Josiah Woodward (1657 – 1712) was an English
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 Britai ...
clergyman and moral reformer. He was a devout Anglican and his advocacy of stringent adherence to Christian moral ethic is evident in the vast majority of his works.
Religious views
At the opening of ''The divine original, and incomparable excellency of the Christian religion'' exclaims his belief in the Christian religion "as founded upon divine revelation". He believed that God had revealed to humans great truths which "they could not have found by their natural light." In ''Fair Warnings to a Careless World'' he discusses his dismay and what he considered the apparent decay of the "genuine vigor of the holy religion". In this text, he also makes clear his view that tyranny is the result of turning away from the Christian God, citing examples such as
Nimrod
Nimrod (; ; arc, ܢܡܪܘܕ; ar, نُمْرُود, Numrūd) is a biblical figure mentioned in the Book of Genesis and Books of Chronicles. The son of Cush and therefore a great-grandson of Noah, Nimrod was described as a king in the land of ...
and
Balthazzar. Unsurprisingly, given his strong belief in religion being far superior to the state, he also expresses his opposition to the "atheistic principles of
Thomas Hobbes
Thomas Hobbes ( ; 5/15 April 1588 – 4/14 December 1679) was an English philosopher, considered to be one of the founders of modern political philosophy. Hobbes is best known for his 1651 book ''Leviathan'', in which he expounds an influ ...
" later in the work. In ''An account of the progress of the reformation of manner'' he also advocates promoting the titular ''reformation of manners'' and the elimination of "prophane swearing, debauchery, drunkenness and prophanation of the Lord's Day" through
penal laws.
[An Account of the Progress of the Reformation of Manners, p 1.]
Select bibliography
*''A Disswasive from the Sin of Drunkenness''
*''Pastoral advice to a young person lately confirmed by the Bishop''
*''An account of the progress of the reformation of manners''
*''A kind caution to profane swearers'
*''The necessary duty of family prayer''
*''Fair warnings to a careless world''
*''An earnest admonition to all, but especially to young persons: to turn to God by speedy repentance and reformation. Being the substance of six sermons, deliver'd in the chappel at Popler''
*''The baseness and perniciousness of the sin of slandering and backbiting''
*''The divine original, and incomparable excellency of the Christian religion''
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Woodward, Josiah
17th-century English Anglican priests
18th-century English Anglican priests
1657 births
1712 deaths