Benjamin Hoadly (14 November 1676 – 17 April 1761) was an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
clergyman, who was successively
Bishop of Bangor
The Bishop of Bangor is the ordinary of the Church in Wales Diocese of Bangor. The see is based in the city of Bangor where the bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Cathedral Church of Saint Deiniol.
The ''Report of the Commissioners appointed ...
,
of Hereford,
of Salisbury, and finally
of Winchester. He is best known as the initiator of the
Bangorian Controversy.
Life
He was educated at
St Catharine's College, Cambridge
St Catharine's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1473 as Katharine Hall, it adopted its current name in 1860. The college is nicknamed "Catz". The college is located in the historic city-centre of Camb ...
and ordained a priest in 1700.
He was rector of
St Peter-le-Poer,
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, from 1704 to 1724, and of St Leonard's, Streatham, from 1710 to 1723. His participation in controversy began at the beginning of his career, when he advocated conformity of the religious rites from the
Scottish and
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
churches for the sake of union. He became a leader of the
low church and found favour with the
Whig party.
He battled with
Francis Atterbury
Francis Atterbury (6 March 1663 – 22 February 1732) was an English man of letters, politician and bishop. A High Church Tory and Jacobite, he gained patronage under Queen Anne, but was mistrusted by the Hanoverian Whig ministries, and ban ...
, who was the spokesman for the
high church
The term ''high church'' refers to beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, liturgy, and theology that emphasize formality and resistance to modernisation. Although used in connection with various Christian traditions, the term originate ...
group and
Tory
A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...
leader on the subject of passive obedience and non-resistance (i.e. obedience of divines that would not involve swearing allegiance or changing their eucharistic rites but would also not involve denunciation of the
Established Church
A state religion (also called religious state or official religion) is a religion or creed officially endorsed by a sovereign state. A state with an official religion (also known as confessional state), while not secular, is not necessarily a t ...
practices). The
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
, dominated by Whigs, recommended him to
Queen Anne, and he became rector of
Streatham
Streatham ( ) is a district in south London, England. Centred south of Charing Cross, it lies mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, with some parts extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth.
Streatham was in Surrey ...
in 1710. When
George I George I or 1 may refer to:
People
* Patriarch George I of Alexandria (fl. 621–631)
* George I of Constantinople (d. 686)
* George I of Antioch (d. 790)
* George I of Abkhazia (ruled 872/3–878/9)
* George I of Georgia (d. 1027)
* Yuri Dolgor ...
succeeded to the throne, he became chaplain to the King and made bishop of Bangor in 1716.
In 1717, his sermon on "The Nature of the Kingdom of Christ" provoked the Bangorian controversy.
He was then translated three more times, taking up different bishoprics. He maintained that the
eucharist
The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...
was purely a commemorative act without any divine intervention. During his time as bishop, he rarely visited his dioceses and lived, instead, in London, where he was very active in politics.
From later summer 1722 to January 1725 Hoadly published letters on contemporary topics, articulating his Whig principles and defending the
Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution; gd, Rèabhlaid Ghlòrmhor; cy, Chwyldro Gogoneddus , also known as the ''Glorieuze Overtocht'' or ''Glorious Crossing'' in the Netherlands, is the sequence of events leading to the deposition of King James II and ...
of 1688. The Revolution had created "''that Limited Form of Government'' which is our only Security" and such a government secured freedom of expression, without which Britons would suffer "all the ''Mischiefs'', of ''Darkness'' in the ''Intellectual'' World, of ''Baseness'' in the ''Moral'' World, and of ''Slavery'' in the ''Political'' World". Hoadly also criticised the
Pretender
A pretender is someone who claims to be the rightful ruler of a country although not recognized as such by the current government. The term is often used to suggest that a claim is not legitimate.Curley Jr., Walter J. P. ''Monarchs-in-Waiting'' ...
, who issued a declaration that he would extinguish opposition. Hoadly wrote that he would impose uniformity on all if he ruled: "Not only that he ''must'' destroy your ''Civil'' and ''Religious'' Rights, but that he plainly before-hand has here ''told'' You, ''to your Face'', He will do so".
William Hogarth
William Hogarth (; 10 November 1697 – 26 October 1764) was an English painter, engraver, pictorial satirist, social critic, editorial cartoonist and occasional writer on art. His work ranges from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like s ...
(1697–1764) painted his portrait as Bishop of Winchester and "Prelate of the Most Noble
Order of the Garter
The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. It is the most senior order of knighthood in the British honours system, outranked in precedence only by the Victoria Cross and the George C ...
" about 1743, etched by
Bernard Baron
Bernard Baron (1696? – 1762)
Web articl Library of Congress, lower section "About the Artists" was a French engraver and etcher who spent much of his life in England.
Life
Baron was born in Paris in 1696, the son of the engraver Laurent Baron ...
(1696–1762). Hoadly's son
Benjamin
Benjamin ( he, ''Bīnyāmīn''; "Son of (the) right") blue letter bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3225/kjv/wlc/0-1/ H3225 - yāmîn - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv) was the last of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel (Jacob's thir ...
aided Hogarth with his ''
The Analysis of Beauty
''The Analysis of Beauty'' is a book written by the 18th-century artist and writer William Hogarth, published in 1753, which describes Hogarth's theories of visual beauty and grace in a manner accessible to the common man of his day.
The "Li ...
''.
Selected works
*''A Defence of the Reasonableness of Conformity'' (1707)
*''A Plain Account of the Nature and End of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper'' (1735)
*''The Repeal of the Corporation and Test Acts'' (1736)
Bibliography
*Guglielmo Sanna, Religione e vita publica nell' Inghilterra del '700: Le avventure di Benjamin Hoadly, Milan, FrancoAngeli Storia, 2012
Notes
Further reading
* William Gibson: ''Enlightenment Prelate: Benjamin Hoadly, 1676–1761.'' Cambridge 2004, .
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoadly, Benjamin
1676 births
1761 deaths
18th-century Church of England bishops
Alumni of St Catharine's College, Cambridge
Bishops of Bangor
Bishops of Hereford
Bishops of Salisbury
Bishops of Winchester
English theologians
Chancellors of the Order of the Garter
18th-century Welsh Anglican bishops
17th-century Anglican theologians
18th-century Anglican theologians