New Light

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -aɪt

Proper noun

New Light

1. (religion) A relatively progressive or less traditional religious movement, especially (historical) the party within the 18th-century Scottish Secession Church which adopted Voluntary views of the relations of church and state; or the Socinianizing party in the Church of Scotland in the 18th century.
   • 1835, The New Statistical Account of Scotland, page 289:

     An Antiburgher meeting house was erected at Blacks-well in 1761, and a New Light Burgher house, near the church, towards the end of last century.

   • 1995, Hugh Barbour, Christopher Densmore, Elizabeth H. Moger, Nancy C. Sorel, Alson D. Van Wagner, Arthur J. Worrall, Quaker Crosscurrents: Three Hundred Years of Friends in the New York Yearly Meetings, Syracuse University Press, →ISBN, page 44:

     [The Public Universal Friend] was born into a Quaker family in Rhode Island but was disowned in 1776 for joining the New Light Baptists.

   • 2006, Rosemary Skinner Keller, Rosemary Radford Ruether, Marie Cantlon, Encyclopedia of Women and Religion in North America, Indiana University Press, →ISBN, page 239:

     In Virginia, Samuel Davies, a New Light Presbyterian, and his followers had the greatest impact. The differences between New Lights and orthodox Anglicans centered mainly on two issues.

   • 2012, Michael I. Meyerson, Endowed by Our Creator: The Birth of Religious Freedom in America, Yale University Press, →ISBN:

     Because many of the New Light Baptist churches were not recognized by the Old Light Baptists, these endorsements were often impossible to obtain.

Coordinate terms

• Old Light

Derived terms

• New Lighter

Noun

New Light (plural New Lights)

1. A member of such a religious movement.

Further reading

• “New Light, n, adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “New Light”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “New Light”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “New Light” in TheFreeDictionary.com, Huntingdon Valley, Pa.: Farlex, Inc., 2003–2024.