Alleine, Joseph

ALLEINE, al´en, JOSEPH: English non-conformist; b. at Devizes (86 m. w. of London), Wiltshire, 1634; d. at Taunton, Somersetshire, Nov. 17, 1668. He was graduated at Oxford in 1653 and became chaplain to his college (Corpus Christi); in 1655 he became assistant minister at Taunton, whence he was ejected for non-conformity in 1662; he continued to preach and was twice imprisoned in consequence, and his later years were troubled by constant danger of arrest. He was a learned man, associated as an equal with the fellows of the Royal Society, and engaged in scientific study and experimentation. He is now remembered, however, as the author of An Alarm to Unconverted Sinners (London, 1672; republished in 1675 under the title A Sure Guide to Heaven). He published several other works, including an Explanation of the Assembly’s Shorter Catechism (1656).

Bibliography: C. Stanford, Companions and Times of Joseph Alleine, London, 1861; DNB, i. 299-300.