William Wall (6 January 1647 – 13 November 1728) was a British priest in the

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 Britain ...

who wrote extensively on the doctrine of

infant baptism Infant baptism is the practice of baptising infants or young children. Infant baptism is also called christening by some faith traditions. Most Christians belong to denominations that practice infant baptism. Branches of Christianity that ...

. He was generally an

apologist Apologetics (from Greek , "speaking in defense") is the religious discipline of defending religious doctrines through systematic argumentation and discourse. Early Christian writers (c. 120–220) who defended their beliefs against critics and ...

for the English church and sought to maintain peace between it and the

Anabaptist Anabaptism (from New Latin language, Neo-Latin , from the Greek language, Greek : 're-' and 'baptism', german: Täufer, earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re- ...

s. He was born in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, he attended

Harrow School (The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God) , established = (Royal Charter) , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school , religion = Church of E ...

and got his BA from

The Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault. It is distinguished by its pred ...

in 1667 and his MA in 1670. After ordination, he took the living in

Shoreham, Kent Shoreham is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It is located 5.2 miles north of Sevenoaks. The probable derivation of the name is ''estate at the foot of a steep slope''. Steep slope was from the Saxon word ...

, which he worked at until his death. According to his obituary in the ''

Gentleman's Magazine ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1922. It was the first to use the term ''magazine'' (from the French ''magazine'' ...

'' in 1784, he was offered more lucrative positions, but he refused out of loyalty to his parish. His contribution to theology came in the form of ''A History of Infant Baptism'' in 1705. David Russen had written an anti-Baptist tract entitled ''Fundamentals without Foundation'' in 1703, and this had been answered by the Baptist Joseph Stennett in ''An Answer to Mr. David Russen's Book'' in 1704. Wall, who knew and respected Stennett, consulted with him and then answered with ''A History of Infant Baptism.'' Wall was answered in turn by John Gale in ''Reflections on Mr. Wall's History'' in 1711. Wall's book was enormously successful. He cited numerous

patristic Patristics or patrology is the study of the early Christian writers who are designated Church Fathers. The names derive from the combined forms of Latin ''pater'' and Greek ''patḗr'' (father). The period is generally considered to run from ...

sources for the practice of infant baptism and yet pleaded with his opponents not to allow such a minor point to tear the church apart. His work was expanded in a second edition in 1707 and a third edition of 1720. Oxford awarded him the

Doctor of divinity A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ran ...

degree in 1720 for the work, and

John Wesley John Wesley (; 2 March 1791) was an English people, English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The soci ...

excerpted it in his own works on the question. Despite being the primary voice against Baptist causes, Wall was sincere in his wishes for unity, and he met with his opponent, Mr. Gale, in 1719. Wall's wife, Catharine (née Davenant) died at the age of 48, and Wall himself died at an advanced age and was buried in his parish.

References

*Burdick, Oscar. "William Wall" In Matthew, H.C.G. and Brian Harrison, eds. ''

The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

.'' vol. 56, 918. London:

OUP Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 2004.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wall, William 1647 births 1728 deaths 18th-century English non-fiction writers 18th-century English male writers People from Shoreham, Kent People educated at Harrow School English Calvinist and Reformed theologians Anabaptism 17th-century English Anglican priests 18th-century English Anglican priests 18th-century Calvinist and Reformed theologians Wall family