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John Gaule
John Gaule (1603? – 1687) was an English Puritan cleric, now remembered for his partially sceptical views on astrology, witchcraft and hermetic philosophy. Life He studied at both Oxford and Cambridge, graduating B.A. at Magdalene College, Cambridge in 1623/4. For a time, he appears to have been employed by Robert Bertie, 1st Earl of Lindsey, probably as chaplain. By 1629, he was chaplain to Baptist Hicks, 1st Viscount Campden. Gaule's one preferment was as vicar of Great Staughton, Huntingdonshire, through Viscountess Campden by 1632, though there is some confusion on the point. After the Stuart Restoration, he claimed in a petition to the Parliament of England that he had been imprisoned by the Parliamentary army 'for declaring the unlawfulness of the war against the King', and had been in danger of being shot by order of Edward Whalley. ''Select Cases of Conscience touching Witches and Witchcraft'' Gaule clashed with, and preached against, the self-appointed witch-hunter ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Puritan
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholic Church, Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. Puritanism played a significant role in English history, especially during the Protectorate. Puritans were dissatisfied with the limited extent of the English Reformation and with the Church of England's toleration of certain practices associated with the Roman Catholic Church. They formed and identified with various religious groups advocating greater purity of worship and doctrine, as well as personal and corporate piety. Puritans adopted a Reformed theology, and in that sense they were Calvinists (as were many of their earlier opponents). In church polity, some advocated separation from all other established Christian denominations in favour of autonomous gathered churches. These English Dissenters, Separatist and Indepe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Perkins (Puritan)
William Perkins (1558–1602) was an influential English cleric and Cambridge theologian, receiving both a B.A. and M.A. from the university in 1581 and 1584 respectively, and also one of the foremost leaders of the Puritan movement in the Church of England during the Elizabethan era. Although not entirely accepting of the Church of England's ecclesiastical practices, Perkins conformed to many of the policies and procedures imposed by the Elizabethan Settlement. He did remain, however, sympathetic to the non-conformist puritans and even faced disciplinary action for his support. Perkins was a prolific author who penned over forty works, many of which were published posthumously. In addition to writing, he also served as a fellow at Christ's College and as a lecturer at St Andrew's Church in Cambridge. He was a firm proponent of Reformed theology, particularly the supralapsarian theology of Theodore Beza and John Calvin. In addition, he was a staunch defender of Protestant ideals, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Original Sin
Original sin is the Christian doctrine that holds that humans, through the fact of birth, inherit a tainted nature in need of regeneration and a proclivity to sinful conduct. The biblical basis for the belief is generally found in Genesis 3 (the story of the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden), in a line in Psalm 51:5 ("I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me"), and in Paul's Epistle to the Romans, 5:12-21 ("Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned"). The belief began to emerge in the 3rd century, but only became fully formed with the writings of Augustine of Hippo (354–430), who was the first author to use the phrase "original sin" ( la, peccatum originale). Influenced by Augustine, the councils of Carthage (411–418 AD) and Orange (529 AD) brought theological speculation about original sin into the official lexicon of the Church. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jeremy Taylor
Jeremy Taylor (1613–1667) was a cleric in the Church of England who achieved fame as an author during the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell. He is sometimes known as the "Shakespeare of Divines" for his poetic style of expression, and he is frequently cited as one of the greatest prose writers in the English language. He is remembered in the liturgical calendars of the Church of England and the Episcopal Church of the United States. Taylor was under the patronage of William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury. He went on to become chaplain in ordinary to King Charles I as a result of Laud's sponsorship. This made him politically suspect when Laud was tried for treason and executed in January 1644/5 by the Puritan parliament during the English Civil War. After the parliamentary victory over the King, he was briefly imprisoned several times. Eventually, he was allowed to live quietly in Wales, where he became the private chaplain of the Earl of Carbery. After the Restoration, he was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anthony Burgess (minister)
John Anthony Burgess Wilson, (; 25 February 1917 – 22 November 1993) who published under the name Anthony Burgess, was a British writer and composer. Although Burgess was primarily a comic writer, his dystopian satire ''A Clockwork Orange'' remains his best-known novel. In 1971, it was adapted into a controversial film by Stanley Kubrick, which Burgess said was chiefly responsible for the popularity of the book. Burgess produced numerous other novels, including the Enderby quartet, and ''Earthly Powers''. He wrote librettos and screenplays, including the 1977 television mini-series ''Jesus of Nazareth''. He worked as a literary critic for several publications, including ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian'', and wrote studies of classic writers, notably James Joyce. A versatile linguist, Burgess lectured in phonetics, and translated ''Cyrano de Bergerac'', ''Oedipus Rex'', and the opera ''Carmen'', among others. Burgess also composed over 250 musical works; he considere ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nathaniel Stephens (clergyman)
Nathaniel Stephens (c.1606–1678) was an English clergyman ejected for nonconformity in 1662. He is now best known for his part in the early life of George Fox. He was a controversialist in the presbyterian interest, engaging also with Baptists, and with Gerrard Winstanley, the universalist. In print he was a moderate, fair by the standards of his time to his opponents, and not bringing rancour to discussion of Catholicism. Life He was son of Richard Stephens, vicar from 1604 of Stanton St Bernard, Wiltshire, and was born about 1606. On 14 March 1623, at the age of sixteen, he entered Magdalen Hall, Oxford, as a batler (poor scholar), graduating B.A. 14 February 1626, M.A. 25 June 1628. On leaving the university he was curate at Fenny Drayton, Leicestershire, of which Robert Mason was rector. He probably was in sole charge from 1638. Driven from Drayton by the outbreak of the war in 1642, he took refuge in Coventry, where he subscribed the Solemn League and Covenant and became mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henry Jeanes
Henry Jeanes (1611–1662) was an English clergyman and puritan controversialist. Life He was son of Christopher Jeanes of Kingston, Somerset, born at Allansay. He became in 1626 a commoner of New Inn Hall, Oxford, where, according to Anthony Wood, he was known for disputation. He graduated B.A. 3 June 1630, and proceeded M.A. 14 May 1633; he was incorporated at Cambridge in 1632, and later moved to Hart Hall, Oxford. On 5 August 1635 he was presented by Sir John Windham to the rectory of Beer Crocombe and Capland in Somerset, and he obtained soon afterwards the vicarage of Kingston. During the early part of the First English Civil War he and his family took refuge at Chichester; later he received the rectory of Chedzoy, near Bridgwater. Here he instructed private pupils, among them being George Bull. Jeanes died at Wells in August 1662, and was buried in the cathedral. Works Jeanes wrote: * 'Treatise concerning a Christian's Careful Abstinence from all Appearance of Evi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Lincoln Burr
George Lincoln Burr (January 30, 1857 – June 27, 1938) was a US historian, diplomat, author, and educator, best known as a Professor of History and Librarian at Cornell University, and as the closest collaborator of Andrew Dickson White, the first President of Cornell. Burr was born in Albany, New York and entered the Cortland Academy in 1869, where he first met Andrew Dickson White, who was guest speaker for its 50th anniversary. The financial Panic of 1873 wreaked havoc on his family's finances, and he was forced to leave school and seek employment at age 16. After a brief stint as a schoolmaster, he apprenticed as a printer of ''The Standard'' at Cortland. After 4 years, he had saved $200, sufficient for him to matriculate at Cornell in 1877. As a sophomore, Burr audited a course for seniors taught by White on the historical development of criminal law, and received permission to sit for the exam. Prof. White was so impressed by Burr's exam answers that he secretly appoint ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wonders Of The Invisible World
''The Wonders of the Invisible World'' was a book written by Cotton Mather and published in 1693. It was subtitled, ''Observations As well Historical as Theological, upon the Nature, the Number, and the Operations of the Devils''. The book defended Mather's role in the witchhunt conducted in Salem, Massachusetts. It espoused the belief that witchcraft was an evil magical power. Mather saw witches as tools of the devil in Satan's battle to "overturn this poor plantation, the Puritan colony", and prosecution of witches as a way to secure God's blessings for the colony. Its arguments are largely derivative of ''Saducismus Triumphatus'' by Joseph Glanvill.Ankarloo, Bengt and Henningsen, Gustav (editors) Early Modern European Witchcraft: Centres and Peripheries (1990). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 431-3. A copy of Glanvill's book was in Mather's library when he died. Robert Calef published a refutation of Mather's book in 1700. Summary Cotton Mather was born in 1663. After g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cotton Mather
Cotton Mather (; February 12, 1663 – February 13, 1728) was a New England Puritan clergyman and a prolific writer. Educated at Harvard College, in 1685 he joined his father Increase as minister of the Congregationalist Old North Meeting House of Boston, where he continued to preach for the rest of his life. A major intellectual and public figure in English-speaking colonial America, Cotton Mather helped lead the successful revolt of 1689 against Sir Edmund Andros, the governor imposed on New England by King James II. Mather's subsequent involvement in the Salem witch trials of 1692–1693, which he defended in the book ''Wonders of the Invisible World'' (1693), attracted intense controversy in his own day and has negatively affected his historical reputation. As a historian of colonial New England, Mather is noted for his '' Magnalia Christi Americana'' (1702). Personally and intellectually committed to the waning social and religious orders in New England, Cotton Math ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Salem Witch Trials
The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. More than 200 people were accused. Thirty people were found guilty, 19 of whom were executed by hanging (14 women and five men). One other man, Giles Corey, was pressed to death after refusing to enter a plea, and at least five people died in jail. Arrests were made in numerous towns beyond Salem and Salem Village (known today as Danvers), notably Andover and Topsfield. The grand juries and trials for this capital crime were conducted by a Court of Oyer and Terminer in 1692 and by a Superior Court of Judicature in 1693, both held in Salem Town, where the hangings also took place. It was the deadliest witch hunt in the history of colonial North America. Only fourteen other women and two men had been executed in Massachusetts and Connecticut during the 17th century. The episode is one of Colonial America's most no ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Circumstantial Evidence
Circumstantial evidence is evidence that relies on an inference to connect it to a conclusion of fact—such as a fingerprint at the scene of a crime. By contrast, direct evidence supports the truth of an assertion directly—i.e., without need for any additional evidence or inference. Overview On its own, circumstantial evidence allows for more than one explanation. Different pieces of circumstantial evidence may be required, so that each corroborates the conclusions drawn from the others. Together, they may more strongly support one particular inference over another. An explanation involving circumstantial evidence becomes more likely once alternative explanations have been ruled out. Circumstantial evidence allows a trier of fact to infer that a fact exists. In criminal law, the inference is made by the trier of fact to support the truth of an assertion (of guilt or absence of guilt). Reasonable doubt is tied into circumstantial evidence as that evidence relies on inferen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
