George Bush (Biblical scholar)

George Bush (1796-1859) was a American biblical scholar, pastor, abolitionist, and academic. He is distantly related to the Bush political family. [http://usinfo.state.gov/media/Archive_Index/Life_of_Mohammed_Book_NOT_Authored_by_Grandfather_or_Ancestor_of_President_Bush.html "Is the Author of a Book Critical of Islam an Ancestor of President Bush?"] , biographical statement issued by United States Department of State, 20 Dec 2004]

Biography

Bush graduated from Dartmouth College in 1818 and went on to study at the Princeton Theological Seminary. Bush was ordained at the Salem Presbytery, Indiana in 1825 and was appointed pastor of a church in Indianapolis. There his 'liberal' or 'progressive' religious views into conflict with those of his more conservative parishioners, leading to the termination of his services for the church.From 1831 to 1847, Bush was Professor of Hebrew and Oriental Literature at what is now New York University. His first published work, "Life of Muhammad", was the first American biography of the founder of Islam. He also began works including: "A Grammar of the Hebrew Language" (1835), an extensive series of commentaries on books of the Old Testament, and the highly controversial "Anastasis: or, the doctrine of the resurrection of the Body, rationally and scripturally considered" (1844). He argued for restoring Jews to Palestine. cite book | last = Oren | first = Michael | title = Power, Faith, and Fantasy: AMERICA in the MIDDLE EAST: 1776 to the PRESENT. | origyear = 2007 | publisher = W.W. Norton&Company, Inc. | location = 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110 | language = English | isbn = 978-0-393-05826-0 | pages = 141-142| chapter = 6] After his death, Bush was remembered for his dedication to the search for knowledge and his large collection of books (Widmer 2007). Mr. Bush was also a committed advocate for the abolition of slavery. His 1847 "The Valley of Vision," which became an antebellum best seller, called on the U.S. government to militarily wrench Palestine from the Turks and return it to the Jews.

In 1845 Bush converted to the New Church. He quickly became a prominent spokesman of the church, and helped the spread of the church's magazine. Bush served as editor for the "New Church Review" and the spiritualist magazine, "The Hierophant", and he authored and helped disseminate a large number of Swedenborgian tracts, including the widely read "Statement of reasons for believing the doctrines and disclosures of Emanuel Swedenborg" (1846) and "Mesmer and Swedenborg" (1847). Bush continued his promotional work for the New Church until his death, following a protracted and debilitating illness, in 1859. The following year he was memorialised in the book "Memoirs and Reminiscenses of George Bush, a collection of contributions from friends", edited by Woodbury M. Fernald. [ [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc02.html?term=Bush,%20George "Bush, George"] , New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, Vol. II]

Family

Bush was the grandson of Timothy Bush, thus a first cousin four times removed of President George H.W. Bush and a cousin five times removed of President George W. Bush. After the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States by Muslim extremists, Bush's "Life of Mohammed" was noted in the news media in both Western and Islamic countries.

Published works

* "The life of Mohammed; founder of the religion of Islam, and of the empire of the Saracens" (New York, 1830)
* "Illustrations of the Holy Scriptures" (Philadelphia, 1845)
* "Notes, Critical and Practical, on the Book of Genesis", 2 vols. (New York, 1857)
* "Notes, Critical and Practical, on the Book of Exodus" (Boston, 1871)
* "Notes, Critical and Practical, on the Book of Leviticus"
* "Notes, Critical and Practical, on the Book of Numbers"
* "Notes, Critical and Practical, on the Book of Joshua"
* "Notes, Critical and Practical, on the Book of Judges" (New York, 1862)

References

* [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/22/magazine/22wwln-essay-t.html "Reconsideration: George Bush I"] , Ted Widmer, "New York Times Magazine", July 22, 2007

External links

* [http://www.muhammadanism.org/bush/default.htm Free book by George Bush: The life of Mohammed; founder of the religion of Islam, and of the empire of the Saracens]
* [http://www.clements.umich.edu/Webguides/B/Bush.html University of Michigan Library's collection]
* [http://keywords.oxus.net/archives/2004/09/23/george-bush/ Biography from a New York Public Library exhibition guide]
* [http://usinfo.state.gov/media/Archive%5fIndex/Life%5fof%5fMohammed%5fBook%5fNOT%5fAuthored%5fby%5fGrandfather%5for%5fAncestor%5fof%5fPresident%5fBush.html USINFO clarification of relationship to president George W. Bush]