{"id":6151,"date":"2013-01-28T11:24:04","date_gmt":"2013-01-28T16:24:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/?p=6151"},"modified":"2013-01-28T11:26:51","modified_gmt":"2013-01-28T16:26:51","slug":"a-small-cheer-for-paul-best","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2013\/01\/a-small-cheer-for-paul-best.html","title":{"rendered":"A Small Cheer for Paul Best And All Who Think Freely"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

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\nFrank Schulman\u2019s delightful This Day in Unitarian Universalist History<\/a> mentions Paul Best<\/a> for today in 1645 \u2013 although it doesn\u2019t actually say why this day in this year.<\/p>\n

Doesn\u2019t matter to me. Best is a worthy person to note, most any day\u2026<\/p>\n

Born somewhere in the neighborhood of 1590, Best was educated at Cambridge, fought in Europe as a mercenary and later with Cromwell\u2019s Parliamentary Army.<\/p>\n

In his travels he encountered the Polish Brethren and embraced Socinianism, holding for the pure humanity of Jesus.<\/p>\n

He foolishly shared an ms holding forth his belief that Jesus was not God but a human being with a friend who denounced him for his heresy. While in prison he may have met with John Biddle who would play a more prominent role in introducing Unitarianism to Great Britain.<\/p>\n

He was tried and convicted and sentenced to death.<\/p>\n

Unitarianism was considered a dangerous thing. I have to agree\u2026<\/p>\n

For reasons different sources speculate about, but possibly with the influence of the Lord Protector himself, instead of being put to death, he was given a pension (I think of Socrates insisting his sentence upon conviction of perverting the youth of Athens should be free meals for life) and sent home\u2026<\/p>\n

On this day when we learn of the burning of an ancient library in Timbuktu by religious zealots, it is not a bad time to think of free thinking and publishing what one finds\u2026<\/p>\n