Hopkinsianism

American  

[hop-kin-zee-uh-niz-uhm] / hɒpˈkɪn zi əˌnɪz əm /

noun

1. a modified Calvinism taught by Samuel Hopkins (1721–1803), that emphasized the sovereignty of God, the importance of His decrees, and the necessity of submitting to His will, accepting even damnation, if required, for His glory, and holding that ethics is merely disinterested benevolence.

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Other Word Forms

• Hopkinsian adjective
• Hopkinsonian adjective

Etymology

Origin of Hopkinsianism

1805–15, Hopkins + -ian + -ism

Example Sentences

He developed an original system of divinity, somewhat on the structural plan of that of Samuel Hopkins, and, in Emmons’s own belief, contained in and evolved from Hopkinsianism.

From Project Gutenberg

First, there was the unmitigated Scotch Calvinism; secondly, there was the modification of this system, which became naturalized in the church after the Great Awakening, when Jonathan Dickinson and Jonathan Edwards, from neighbor towns in Massachusetts, came to be looked upon as the great Presbyterian theologians; thirdly, there was the "consistent Calvinism," that had been still further evolved by the patient labor of students in direct succession from Edwards, and that was known under the name of "Hopkinsianism."

From Project Gutenberg

Hopkinsianism was in fashion then, and the minds of men in many parts of the country had accepted the logic of its founder, negatived as it was, in its practical application, by the sweetness of his Christian benevolence and his large humanity.

From Project Gutenberg