John Murray was the founder of the Universalist denomination in the United States. He was born in Alton, Hampshire in England. His father was an Anglican and his mother a Presbyterian, both strict Calvinists. In 1770 he emigrated to America, and preached, as a Universalist minister in Good Luck, New Jersey. In 1774 he settled at Gloucester, Massachusetts, and established a congregation out of a Rellyite study group. In 1793 he became pastor of the Universalist society of Boston.
“Many are the scenes I witness as I pass along which lacerate my bosom; but a view of the Christian patiently waiting for the complete salvation of his God always renders me comparatively happy; and I shall be happy, not only comparatively, but altogether happy. We shall all be happy, we were made for happiness: “God hath not created but to bless.” Happiness, however, is not designed for us in the present state; in the world we are taught to expect tribulation. But in the Saviour, blessed be his balmy name, in the Redeemer, we shall, yes, we shall have peace.“
His works are available in Letters and Sketches of Sermons, 3 volumes (Boston, 1812).
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