Hoadly, Benjamin (
hōd'lē), 1676-1761, English prelate, center of the
Bangorian Controversy within the Church of England. He was a leader in the Low Church group. In 1715 he was appointed bishop of Bangor, Wales, and chaplain to George I. His pamphlet,
A Preservative against the Principles and Practices of the Non-Jurors (1716), and especially his sermon (1717) before the king on the text "My kingdom is not of this world," in which he maintained that Jesus had not delegated authority to ecclesiastics, started the Bangorian Controversy. The ablest replies to Hoadly were those of William
Law. Hoadly was transferred to Hereford (1721), to Salisbury (1723), and to Winchester (1734).