John Rogers (1679–1729) was an English clergyman.

Life

The son of John Rogers, vicar of

Eynsham Eynsham is an English village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Oxfordshire, about north-west of Oxford and east of Witney. The United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census recorded a parish population of 4,648. It was estimated at 5,0 ...

, Oxford, he was born there. He was educated at

New College School New College School (officially St Mary's College School) is an independent preparatory school for boys aged 4 to 13 in Oxford. It was founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham to provide for the education of 16 choristers for the chapel of New C ...

, and was elected scholar of

Corpus Christi College, Oxford Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517, it is the 12th ...

, where he matriculated on 7 February 1693, graduating B.A. in 1697, and M.A. in 1700. Rogers took orders, but did not obtain his fellowship by succession until 1706. In 1710 he proceeded B.D. About 1704 he was presented to the vicarage of Buckland in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

(now

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

), where he was popular as a preacher. In 1712 he became lecturer of

St Clement Danes St Clement Danes is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London. It is situated outside the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand. Although the first church on the site was reputedly founded in the 9th century by the Danes, the current ...

The Strand, London Strand (or the Strand) is a major thoroughfare in the City of Westminster, Central London. It runs just over from Trafalgar Square eastwards to Temple Bar, where the road becomes Fleet Street in the City of London, and is part of the A4, ...

, and later of Christ Church, Newgate Street, with St Leonard's, Foster Lane. In 1716 he received the rectory of

Wrington Wrington is a village and a civil and ecclesiastical parish on the north slopes of the Mendip Hills in North Somerset, England. Both include nearby Redhill. Wrington lies in the valley of the Congresbury Yeo river, about east of Weston-super-M ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, and resigned his fellowship in order to marry. In 1719 he was appointed a canon, and in 1721 sub-dean of

Wells Cathedral Wells Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Wells, Somerset, England, dedicated to St Andrew the Apostle. It is the seat of the Bishop of Bath and Wells, whose cathedra it holds as mother church of the Diocese of Bath and Wells. Built as a ...

. He seems to have retained all these appointments until 1726, when he resigned the lectureship of St Clement Danes. For his controversial writings the degree of D.D. was conferred on him by diploma at Oxford. In 1726 he became chaplain in ordinary to the future King George II, then

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

, and about the same time left London with the intention of spending the remainder of his life at Wrington. In 1728 Rogers accepted from the dean and chapter of

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...

the vicarage of

St Giles, Cripplegate St Giles-without-Cripplegate is an Anglican church in the City of London, located on Fore Street within the modern Barbican complex. When built it stood without (that is, outside) the city wall, near the Cripplegate. The church is dedicated to S ...

, but held the living little more than six months. Rogers died on 1 May 1729, and was buried on the 13th at Eynsham. His funeral sermon was preached by Nathaniel Marshall, and was the occasion of ''Some Remarks'', by "Philalethes" ( Arthur Ashley Sykes).

Works

Rogers gained a reputation in the Bangorian controversy, while he joined with Francis Hare in the attack on

Benjamin Hoadly Benjamin Hoadly (14 November 1676 – 17 April 1761) was an English clergyman, who was successively Bishop of Bangor, of Hereford, of Salisbury, and finally of Winchester. He is best known as the initiator of the Bangorian Controversy. Li ...

. In 1719 he wrote ''A Discourse of the Visible and Invisible Church of Christ'' to prove that the powers claimed by the priesthood were not inconsistent with the supremacy of Christ or with the liberty of Christians. An answer was published by Arthur Ashley Sykes, and to this Rogers replied. In 1727 he published a volume of eight sermons, ''The Necessity of Divine Revelation and the Truth of the Christian Religion'', to which was prefixed a preface containing a criticism of the ''Literal Scheme of Prophecy considered'', by Anthony Collins, the deist. This preface did not satisfy his friends, and drew a critical letter from Dr. A. Marshall .

Samuel Chandler Samuel Chandler (1693 – 8 May 1766) was an English Nonconformist minister and pamphleteer. He has been called the "uncrowned patriarch of Dissent" in the latter part of George II's reign. Early life Samuel Chandler was born at Hungerford in B ...

bishop of Lichfield The Bishop of Lichfield is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Lichfield in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers 4,516 km2 (1,744 sq. mi.) of the counties of Powys, Staffordshire, Shropshire, Warwickshire and West Mi ...

, included remarks on the preface in his ''Conduct of the Modern Deists'', and Collins wrote ''A Letter to Dr. Rogers, on occasion of his Eight Sermons''. To all of these works Rogers replied in 1728 in his ''Vindication of the Civil Establishment of Religion''. This work prompted ''Some Short Reflections'', by

Thomas Chubb Thomas Chubb (29 September 16798 February 1747) was a lay English Deist writer born near Salisbury. He saw Christ as a divine teacher, but held reason to be sovereign over religion. He questioned the morality of religions, while defending Chris ...

, 1728, and a preface in Chandler's ''History of Persecution'', 1736. Many of his sermons were collected and published in three volumes after his death by John Burton. Rogers well acquainted with the writings of

Richard Hooker Richard Hooker (25 March 1554 – 2 November 1600) was an English priest in the Church of England and an influential theologian.The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church by F. L. Cross (Editor), E. A. Livingstone (Editor) Oxford University ...

and John Norris. After his death there were published his ''A Persuasive to Conformity addressed to the Dissenters'' (London, 1736) and ''A Persuasive to Conformity addressed to the Quakers'', London, 1747.

References

* ;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Rogers, John 1679 births 1729 deaths 18th-century English Anglican priests Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Oxford People educated at New College School People from Buckland, Oxfordshire