Thomas Ridgley ( – 1734) was an English Dissenting minister.

Life

Thomas Ridgley was born in London about 1667. He was educated for the ministry in

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

, presumably under John Davison at

Trowbridge Trowbridge ( ) is the county town of Wiltshire, England, on the River Biss in the west of the county. It is near the border with Somerset and lies southeast of Bath, 31 miles (49 km) southwest of Swindon and 20 miles (32 km) southe ...

. In 1695 he was chosen assistant to

Thomas Gouge Thomas Gouge (19 September 1605, Bow, London – 29 October 1681, London) was an English Presbyterian clergyman, a contemporary of Samuel Pepys, associated with the Puritan movement. Gouge was the son of William Gouge, himself a clergyman ...

, pastor of the independent church at Three Cranes, Fruiterers' Alley,

Thames Street, London Thames Street, divided into Lower and Upper Thames Street, is a road in the City of London, the historic and financial centre of London. It forms part of the busy A roads in Zone 3 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A3211 route (prior to bein ...

. On Gouge's death he succeeded to the pastorate, which he held till his own death, being assisted by John Hurrion and (from 1732) by Samuel Parsons. On the death of

Isaac Chauncy Isaac Chauncy (1632–1712) was an English dissenting minister. Life Chauncy was the eldest son of Charles Chauncy, and was born on 23 August and baptised at Ware, Hertfordshire, on 30 August 1632. He went as a child to New England with his fa ...

in 1712 he was elected divinity tutor to the Fund Academy in Tenter Alley,

Moorfields Moorfields was an open space, partly in the City of London, lying adjacent to – and outside – its northern wall, near the eponymous Moorgate. It was known for its marshy conditions, the result of the defensive wall acting like a dam, i ...

, established by the London congregational fund board in 1696. His coadjutor in classics and science was

John Eames John Eames (2 February 1686 – 29 June 1744) was an English Dissenting tutor. Life Eames was born in London on 2 February 1686. He was admitted to Merchant Taylors' School on 10 March 1696–7, and was subsequently trained for the dissenting m ...

. Ridgley had abundance of theological learning, and was a good instructor. His position as a teacher was that of a bulwark of dissenting orthodoxy against the prevalent tendencies to

Arian Arianism ( grc-x-koine, Ἀρειανισμός, ) is a Christological doctrine first attributed to Arius (), a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was begotten by God t ...

and

Arminian Arminianism is a branch of Protestantism based on the theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius (1560–1609) and his historic supporters known as Remonstrants. Dutch Arminianism was originally articulated in the ''Re ...

laxity. This duty he discharged with great ability and considerable individuality of treatment. Yet his scheme of the

Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...

, denuded of the generation of the Son and the procession of the Spirit, is essentially Sabellian, and in easing the difficulties of

Calvinism Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Cal ...

he follows the

Socinians Socinianism () is a nontrinitarian belief system deemed heretical by the Catholic Church and other Christian traditions. Named after the Italian theologians Lelio Sozzini (Latin: Laelius Socinus) and Fausto Sozzini (Latin: Faustus Socinus), uncle ...

in limiting the penalties of Adam's sin to death and temporal discomfort. In 1719 he took the side of subscription in the

Salters' Hall debates Thomas Bradbury may refer to: *Thomas Bradbury (cricketer) (1859–1917), English cricketer *Tom Bradbury (born 1998), English professional footballer *Thomas Bradbury (minister) Thomas Bradbury (1677–1759) was an English Dissenting minister. ...

, thus ranging himself with the older

presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

s; while

Hunt Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/ hide, bone/tusks, horn/antler, et ...

, Lowman, Lardner, and

Jennings Jennings is a surname of early medieval English origin (also the Anglicised version of the Irish surnames Mac Sheóinín or MacJonin). Notable people with the surname include: *Jennings (Swedish noble family) A–G *Adam Jennings (born 1982), A ...

, his juniors among the learned independents, were for non-subscription. His lectures expository of the larger

catechism A catechism (; from grc, κατηχέω, "to teach orally") is a summary or exposition of doctrine and serves as a learning introduction to the Sacraments traditionally used in catechesis, or Christian religious teaching of children and adult c ...

of the Westminster divines constitute his 'Body of Divinity,' which, issued by subscription in 1731, became a textbook of moderate Calvinism, and gained him the diploma of D.D. from Aberdeen. Ridgley died on 27 March 1734, aged 66, and was buried in

Bunhill Fields Bunhill Fields is a former burial ground in central London, in the London Borough of Islington, just north of the City of London. What remains is about in extent and the bulk of the site is a public garden maintained by the City of London Cor ...

. His portrait by

Bartholomew Dandridge Bartholomew Dandridge (25 December 1737 – 18 April 1785) was an early American planter, lawyer and patriot. He represented New Kent County in the House of Burgesses, all five Virginia Revolutionary Conventions, and once in the Virginia House ...

has been engraved by Vandergucht.

Publications

He published, besides single sermons, including funeral sermons for Gertrude Clarkson (1701), Elizabeth Bankes (1711), Nathan Hall (1719), Thomas Tingey (1729), John Hurrion (1732), and John Sladen (1733, two editions same year): * ''The Unreasonableness of the Charge of Creed-making,'' (1719), (related to the Salters' Hall controversy), * ''An Essay Concerning Truth and Charity'', (1721), (related to the Salters' Hall controversy), * ''The Doctrine of Original Sin,'' (1725); two editions same year (two lectures at Pinners' Hall, with postscript) * ''A Body of Divinity'', (1731)

References

External links

Works
of Ridgley at the ''

Post-Reformation Digital Library __notoc__ The Post-Reformation Digital Library (PRDL) is a database of digitized books from the early modern era. The collected titles are directly linked to full-text versions of the works in question. The bibliography was initially inclined towar ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Ridgley, Thomas 1734 deaths 1660s births English religious writers Dissenting academy tutors 17th-century English clergy 18th-century English clergy Burials at Bunhill Fields Year of birth uncertain