John Jay Butler was an ordained minister and Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology in the early Free Will Baptist

Free Will Baptist Church

Free Will Baptist is a denomination of churches that share a common history, name, and an acceptance of the Arminian theology of free grace, free salvation, and free will. Free Will Baptists share similar soteriological views with General Baptists, Separate Baptists and some United Baptists...

 movement in New England

New England

New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...

.

He was born in Berwick, Maine and graduated at Bowdoin College

Bowdoin College

Bowdoin College , founded in 1794, is an elite private liberal arts college located in the coastal Maine town of Brunswick, Maine. As of 2011, U.S. News and World Report ranks Bowdoin 6th among liberal arts colleges in the United States. At times, it was ranked as high as 4th in the country. It is...

 in 1837. Following his graduation, he began teaching as an assistant teacher in the seminary in Parsonsfield

Parsonsfield, Maine

Parsonsfield is a town in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,584 at the 2000 census. Parsonsfield includes the villages of Kezar Falls, Parsonsfield, and North, East and South Parsonsfield...

 for a few months. The highlights of his teaching career included holding the professorship of systematic theology in the Whitestown Seminary

Whitestown Seminary

Whitestown Seminary, previously known as Oneida Academy and Oneida Institute, was a Presbyterian educational institution based in Whitestown, New York, founded in 1827...

 at Whitestown, New York

Whitestown, New York

Whitestown is a town in Oneida County, New York, USA. The population was 18,635 at the 2000 census. The name is derived from Judge Hugh White, an early settler.The Town of Whitestown is immediately west of Utica, New York...

 for 10 years, as well as holding the professorship of systematic theology in the seminary

Cobb Divinity School

Cobb Divinity School, founded in 1840, was a Free Will Baptist graduate school affiliated with several Free Baptist institutions throughout its history...

 at New Hampton, New Hampshire

New Hampton, New Hampshire

New Hampton is a town in Belknap County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,165 at the 2010 census. A winter sports resort area, New Hampton is home to George Duncan State Forest and to the New Hampton School, a private preparatory school established in 1821.The primary village in...

 for 16 years, and in Bates College

Bates College

Bates College is a highly selective, private liberal arts college located in Lewiston, Maine, in the United States. and was most recently ranked 21st in the nation in the 2011 US News Best Liberal Arts Colleges rankings. The college was founded in 1855 by abolitionists...

 at Lewiston, Maine

Lewiston, Maine

Lewiston is a city in Androscoggin County in Maine, and the second-largest city in the state. The population was 41,592 at the 2010 census. It is one of two principal cities of and included within the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine metropolitan New England city and town area and the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine...

 for 3 years. In 1860, Bowdoin College

Bowdoin College

Bowdoin College , founded in 1794, is an elite private liberal arts college located in the coastal Maine town of Brunswick, Maine. As of 2011, U.S. News and World Report ranks Bowdoin 6th among liberal arts colleges in the United States. At times, it was ranked as high as 4th in the country. It is...

 gave him the degree of Doctor of Divinity

Doctor of Divinity

Doctor of Divinity is an advanced academic degree in divinity. Historically, it identified one who had been licensed by a university to teach Christian theology or related religious subjects....

.

In 1873, Butler took the chair of Hebrew Language and Literature at Hillsdale College

Hillsdale College

Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Michigan, United States, is a co-educational liberal arts college known for being the first American college to prohibit in its charter all discrimination based on race, religion, or sex; its refusal of government funding; and its monthly publication, Imprimis...

.

He was the author of:

• Natural and Revealed Theology (Dover, New Hampshire
  Dover, New Hampshire
  Dover is a city in Strafford County, New Hampshire, in the United States of America. The population was 29,987 at the 2010 census, the largest in the New Hampshire Seacoast region...
  
  , 1861)
• Commentary on the Gospels (1870)
• Commentary on the Acts, Romans, and First and Second Corinthians (1871)
• Lectures on systematic theology: embracing the existence and attributes of God, the authority and doctrine of the scriptures, the institutions and ordinances of the gospel (with Ransom Dunn
  Ransom Dunn
  Rev. Ransom Dunn, D.D. was an American minister and theologian, prominent in the early Free Will Baptist movement in New England. He was President of Rio Grande College in Ohio, and Hillsdale College in Michigan...
  
  , 1892)

In 1834, Dr. Butler became the assistant editor of The Morning Star

The Morning Star (19th century U.S. newspaper)

The Morning Star was a weekly newspaper owned and published by Freewill Baptists in 19th century New England, which campaigned vigorously for the abolition of slavery long before such a political stance was widely considered to be respectable in America....

, a Free Will Baptist publication.