author

Richard Finch

1710–1763

A little-known 18th-century Quaker writer, remembered mainly for a fiercely argued religious pamphlet published in the 1740s. The surviving record is sparse, but his work places him squarely in the lively world of British dissent and debate.

1 Audiobook

Free and Impartial Thoughts, on the Sovereignty of God, The Doctrines of Election, Reprobation, and Original Sin: Humbly Addressed To all who Believe and Profess those Doctrines.

Free and Impartial Thoughts, on the Sovereignty of God, The Doctrines of Election, Reprobation, and Original Sin: Humbly Addressed To all who Believe and Profess those Doctrines.

by Richard Finch

About the author

Very little confirmed biographical information is easy to recover about Richard Finch (1710–1763), and he appears to be a relatively obscure figure today. The clearest trace of his career is as an 18th-century Quaker author associated with religious controversy.

He is chiefly linked with A Vindication of the Reverend Mr. Foster's Account of the Late Earl of Kilmarnock from the Misrepresentations of Some Dissenting Teachers, published in 1746. That title suggests the kind of public theological and political argument that was common in the period, when sermons, pamphlets, and printed replies were a major part of intellectual life.

Because reliable modern reference material on Finch is limited, it is safest to see him as a minor but interesting voice from the world of British religious dissent—someone whose surviving work offers a glimpse of how passionately faith, politics, and reputation were debated in print.