William Strong (died 1654) was an English clergyman and then pastor of an independent congregation, and member of the

Westminster Assembly The Westminster Assembly of Divines was a council of divines (theologians) and members of the English Parliament appointed from 1643 to 1653 to restructure the Church of England. Several Scots also attended, and the Assembly's work was adopt ...

Life

He was born in

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

, and was educated at Cambridge, graduating B. A. from St. Catharine Hall, of which he was elected a fellow on 30 December 1631. In 1640 he became rector of Moore Critchell in

, but he was driven out in 1643, when the royalists obtained the ascendancy in the county. He fled to London, where he met a cordial reception, and frequently preached before Parliament. On 31 December 1645 the Commons appointed him as successor to Edward Peale in the Westminster Assembly, and on 14 October 1647 he became minister of St. Dunstan's-in-the-West, Fleet Street.. On 9 December 1650 he was chosen pastor to a congregation of independents, which comprised many members of parliament, and to which he preached in

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the Unite ...

. On 29 July 1652 he was appointed to a committee for selecting preachers to go to Ireland. A sermon preached at Westminster in July 1653 'against the liberty of the times as introducing popery,' attracted some attention. He died in middle life in June 1654, and was buried in Westminster Abbey on 4 July; but on the

Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

his remains, with those of several others, were dug up and thrown into a pit in St. Margaret's churchyard. His widow Damaris survived him.

Works

Strong was the author of: *''Clavis Apocalyptica ad incudem revocata'', London, 1653. *''The Saints Communion with God, and Gods Communion with them in Ordinances'', ed. Hering, London, 1656. *''Heavenly Treasure, or Man's Chiefest Good'', ed. Howe, London 1656. *''Thirty-one Select Sermons'', London, 1656. *''A Treatise showing the Subordination of the Will of Man to the Will of God'', ed. Rowe, London, 1657. *''A Discourse on the Two Covenants'', published by

Theophilus Gale Theophilus Gale (1628–1678) was an English educationalist, nonconformist and theologian of dissent. Early life Gale was born at Kingsteignton, Devon, the son of Bridget Gale (née Walrond) and Theophilus Gale D. D. (died 1639), vicar of Kingste ...

, London, 1678. Strong also published several sermons, and wrote prefatory remarks to Robert Dingley's ''Spiritual Taste Described'', London, 1649.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Strong, William Year of birth missing 1654 deaths English independent ministers of the Interregnum (England) Westminster Divines Burials at St Margaret's, Westminster 17th-century English Anglican priests English religious writers 17th-century English writers 17th-century English male writers People from Dorset Alumni of St Catharine's College, Cambridge