Posted on August 10, 2015
Massachusetts-born Otis Robinson is believed to have been a descendant of George Robinson, Sr., who settled at Rehoboth, Massachusetts in 1660. Raised in a Congregationalist home, Robinson experienced conversion in Livermore, Maine, in 1793 after an interview with a Baptist minister whose sermon had been related to him by a friend. Having received a call from God to enter the gospel ministry the following year, Robinson spent the next four years in “rigorous” self-education. In 1797 he became pastor at Sanford, Maine, and was formally ordained the next year. The church underwent a wonderful revival the first few years he was there and many new members were added to the congregation. In 1810 he was called to the pastorate at Salisbury, New Hampshire. This would be his most notable field of service. Here he found a church in a disorganized state, but with a core of committed members. “Not long after Robinson took up the charge at Salisbury, signs of growth began to occur and a goodly number were converted.” The essay on Robinson includes a survey of his extant writings on a number of interesting subjects, including an extended treatment of his views on the War of 1812 and war in general as it relates to Christians.