Abner Kneeland (April 7, 1774 – August 27, 1844) was an American evangelist and theologian who advocated views on women's rights, racial equality, and religious skepticism that were radical for his day.
As a young man, Kneeland was a lay preacher in a Baptist church, but he converted to Universalism and was ordained as a minister.
Due to provocative statements he published, Massachusetts convicted Kneeland under its rarely used blasphemy law.
He served as minister of various churches for a time, helping organize hymnals and making his own translation of the New Testament.
Under the colonial charter of Massachusetts, blasphemy was still a crime, albeit one punished extremely rarely.
Salubria failed shortly after his death in 1844, and the main building was eventually converted into a chapel, with Sunday school classes taught by Kneeland's granddaughter.
He allowed fiery abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison the use of his lecture hall when the churches in Boston had turned him away.