he removed to the curacy of Stonegrave
, from 1815 to 1826 he held the rectory of Scawton]], and in 1836 the archbishop of York presented him to the rectory of Molesworth
in Huntingdonshire
.
Oxlee's power of acquiring languages, considering that he was self-educated, has rarely been excelled. He obtained a knowledge more or less extensive of 120 languages and dialects. In prosecuting his studies he was often obliged to form his own grammar and dictionary. He left among his numerous unpublished writings a work entitled "One hundred and more Vocabularies of such Words as form the Stamina of Human Speech, commencing with the Hungarian and terminating with the Yoruba", 1837–40. A large portion of his time he spent in making himself thoroughly conversant with the Hebrew law and in studying the Talmud
. His only recreation was pedestrian exercise, and he at times walked fifty miles to procure a book in Hebrew or other oriental language. He was a contributor to the Anti-Jacobin Review, Valpy's Classical Journal, the Christian Remembrancer, the Voice of Jacob, the Voice of Israel, the Jewish Chronicle, the Jewish Repository, the Yorkshireman, and Sermons for Sundays and Festivals.
He died at Molesworth rectory on 30 January 1854, leaving two children by his wife, a daughter of John R. A. Worsop of Howden Hall, Yorkshire: John Oxlee (d. 1892), vicar of Over Silton 1848, rector of Cowesby 1863 (both in Yorkshire), and an unmarried daughter, Mary Anna Oxlee.
His works included, with many controversial pamphlets and some sermons: 1. "Three Letters to the Archbishop Lawrence of Cashel on the Apocryphal Publications of his Grace (Enoch, Ezra, and Isaiah) on the Age of the Sepher Zoar and on the Two Genealogies of Christ as given in the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Luke", 1854. Alexander Nicoll, regius professor of Hebrew at Oxford, was impressed by the number of extracts from Jewish writers contained in this volume, compiled by a scholar working alone. 2. "Three Letters to Mr. C. Wellbeloved, Tutor of the Unitarian College, York, on the Folly of separating from the Mother Church". To Charles Wellbeloved
.
He also left many unpublished works, including an Armenian and an Arabic lexicon.
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
.
Biography
Oxlee, son of a well-to-do farmer in YorkshireYorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
, was born at Guisborough
Guisborough
Guisborough is a market town and civil parish within the unitary authority of Redcar and Cleveland and the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England....
in Cleveland
Cleveland, England
Cleveland is an area in the north east of England. Its name means literally "cliff-land", referring to its hilly southern areas, which rise to nearly...
, Yorkshire, on 25 September 1779, and was educated at Sunderland. After devoting himself to business for a short time he studied mathematics and Latin, and made such rapid progress in Latin that in 1842 Dr. Vicesimus Knox
Vicesimus Knox
Vicesimus Knox was an English essayist and minister. He was born December 8, 1752, at Newington Green, Middlesex. Knox was educated at St John's College, Oxford, took orders, and became Head Master of Tonbridge School. He published Essays Moral and Literary , and compiled the formerly well-known...
appointed him second master at Tunbridge grammar school. While at Tunbridge he lost, through inflammation, the use of an eye, yet commenced studying Hebrew, Chaldee, and Syriac.
In 1805 he was ordained to the curacy of Egton
Egton
Egton is a village and civil parish in the Scarborough district of North Yorkshire, England about west of Whitby. There is a nearby village called Egton Bridge which is home to Egton railway station. The village was included in the Survey of English Dialects. Unlike the other sites, a full book...
, near Whitby
Whitby
Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a combined maritime, mineral and tourist heritage, and is home to the ruins of Whitby Abbey where Caedmon, the...
. In 1811 he removed to the curacy of Stonegrave
Stonegrave
Stonegrave is a village and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated in the Howardian Hills and 4 miles south east of Helmsley.-External links:...
, from 1815 to 1826 he held the rectory of Scawton]], and in 1836 the archbishop of York presented him to the rectory of Molesworth
Molesworth, Cambridgeshire
Molesworth is a village in Cambridgeshire, England about west of Huntingdon. The village has been designated a conservation area by Huntingdon District Council largely due to its typically rural English character that includes several listed buildings....
in Huntingdonshire
Huntingdonshire
Huntingdonshire is a local government district of Cambridgeshire, covering the area around Huntingdon. Traditionally it is a county in its own right...
.
Oxlee's power of acquiring languages, considering that he was self-educated, has rarely been excelled. He obtained a knowledge more or less extensive of 120 languages and dialects. In prosecuting his studies he was often obliged to form his own grammar and dictionary. He left among his numerous unpublished writings a work entitled "One hundred and more Vocabularies of such Words as form the Stamina of Human Speech, commencing with the Hungarian and terminating with the Yoruba", 1837–40. A large portion of his time he spent in making himself thoroughly conversant with the Hebrew law and in studying the Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
. His only recreation was pedestrian exercise, and he at times walked fifty miles to procure a book in Hebrew or other oriental language. He was a contributor to the Anti-Jacobin Review, Valpy's Classical Journal, the Christian Remembrancer, the Voice of Jacob, the Voice of Israel, the Jewish Chronicle, the Jewish Repository, the Yorkshireman, and Sermons for Sundays and Festivals.
He died at Molesworth rectory on 30 January 1854, leaving two children by his wife, a daughter of John R. A. Worsop of Howden Hall, Yorkshire: John Oxlee (d. 1892), vicar of Over Silton 1848, rector of Cowesby 1863 (both in Yorkshire), and an unmarried daughter, Mary Anna Oxlee.
Works
In a study which Oxlee made of the Hebrew writings he was led to differ on many important points both from the Jewish and Christian interpreters. His most important work is The Christian Doctrine of the Trinity, the Incarnation, and the Atonement considered and maintained on the Principles of Judaism, 3 vols. 1815–50. During the thirty-four years which elapsed between the publication of the first and third volumes he was busy collecting materials. The work contains a mass of abstruse learning. He held that the rabbis were well aware of the doctrine of the Trinity, and that in the Talmuds the three persons of the Godhead are clearly mentioned and often referred to. In his Six Letters to the Archbishop of Canterbury, 1842–5, he stated his reasons for declining to take any part in the society for the conversion of the Jews, and his grounds for not believing in the personality of the devil. During ten years he corresponded with an Israelite respecting the differences between Judaism and Christianity. Seven letters, addressed to J. M., a Jew, are printed in the Jewish Repository, 1815–16.His works included, with many controversial pamphlets and some sermons: 1. "Three Letters to the Archbishop Lawrence of Cashel on the Apocryphal Publications of his Grace (Enoch, Ezra, and Isaiah) on the Age of the Sepher Zoar and on the Two Genealogies of Christ as given in the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Luke", 1854. Alexander Nicoll, regius professor of Hebrew at Oxford, was impressed by the number of extracts from Jewish writers contained in this volume, compiled by a scholar working alone. 2. "Three Letters to Mr. C. Wellbeloved, Tutor of the Unitarian College, York, on the Folly of separating from the Mother Church". To Charles Wellbeloved
Charles Wellbeloved
Charles Wellbeloved was a unitarian divine and archaeologist.-Life:Charles Wellbeloved, only child of John Wellbeloved , by his wife Elizabeth , was born in Denmark Street, St Giles, London, on 6 April 1769, and baptised on 25 April at St. Giles-in-the-Fields...
.
He also left many unpublished works, including an Armenian and an Arabic lexicon.