Thomas Bennet (1673–1728) was an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
clergyman, known for controversial and polemical writings, and as a
Hebraist
A Hebraist is a specialist in Jewish, Hebrew and Hebraic studies. Specifically, British and German scholars of the 18th and 19th centuries who were involved in the study of Hebrew language and literature were commonly known by this designation, a ...
.
Life
He was born at
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 ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, on 7 May 1673. and was educated at the free school there. He entered
St John's College, Cambridge
St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...
, in 1688, before he was fifteen, took the degrees of B.A. and M.A. (1694), and was chosen
Fellow
A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context.
In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements.
Within the context of higher education ...
of his college. In 1700, by chance, he went to
Colchester
Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian.
Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...
on the death of a clergyman friend there, John Rayne, and was called on to preach the funeral sermon; and was appointed to succeed him. He was instituted 15 January 1701.
He left Colchester at the end of the decade, and became deputy chaplain to
Chelsea Hospital
The Royal Hospital Chelsea is a retirement home and nursing home for some 300 veterans of the British Army. Founded as an almshouse, the ancient sense of the word "hospital", it is a site located on Royal Hospital Road in Chelsea. It is an i ...
. He preached a funeral sermon at
St Olave's Church, Southwark
St Olave's Church, Southwark was a church in Southwark, England which is believed to be mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. It was located on Tooley Street which is named after the church, i.e. 't'olous'. It became redundant in 1926 and was d ...
, and was chosen lecturer there. He was appointed morning preacher at
St Lawrence Jewry
St Lawrence Jewry next Guildhall is a Church of England guild church in the City of London on Gresham Street, next to Guildhall. It was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666, and rebuilt to the designs of Sir Christopher Wren. It is the ...
under
John Mapletoft
John Mapletoft (1631–1721) was an English clergyman and physician.
Life
His father was Joshua Mapletoft, vicar of Margaretting and rector of Wickford, Essex, and his mother Susanna, daughter of John Collet by Susanna, sister of Nicholas Ferra ...
, and was also presented by 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 ...
to
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 ...
. The presentation, however, involved him in disputes over a tithe on peas and beans.
In 1711, he was created D.D. In 1717 he married Elizabeth Hunt of Salisbury, and by her had three daughters. He died on 9 October 1728.
Thomas Emlyn
Thomas Emlyn (1663–1741) was an English nonconformist divine.
Life
Emlyn was born at Stamford, Lincolnshire. He served as chaplain to the presbyterian Letitia, countess of Donegal, the daughter of Sir William Hicks, 1st Baronet who married (1 ...
praised him for his "small respect to decrees of councils or mere church authority".
Works
In 1695, Hebrew verses by Bennet on the death of
Queen Mary were printed in the university collection. His first major publication was ''An Answer to the Dissenters Plea for Separation, or an Abridgment of the London Cases'' (1699, 5th edition 1711).
In 1701 appeared ''A Confutation of Popery'' in three parts. In 1702 he followed up his ''Answer'' by ''A Discourse of Schism''. Timothy Shepherd of
Braintree answered this work, and Bennet replied in 1703. Bennet found another antagonist in a fellow clergyman in ''A Justification of the Dissenters against Mr. Bennet's charge of damnable Schism, &c. … By a Divine of the Church of England by Law established'', 1705.
Bennet's next book was ''Devotions, viz. Confessions, Petitions, Intercessions, and Thanksgivings, for every day in the week, and also before, at, and after the Sacrament, with Occasional Prayers for all Persons whatsoever''. In 1705 Bennet also published ''A Confutation of Quakerism''. B. Lindley answered this in 1710.
In 1708, perhaps stung by passing gibes at his own printed prayers, Bennet published ''A brief History of joint Use of precomposed set Forms of Prayer'', and ''A Discourse of Joint Prayer'', and later in the same year ''A Paraphrase with Annotations upon the Book of Common Prayer, wherein the text is explained, objections are answered, and advice is humbly offered, both to the clergy and the laity, for promoting true devotion to the use of it''. In 1710 these works were tacitly vindicated by Bennet in ''A Letter to Mr. B. Robinson, occasioned by his Review of the Case of Liturgies and their Imposition'', and in a ''Second Letter to Mr. Robinson'' on the same subject (also 1710). In 1711 he published ''The Rights of the Clergy of the Christian Church''.
In 1714, Bennet published ''Directions for Studying''. In 1715 appeared his ''Essay on the XXXIX Articles''.
[''Essay on the XXXIX Articles agreed on in 1562, and revised in 1571, … and a Prefatory Epistle to Anthony Collins, Esq., wherein the egregious falsehoods and calumnies of the author of “Priestcraft in Perfection” are exposed.''] In 1716, he assailed the extruded churchmen of the
nonjuring schism
The Nonjuring schism refers to a split in the State religion, established churches of England, Scotland and Ireland, following the deposition and exile of James II of England, James II and VII in the 1688 Glorious Revolution. As a condition of o ...
in ''The Nonjurors Separation from the Public Assemblies of the Church of England examined and proved to be schismatical upon their own Principles''. In 1718, he published ''A Discourse of the ever-blessed Trinity in Unity, with an Examination of Dr Clarke's Scriptural Doctrine of the Trinity''. Like all his books, these were answered. His idea of the Trinity was
Sabellian. In 1726, he gave to the world a small ''Hebrew Grammar''.
References
;Attribution
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennet, Thomas
1673 births
1728 deaths
People from Salisbury
Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge
Fellows of St John's College, Cambridge
18th-century English Anglican priests
Christian Hebraists