Daniel Whitby (1638–1726) was a controversial English theologian and biblical commentator. An Arminian priest in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

, Whitby was known as strongly anti-

Calvinistic Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

and later gave evidence of Unitarian tendencies. Daniel Whitby

Life

The son of Thomas Whitby, rector (1631–7) of

Rushden Rushden is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in North Northamptonshire, England, around east of Northampton. The parish is on the border with Bedfordshire, north of Bedford. The parish of Rushden covers an area of some ...

, Northamptonshire, then rector of Barrow-on-Humber, Lincolnshire, he was born at Rushden on 24 March 1638. After attending school at Caster, Lincolnshire, he became in 1653 a commoner of

Trinity College, Oxford (That which you wish to be secret, tell to nobody) , named_for = The Holy Trinity , established = , sister_college = Churchill College, Cambridge , president = Dame Hilary Boulding , location = Broad Street, Oxford OX1 3BH , coordinates ...

, matriculating on 23 July, when his name is written Whitbie. He was elected scholar on 13 June 1655, graduated with a Bachelor of Arts on 20 April 1657, M.A. on 10 April 1660, and was elected fellow in 1664. In the same year he came out as a writer against Roman Catholic doctrine, attacking

Serenus Cressy Dom Serenus Cressy, O.S.B., (originally born Hugh Paulinus de Cressy), (ca. 1605 –10 August 1674) was an English convert to Catholicism and Benedictine monk, who became a noted scholar in Church history. Life Anglican chaplain Hugh Paulinus ...

. He was answered by John Sergeant, to whom he replied in 1666. Seth Ward,

bishop of Salisbury The Bishop of Salisbury is the ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Salisbury in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers much of the counties of Wiltshire and Dorset. The see is in the City of Salisbury where the bishop's seat ...

, made him his chaplain in 1668, giving him on 22 October the prebend of Yatesbury, and on 7 November the prebend of Husborn-Tarrant and Burbage. In 1669 he became perpetual curate of St. Thomas's and rector of St. Edmund's,

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

. He next wrote on the evidences (1671). On 11 September 1672 he was installed precentor at Salisbury, and at once accumulated B.D. and D.D. (13 September). He resumed his anti-Catholic polemics in 1674, and continued to publish on this topic at intervals till 1689. Whitby's reputation suffered by his anonymous publication, late in 1682, of ''The Protestant Reconciler'', a plea for concessions to

nonconformist Nonconformity or nonconformism may refer to: Culture and society * Insubordination, the act of willfully disobeying an order of one's superior *Dissent, a sentiment or philosophy of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or entity ** ...

s, with a view to their comprehension. A fierce paper war followed, in which Lawrence Womock, David Jenner, and Samuel Thomas took part. In contemporary pamphlets Whitby, nicknamed Whigby, was unfavourably contrasted with

Titus Oates Titus Oates (15 September 1649 – 12/13 July 1705) was an English priest who fabricated the "Popish Plot", a supposed Catholic conspiracy to kill King Charles II. Early life Titus Oates was born at Oakham in Rutland. His father Samuel (1610� ...

; ironical letters of thanks were addressed to him, purporting to come from

Anabaptist Anabaptism (from New Latin language, Neo-Latin , from the Greek language, Greek : 're-' and 'baptism', german: Täufer, earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re- ...

s and others. The University of Oxford in convocation (21 July 1683) condemned the proposition 'that the duty of not offending a weak brother is inconsistent with all human authority of making laws concerning indifferent things,' and ordered Whitby's book to be burned by the university marshal in the schools quadrangle. Seth Ward extorted from Whitby a retractation (9 October 1683); and he issued a second part of the ''Protestant Reconciler'', urging dissenters to conformity. In 1689 Whitby wrote in favour of taking the oaths to William and Mary. He took a small part in the

Socinian controversy The Socinian controversy in the Church of England (sometimes called the ''First Socinian controversy'' to distinguish it from a debate around 1800 mainly affecting Protestant nonconformists; and also called the ''Trinitarian controversy'') was ...

by publishing (1691) a Latin tract on the divinity of Christ. On 14 April 1696 he received the prebend of Taunton Regis. Whitby suffered in his later years from failing sight, and employed an amanuensis; otherwise he retained his faculties, including a tenacious memory. He was at church the day before he died; and returning home fainted and died the night following, on 24 March 1726, his eighty-eighth birthday.

Works

His major work was a 'Paraphrase and Commentary on the New Testament,' begun in 1688 and published in 1700; last edition, 1822.

Philip Doddridge Philip Doddridge D.D. (26 June 1702 – 26 October 1751) was an English Nonconformist (specifically, Congregationalist) minister, educator, and hymnwriter. Early life Philip Doddridge was born in London the last of the twenty children of ...

thought it preferable to any other commentary. In his commentary he opposes

John Tillotson John Tillotson (October 1630 – 22 November 1694) was the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury from 1691 to 1694. Curate and rector Tillotson was the son of a Puritan clothier at Haughend, Sowerby, Yorkshire. Little is known of his early youth ...

's view of hell torments.

Faith Faith, derived from Latin ''fides'' and Old French ''feid'', is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or In the context of religion, one can define faith as "belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". Religious people often ...

he defined as mere assent to Gospel facts as true. In 1710, Whitby challenged the critical works of John Mill and defended

Textus Receptus ''Textus Receptus'' (Latin: "received text") refers to all printed editions of the Greek New Testament from Erasmus's ''Novum Instrumentum omne'' (1516) to the 1633 Elzevir edition. It was the most commonly used text type for Protestant deno ...

against thirty thousand textual variants in Mill's edition of the New Testament. Of this ''Examen variantium Lectionum Johannis Milli'' use was made by Anthony Collins; it was reprinted (Leyden, 1724) by Sigebert Haverkamp. During 1710–11 Whitby was engaged in refuting the Calvinistic positions of

John Edwards Johnny Reid Edwards (born June 10, 1953) is an American lawyer and former politician who served as a U.S. senator from North Carolina. He was the Democratic nominee for vice president in 2004 alongside John Kerry, losing to incumbents George ...

. In 1710 he wrote his ''Discourse on the Five Points'' (on the

Five Points of Calvinism Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Calv ...

) which eventually drew Calvinist responses from English Baptist

John Gill John Gill may refer to: Sports *John Gill (cricketer) (1854–1888), New Zealand cricketer *John Gill (coach) (1898–1997), American football coach *John Gill (footballer, born 1903), English professional footballer *John Gill (American football) ...

in his ''The Cause of God and Truth'' (1735) and American Congregationalist Jonathan Edwards in his ''Freedom of the Will'' (1754). Whitby is usually ranked as an Arminian. However, his views regarding original sin were not in line with historical Arminianism. In the Bangorian controversy he wrote (1714 and 1718) in defence of Benjamin Hoadly. On the doctrine of our Lord's deity, which he had defended in 1691 and had upheld throughout his New Testament commentary (1703), he was affected by the treatise (1712) 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, ...

, as shown by his later criticisms of

George Bull George Bull (25 March 1634 – 17 February 1710) was an English theologian and Bishop of St David's. Life He was born, 25 March 1634, in the parish of St. Cuthbert, Wells, and educated in the grammar school at Wells, and then at Blundell's ...

and

Daniel Waterland Daniel Cosgrove Waterland (14 March 1683 – 23 December 1740) was an English theologian. He became Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge in 1714, Chancellor of the Diocese of York in 1722, and Archdeacon of Middlesex in 1730. Waterland opposed ...

. A later Latin dissertation (1714) rejects the authority of the fathers as interpreters of Scripture, or as entitled to determine controversies respecting the Trinity. He had been led to this position by his antagonism (1707) to the arguments on which

Henry Dodwell the elder Henry Dodwell (October 16417 June 1711) was an Anglo-Irish scholar, theologian and controversial writer. Life Dodwell was born in Dublin in 1641. His father, William Dodwell, who lost his property in Connacht during the Irish rebellion, was ...

based his rejection of the natural immortality of the soul. He made further use of it in criticisms directed (1718) against Bull and (1720–1) Waterland. The extent of his departure from conventional opinion was not revealed till the posthumous publication in April 1727 of his ''Last Thoughts'', which he calls his 'retractation,' and which 'clearly shows his unitarianism'. Concerning the Whitby's position in respect of the Roman Catholic Church, he published the 1674 pamphlet ''A discourse concerning the idolatry of the Church of Rome'', which was followed by ''A treatise in confutation of the Latin service practised and, by the order of the Trent Council, continued in the Church of Rome'' and also by ''The fallibility of the Roman Church : demonstrated from the manifest error of the 2d Nicene & Trent councils : which assert that the veneration and honorary worship of images is a tradition primitive and apostolical'' (London, 1687). At least from 1699 until 1702, Whitby was also a close friend and an epistolary correspondent of

John Locke John Locke (; 29 August 1632 – 28 October 1704) was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment thinkers and commonly known as the "father of liberalism ...

(1632 – 28 October 1704), which a short time before was returned from Netherlands to the

Lady Masham ] Damaris, Lady Masham (18 January 1659 – 20 April 1708) was an English writer, philosopher, theologian, and advocate for women's education who is characterized as a proto-feminist. She overcame some weakness of eyesight and lack of access t ...

's country house in Essex.

Views on the Millennium

Whitby is considered by many to have systematised

postmillennialism In Christian eschatology (end-times theology), postmillennialism, or postmillenarianism, is an interpretation of chapter 20 of the Book of Revelation which sees Christ's second coming as occurring ''after'' (Latin ''post-'') the "Millennium", ...

, even if seeds of this millennialist belief were sown long before with persons such as

Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berbers, Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia (Roman pr ...

. Although Whitby may have been an Arminian minister, postmillennialism is now commonly associated with

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

and Covenantal churches, specifically Reconstructionist churches.Daniel Whitby – Study Archive @ PreteristArchive.com
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Clarence Larkin Clarence Larkin (1850–1924) was an American Baptist pastor, Bible teacher and author whose writings on Dispensationalism had a great impact on conservative Protestant visual culture in the 20th century. His intricate and influential charts provi ...

wrote:

Notes

References

External links