Critica, Augsburg, 1761, 4to). Among his numerous other works are a manual of theology in four volumes (Theologia eclectica, moralis et scholastica, Augsb. 1751), ind a defence of the Roman Catholic Church (Demon- stratio critica Religionis Catholicce, Augsb. 1751). See Hoefer, Biographic, Generate, ii, 393 ; Wetzer and Welte, Kir chen- Lexicon, i, 208.
Amortization. See Mortmain. Amory, Thomas, D.D., an English dissenting minister, born at Taunton, Jan. 28, 1701, and educated under the care of his uncle, Mr. H. Grove, who had an academy for training young ministers at Taunton. In 1730 he was ordained to the pastoral office. On the death of Mr. Grove, in 1738, Mr. Amory succeeded him as chief tutor in the academy at Taunton, where he was greatly esteemed, not only by his own congre- gation and sect, but by all the neighboring congre- gations and ministers, as well of the Independent and Baptist denominations as of the Church of England. In October, 1759, he removed to London, as afternoon preacher to the society in the Old Jewry, belonging to Dr. S. Chandler. In London he was not popular; his sermons, though practical and affecting to the at- tentive hearer, were rather too close, judicious, and philosophical for the common run of congregations. "When the dissenting ministers, in 1772, formed a de- sign of endeavoring to procure an enlargement of the Toleration Act, Dr. Amory was one of the committee appointed for that purpose. He died on the 24th of June, 1774. He was a good Biblical critic, and an excellent scholar. His principal works are, Sermons (5 vols. v. y.) ■ — A Letter to a Friend on the Perplex- ities to which Christians are exposed: — A lHalogue on Devotion after the manner of Xenophon (Lond. 1746) : — Farms of Devotion for the Closet. He also wrote the Life and edited the Writings of the Rev. Henry Grove (Lond. 1740) ; also edited the Sermons of Grove, and Grove's System of Moral Philosophy : he wrote the Life and edited the Writings of Dr George Benson, and ed- ited the Posthumous Sermons of Dr. Chandler. — Jones, Chr. Biog.
A'mos (Heb. Amos', Bl^l?, borne \; Sept. and New Test. 'Apwc), the name of two men.
1. One of the twelve minor prophets, and a contem- porary of Isaiah and Hosea. He was a native of Te- koah, about six miles south of Bethlehem, inhabited chiefly by shepherds, to which class he belonged, be- ing also a dresser of sycamore trees, and not trained in any of the prophetical schools (i, 1 ; vii, 14, 15). Though some critics have supposed that he was a na- tive of the kingdom of Israel, and took refuge in Te- koah when persecuted by Amaziah, yet a comparison of the passages Amos i, 1 ; vii, 14, with Amaziah's lan- guage, vii, 12, leads us to believe that he was born and brought up in that place. The period during which he filled the prophetic office was of short dura- tion, unless we suppose that he uttered other predic- tions which are not recorded. It is stated expressly that he prophesied in the days of Uzziah, king of Ju- dah, and in the days of Jeroboam, the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake (Amos i, 1). This earthquake, to which there is an allusion in Zechariah (xiv, 5), is represented b}' Josephus (Ant. ix, 10, 4) and some other Jewish writers as a mark of the divine displeasure against Uzziah (in addition to his leprosy) for usurping the priest's office some time be- fore his death. This agrees with the sacred narrative, which informs us that Jotham, his son, acted as regent during the remainder of his reign ; for we must under- stand the accession spoken of in 2 Kings xv, 33, when he was twenty-five years old, to refer to this associa- tion with his father. See Jotham. As Uzziah and Jeroboam were contemporaries for about twenty-seven years (B.C. 80S-7S2), the latter part of this period will mark the tl.it > when Amos prophesied. This agrees with the intimation in ch. vii, 10, of the proximity of
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