- See also: John Biddle (Michigan)
John Biddle or Bidle (born Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire, England, 14 January 1615 – died 22 September 1662) was an influential English nontrinitarian, and Unitarian. He is often called "the Father of English Unitarianism"[1][2].
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Life
He studied at Magdalen Hall, Oxford, taking an M. A. in 1641[3]. At the age of twenty-six, he became headmaster of the Crypt Grammar School, Gloucester.The school had links to Gloucester Cathedral, and since he was obliged to teach his pupils according to the Catechism of the Church of England, he immersed himself in the study of the Bible. He concluded from his studies that the doctrine of the Trinity was not supported by the Bible, and set about publishing his own views on the nature of God.
He was imprisoned in Gloucester in 1645 for his views[3], but released on bail. He was imprisoned by Parliament in 1646. In 1647, while he was still a prisoner, his tract Twelve Arguments Drawn Out of Scripture was published. Henry Vane defended Biddle in the House of Commons, and he was released on bail in 1648[1]. After a short while he was again imprisoned, in Newgate, where he remained until amnestied by the 1652 Act of Oblivion[3]. Bidle and the MP John Fry, who had tried to aid him, were supported by the 1649 Leveller pamphlet Englands New Chaines Discovered[4]. He was strongly attacked by John Owen.
In 1654-5 he was again in trouble with Parliament, which ordered his book A Two-fold Catechism seized[5]; Oliver Cromwell exiled him to the Scilly Isles. He was released in 1658[6]. He was imprisoned once more, and became ill, leading to his death[3].
A biography of Biddle by Joshua Toulmin was published in 1789.
A retype of Biddle's TWOFOLD SCRIPTURE CATECHISM (1654) is online at: http://home.pacific.net.au/~amaxwell/biddle/000start.htm
Views
He denounced original sin[7], denied eternal punishment[8], and translated a mortalist tract[9]. He condemned the Ranters[10].
He is believed to have translated the Racovian Catechism into English.[11] He affirmed that the Bible was the Word of God[12].
Notes
- ^ a b Christopher Hill, Milton and the English Revolution, p. 290.
- ^ [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6]
- ^ a b c d Concise Dictionary of National Biography
- ^ Hill, Milton, p. 293.
- ^ Guibon Goddard's Journal - January 1654-5 | British History Online
- ^ Hill, Change and Continuity in Seventeenth-Century England, p. 267.
- ^ Hill, Milton, p. 313.
- ^ Hill, The World Turned Upside Down, p. 177.
- ^ Hill, Milton, p. 320.
- ^ Hill, A Nation of Change and Novelty, p. 189.
- ^ Hill, Milton p. 294, thinks this is probably the case, but adds that Biddle was not exactly a Socinian, something he was often accused of being.
- ^ Biddle's TWOFOLD SCRIPTURE CATECHISM, Chapter 1.
External links
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