Jonas Clark

Jonas Clark (1730–1805) was a prominent New England Congregationalist minister whose theological writings and public sermons significantly shaped Revolutionary-era religious discourse. As pastor of the Lexington Church, Clark wielded considerable influence in connecting Protestant theology with American political resistance, most notably through his 1773 sermon commemorating the Boston Massacre, which framed colonial grievances within a providential narrative of religious liberty and moral duty. His work exemplifies the crucial role of clergy in legitimizing the American Revolution through theological argumentation that merged Calvinist doctrine with emerging republican ideology.