John Angel or Angell (died 1655), was an English preacher.

Biography

Angel was from

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, born towards the end of the sixteenth century. He was admitted of

Magdalen Hall, Oxford Hertford College ( ), previously known as Magdalen Hall, is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on Catte Street in the centre of Oxford, directly opposite the main gate to the Bodleian Library. The colleg ...

, in 1610. He proceeded to his degrees of B.A. and M.A. He was ordained in holy orders; at a bound became a frequent and popular preacher, and many puns were made on his name. He does not appear to have been presented to any

living Living or The Living may refer to: Common meanings *Life, a condition that distinguishes organisms from inorganic objects and dead organisms ** Living species, one that is not extinct *Personal life, the course of an individual human's life * Hu ...

but to have gone about as an evangelist. In 1629, or earlier,

Francis Higginson Francis Higginson (1588–1630) was an early Puritan minister in Colonial New England, and the first minister of Salem, Massachusetts. Biography England The son of a minister, Francis Higginson received his B.A. degree from Jesus College, Ca ...

declined an appointment as town preacher at

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

because of his growing nonconformity. Angel, who then conformed to the establishment, was put in his stead by ‘the mayor of Alderney,’ and he is found in 1630 as a lecturer. In 1634, he was suspended by the

dean of Arches The Dean of the Arches is the judge who presides in the provincial ecclesiastical court of the Archbishop of Canterbury. This court is called the Arches Court of Canterbury. It hears appeals from consistory courts and bishop's disciplinary trib ...

for preaching without licence; an ordinary minister was not allowed to preach without a licence issued by the bishop of the diocese. With relation to Angel's suspension

William Laud William Laud (; 7 October 1573 – 10 January 1645) was a bishop in the Church of England. Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by Charles I in 1633, Laud was a key advocate of Charles I's religious reforms, he was arrested by Parliament in 1640 ...

wrote in his ''Diary'': "In Leicester the dean of the Arches suspended one Mr. Angell, who had continued a lecturer in that great town for these divers years without any licence at all to preach, yet took liberty enough. I doubt his violence hath cracked his brain, and do therefore use him more tenderly, because I see the hand of God hath overtaken him." The biographer

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, ...

wrote that Angel was subject to great spiritual darkness, but Richard Vines relieved and comforted him. In 1650, at Leicester, Angel differed with the Independents and refused to sign the

engagement An engagement or betrothal is the period of time between the declaration of acceptance of a marriage proposal and the marriage itself (which is typically but not always commenced with a wedding). During this period, a couple is said to be ''fi ...

. The Mercers' Company of London stepped in to relieve him. They appointed him as lecturer at

Grantham, Lincolnshire Grantham () is a market and industrial town in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road. It lies some 23 miles (37 km) south of the Lincoln and ...

, and he remained there until his death in 1655.

Anthony à Wood Anthony Wood (17 December 1632 – 28 November 1695), who styled himself Anthony à Wood in his later writings, was an English antiquary. He was responsible for a celebrated ''Hist. and Antiq. of the Universitie of Oxon''. Early life Anthony W ...

quotes the tributes that contemporaries paid him.

Works

Published works: * "Right Government of the Thoughts, or a Discourse of all Vain, Unprofitable, Idle, and Wicked Thoughts" (1659) * "Right Ordering of the Conversation" (1659) * "Preparation for the Communion" (1659) * "Funeral Sermon for John, Lord Darcey" (1659)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Angel, John 16th-century births 1655 deaths Year of birth unknown 17th-century English Anglican priests 17th-century English writers 17th-century English male writers Alumni of Magdalen Hall, Oxford English male non-fiction writers English religious writers People from Gloucestershire