John Butterworth (1727–1803) was an English Baptist minister.
He was one of five sons of Henry Butterworth, a religiously-inclined blacksmith of Goodshaw, a village in Rossendale Valley, Lancashire; three of his brothers also became ministers of Baptist congregations: Henry was at Bridgnorth; James was at Bromsgrove; and Lawrence, who wrote two pamphlets against Unitarian views, was at Evesham. The other brother, Thomas, was also involved as a supply preacher.[1] John was born 13 December 1727, and went to the school of David Crosley, a Calvinistic minister.[2] About 1753 Butterworth was appointed pastor of Cow Lane Chapel, Coventry. With this congregation he remained half a century, and died 24 April 1803, aged 75.[2]
Butterworth published, in 1767, A New Concordance and Dictionary to the Holy Scriptures, reprinted in 1785, 1792, and 1809. The last edition was edited by Adam Clarke.[2] The Encyclopædia Metropolitana considered it "for the most part, a judicious abridgment" of Cruden's Concordance.[3]
He also wrote A Serious Address to the Rev. Dr. Priestley, 1790.[2] This was published under the pseudonym "Christophilus", and attacked the Unitarian views of Joseph Priestley.[4]
His son Joseph Butterworth is known as a publisher.[2]