Richard Kidder (1633–1703) was an English Anglican churchman,

Bishop of Bath and Wells The Bishop of Bath and Wells heads the Church of England Diocese of Bath and Wells in the Province of Canterbury in England. The present diocese covers the overwhelmingly greater part of the (ceremonial) county of Somerset and a small area of D ...

, from 1691 to his death. He was a noted theologian.

Biography

He was educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where he was a

sizar At Trinity College, Dublin and the University of Cambridge, a sizar is an undergraduate who receives some form of assistance such as meals, lower fees or lodging during his or her period of study, in some cases in return for doing a defined jo ...

, from 1649, graduating 1652. He became a Fellow there in 1655, and vicar of Stanground,

Huntingdonshire Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire and a historic county of England. The district council is based in Huntingdon. Other towns include St Ives, Godmanchester, St Neots and Ramsey. The popu ...

, in 1659. He was deprived in 1662. He was rector of Rayne Parva,

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

, from 1664 to 1674, having conformed to the Act of 1662. He was later vicar of St. Martin Outwich, London, and in 1689 a royal chaplain, and dean of

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

. His ''A Demonstration of the Messias'' has been identified as a significant influence on the librettist Charles Jennens, in writing the words for the

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...

of Handel. This book also took up suggestions of

Joseph Mede Joseph Mede (1586 in Berden – 1639) was an English scholar with a wide range of interests. He was educated at Christ's College, Cambridge, where he became a Fellow from 1613. He is now remembered as a biblical scholar. He was also a naturalist ...

on multiple authorship of the ''

Book of Zechariah The Book of Zechariah, attributed to the Hebrew prophet Zechariah, is included in the Twelve Minor Prophets in the Hebrew Bible. Historical context Zechariah's prophecies took place during the reign of Darius the Great and were contemporary ...

''. He was killed in the

Great Storm of 1703 The great storm of 1703 was a destructive extratropical cyclone that struck central and southern England on 26 November 1703. High winds caused 2,000 chimney stacks to collapse in London and damaged the New Forest, which lost 4,000 oaks. Ships wer ...

, on 26 November (7 December in today's calendar); he was in bed with his wife in the episcopal palace at Wells when the chimney fell on both of them.Newsletter 35
/ref>

Works

* ''The Christian sufferer supported'' (1680) * ''A Demonstration of the Messias. In which the Truth of the Christian Religion is Proved, Against All the Enemies Thereof; But Especially Against the Jews. In Three Parts'' (1684, 1699, 1700) * ''A sermon upon the resurrection'' (1694) *
A Commentary on the Five Books of Moses: With a Dissertation Concerning the Author Or Writer of the said books and a general argument to each of them
' (1694) *
The life of the Reverend Anthony Horneck, late preacher at the Savoy
' (1698) *
The holy Bible, containing the Old and New Testaments
' (1715) * ''A Discourse Concerning Sins of Infirmity, and Wilful Sins, with Another of Restitution'' (reprint, 2010)

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kidder, Richard 1633 births 1703 deaths English theologians 17th-century Church of England bishops 18th-century Church of England bishops Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge Deans of Peterborough Bishops of Bath and Wells Burials at Wells Cathedral Natural disaster deaths in England 17th-century Anglican theologians 18th-century Anglican theologians