Elhanan Winchester (September 30, 1751 – April 18, 1797) was an American theologian who explored numerous theological paths before becoming an advocate for universal restoration.

Elhanan Winchester was born on September 30, 1751, in the small town of Muddy Water Village, later known as Brookline, Massachusetts, located 30 miles southwest of Boston.

He furthered his education primarily by self-study, mastering Latin, French, Greek, and acquiring a foundational command of Hebrew which he used to enhance his biblical scholarship.

[4] Only one primary historical account was found of this event in Isaac Backus's History of New England with Particular Attention to the Denomination Called Baptists.

Winchester's visit coincided with the Baptist minister, Ebenezer Lyon, gathering Separates and others from the Congregational church into a shared community.

Both Congregational and Baptist Separates, influenced by the First Great Awakening, shared a common desire for a more biblical and simpler form of worship.

A noted Congregational minister and later president of Yale College, Ezra Stiles, recorded Winchester's ordination in his September 19–20 diary entry.

"[9] Stiles continued, "These New Lights Baptist Teachers go about ordaining many that are by no means fit for the sacred Office, some that are fitter for Confinement in a Madhouse a few months, then for the pulpit."

Nearly 40 years earlier, in 1737, Baptists from the Welch Tract in Delaware moved to South Carolina and settled near the Pee Dee River.

The Church of Christ at Welch Tract, Pee Dee in South Carolina, holding the Doctrine of Election, particular addressed to Redemption; final perseverance; believes baptism, &c to the Revd.

"Soon after Mr. Winchester left Pee Dee, he fell into the error of universal restoration, which he first published in Philadelphia, where after baptizing a great many, he was the means of dividing the Baptist Church in that city."

[19] In accepting this recent call, Winchester artfully deflected his obligation to his Welch Neck church, indicating that before his departure he had secured the services of another minister for his South Carolina society if he should fail to return.

Two years before arriving in Philadelphia Winchester's theological belief system was evolving again, leaving him, as he self-described, as "half a convert to the doctrine of Restoration."

"[20] He continued to evolve his thinking on universal restoration as he traveled and preached in New England for nine months following his departure from South Carolina in September 1779.

"[22] Winchester responded to this rebuke by preaching a sermon a few weeks later, on April 22, 1781, entitled The Seeds of the Woman Bruising the Serpent's Head.

While Winchester and his followers awaited the disposition of their legal challenge to take possession of the First Baptist Church, they met in space provided by Pennsylvania University.

In an edition of this same work published in England in 1791, Winchester wrote in the Translator's Preface, "I bless God that I was ever acquainted with Dr. George de Benneville, for such a humble, pious, loving man I have scarcely ever seen in my pilgrimage through life."

The Oxford society, seeking support, invited John Murray and Elhanan Winchester to attend an October 1785 organizational meeting of New England Universalists.

The objectives of the Oxford meeting were modest—determine a name for the collective association, explore common interests, consider holding a yearly gathering of society representatives and establish correspondence secretaries to maintain regular contact.

His American biographer, Edwin Martin Stone, provided only limited insight into why Winchester moved to London with his fifth wife in September 1787.

Winchester's London sermons and writings echoed Clarke's millennial expectations and the power of prophecy to bring about a restitution of all things.

Winchester saw the restitution of all things in a more spiritual sense, unlike Clarke and other local Universalists who viewed their efforts in a political, social justice light.

The Conway Hall Ethical Society, the oldest surviving freethought organization in the world, traces its founding back to Winchester.

He Died April 18, 1797 Aged 46 Years 'Twas thine to preach with animated zeal The glories of the restitution morn, Two months later in London, Rev.

Elhanan Winchester's seemingly erratic theological alignments may have been a function of his limited formal education, the early age when he began preaching, the era of religious fervor in which he lived, his inquisitive mind, and his biblical scholarship.

Winchester's theological development also benefited from his relationship with others with intellectual curiosity, such as George de Benneville, Benjamin Rush, John Murray, William Vilder, and other English Universalists.

He offered that punishment destroys sin, humbles, and subdues the sinner, but it is actually the sacrificial blood of Jesus that saves souls.

No single tile conveyed a complete message, but the overall effect of the assembled scriptural text was an emotionally convincing argument that offered hope to those who wished for nothing more than eternal salvation in their afterlife.

Hosea Ballou's ideas of a loving God who only intended to bring happiness and holiness to his creations became the center of Universalist theology.

In 1803 the Universalist General Convention only reluctantly adopted the broadly worded Winchester Profession to fulfill state requirements regarding their churches' legal status.