Arthur Ashley Sykes (1684–1756) was an Anglican religious writer, known as an inveterate controversialist. Sykes was a

latitudinarian Latitudinarians, or latitude men, were initially a group of 17th-century English theologiansclerics and academicsfrom the University of Cambridge who were moderate Anglicans (members of the Church of England). In particular, they believed that ...

of the school of Benjamin Hoadly, and a friend and student of

Isaac Newton Sir Isaac Newton (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1726/27) was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author (described in his time as a " natural philosopher"), widely recognised as one of the grea ...

Life

Sykes was born in London in 1683 or 1684 and educated at St. Paul's School. In 1701 he was admitted to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he received a scholarship (1702), B.A. (1705), M.A. (1708), and D.D. (1726). He was vicar of Rayleigh in Essex from 1718 till his death in 1756. In 1739 with

Thomas Birch Thomas Birch (23 November 17059 January 1766) was an English historian. Life He was the son of Joseph Birch, a coffee-mill maker, and was born at Clerkenwell. He preferred study to business but, as his parents were Quakers, he did not go to t ...

he helped George Turnbull become ordained in the Church of England.

Controversialist

Sykes took part successively in many of the Anglican theological controversies of his time.

Trinitarian controversy

Sykes wrote in support of

Samuel Clarke Samuel Clarke (11 October 1675 – 17 May 1729) was an English philosopher and Anglican cleric. He is considered the major British figure in philosophy between John Locke and George Berkeley. Early life and studies Clarke was born in Norwich, ...

's line on the Trinity, against an attack of 1718 by Thomas Bennet, in ''A Discourse of the Ever-Blessed Trinity in Unity'' (1718).

Bangorian controversy

The sermon of Hoadly that set off the Bangorian Controversy had been anticipated by Sykes preaching in January 1717, on the same text with essentially the same theme. Sykes answered the ''Discourse of the Visible and Invisible Church of Christ'' in the controversy, by John Rogers, with his own ''The Authority of the Clergy and the Liberties of the Laity Stated''; to which Rogers replied.

Bentley controversy

In 1718 he wrote to defend Richard Bentley in the '' St James's Post'', who had been deprived of his degrees by

Thomas Gooch Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

acting as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. The controversy was continued by

Thomas Sherlock Thomas Sherlock (167818 July 1761) was a British divine who served as a Church of England bishop for 33 years. He is also noted in church history as an important contributor to Christian apologetics. Life Born in London, he was the son of the ...

and

Conyers Middleton Conyers Middleton (27 December 1683 – 28 July 1750) was an English clergyman. Mired in controversy and disputes, he was also considered one of the best stylists in English of his time. Early life Middleton was born at Richmond, North Yorkshir ...

Miracles and prophecy

Sykes made some concessions to

deist Deism ( or ; derived from the Latin '' deus'', meaning "god") is the philosophical position and rationalistic theology that generally rejects revelation as a source of divine knowledge, and asserts that empirical reason and observation ...

criticism of the reliability of the testimony to the biblical

miracle A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divi ...

s. He also restricted the scope of the miraculous, for example rejecting the reports associated to the Convulsionnaires of Saint-Médard, and the tomb of the

Jansenist Jansenism was an early modern theological movement within Catholicism, primarily active in the Kingdom of France, that emphasized original sin, human depravity, the necessity of divine grace, and predestination. It was declared a heresy by th ...

supporter François de Pâris. He also stated that the cures of

Valentine Greatrakes Valentine Greatrakes (14 February 1628 – 28 November 1682), also known as "Greatorex" or "The Stroker", was an Irish faith healer who toured England in 1666, claiming to cure people by the laying on of hands. Early life Greatrakes was born on ...

were not miraculous. His doctrine of the working of the biblical miracles linked them to an active spiritual dimension of fulfilment of

prophecy In religion, a prophecy is a message that has been communicated to a person (typically called a '' prophet'') by a supernatural entity. Prophecies are a feature of many cultures and belief systems and usually contain divine will or law, or pr ...

Demoniacs and mental illness

In 1737 Sykes published ''An enquiry into the meaning of demoniacks in the New Testament'', rejecting any belief in the existence of demons and regarding those possessed as simply suffering from mental illness. In this he went further than Joseph Mede's exposition of the Doctrine of Demons, as in the later work of Dr.

Richard Mead Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stron ...

. He was answered by Thomas Church, in an anonymous work of the same year. Sykes also rejected the devil as a supernatural evil being, anticipating the allegory argument of

John Epps Dr John Epps (15 February 1805 – 12 February 1869) was an English physician, phrenologist and homeopath. He was also a political activist, known as a champion of radical causes on which he preached, lectured and wrote in periodicals. Life Ear ...

. Two replies to this work were published in 1737 and 1738 by

Leonard Twells Leonard Twells (1684?–1742) was an English cleric and theological writer. Life His father John was Master of Newark School. He received his education at Jesus College, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. in 1704. In 1722 Twells was presented to ...

. These works were part of a larger debate on

demonology Demonology is the study of demons within religious belief and myth. Depending on context, it can refer to studies within theology, religious doctrine, or pseudoscience. In many faiths, it concerns the study of a hierarchy of demons. Demons may ...

and possession, with Sykes siding with the sceptics Francis Hutcheson and Thomas Woolston, against

Zachary Pearce Zachary Pearce, sometimes known as Zachariah (8 September 1690 – 29 June 1774), was an English Bishop of Bangor and Bishop of Rochester. He was a controversialist and a notable early critical writer defending John Milton, attacking Richard ...

and

Richard Smalbroke Richard Smallbrooke (1672 – 22 December 1749) was an English churchman, Bishop of St David's and then of Lichfield and Coventry. Life The son of Samuel Smallbrooke (buried 23 May 1701) of Rowington,Burial: https://www.familysearch.org/a ...

Pseudonyms

Sykes used many pseudonyms, some of them shared with others. One, used in the book on "demoniacks", was T.P.A.P.O.A.B.I.T.C.O.S., standing for "The Precentor and Prebendary of Alton Borealis in the Church of Sarum".

Newton papers

Sykes at the end of his life was passed Isaac Newton's papers on theology and chronology. He prepared a digest of the material, but found almost none of it fit for publication. The papers went next to Jeffery Ekins.The Newton Project, ''History of his Papers 1727–1872''.
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References

External links

CERL page.Open Library page.Arthur Ashley Sykes papers, 1730-1752
at Pitts Theology Library,

Candler School of Theology Candler School of Theology is one of seven graduate schools at Emory University, located in metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia. A university-based school of theology, Candler educates ministers, scholars of religion and other leaders. It is also o ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sykes, Arthur Ashley 1684 births 1756 deaths 18th-century English Anglican priests People educated at St Paul's School, London Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge People from Rayleigh, Essex