Thomas Ball (1590–1659) was an English

divine Divinity (from Latin ) refers to the quality, presence, or nature of that which is divine—a term that, before the rise of monotheism, evoked a broad and dynamic field of sacred power. In the ancient world, divinity was not limited to a singl ...

. He wrote only one book, ''Ποιμηνόπυργος — Pastorum Propugnaculum, or the Pulpit's Patronage against the Force of Unordained Usurpation and Invasion'' (London, 1656).

Life

Ball was born at

Alberbury Alberbury is a village in Shropshire, England, west of Shrewsbury on the B4393 road which travels from Ford to Lake Vyrnwy. It is on to the England-Wales border, marked by Prince's Oak. The River Severn runs just north of the village, and mo ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

. While still young he was appointed usher in the then famous school of Mr. Puller, at Epping, in

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, where he stayed for two years. Then he entered

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the 16 "old colleges" of the university, and was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. Its buildings span the R ...

in 1615. He proceeded

M.A. A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

in 1625. He was received by John Preston as a pupil as recommended by Puller; when Preston became master of Emmanuel College, he took Ball along with him from Queens'. Ball obtained a fellowship, and had a large group of pupils; his exercises and sermons at St. Mary's gained him distinction as a preacher. He became vicar of All Saints Church, Northampton in 1629, and conducted the weekly lecture there for about twenty-seven years. He was three times married, and had a large family. He died, aged sixty-nine, in 1659, and was buried 21 June. His funeral

sermon A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present context ...

was preached by his neighbour,

John Howes John Forman Howes (June 19, 1924 – February 4, 2017) was a Professor of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia (UBC) for over three decades. Biography Howes began his studies of the Japanese language in 1944 at the I.T.S. Naval S ...

; it was published under the title of ''Real Comforts'', and included notes on his life.

Works

Ball printed only one book, ''Ποιμηνόπυργος — Pastorum Propugnaculum, or the Pulpit's Patronage against the Force of Unordained Usurpation and Invasion''. (London, 1656). ''Pastorum Propugnaculum'' is a defence of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

: it vindicates the reasonableness and scripturalness of 'ordination' and of adequate learning; but states the objections of opponents. Ball, with

Thomas Goodwin Thomas Goodwin ( Rollesby, Norfolk, 5 October 160023 February 1680), known as "the Elder", was an English Puritan theologian and preacher, and an important leader of religious Independents. He served as chaplain to Oliver Cromwell, and was app ...

, also edited and published the numerous posthumous works of his friend John Preston.

References

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Ball, Thomas 1590 births 1659 deaths Clergy from Shropshire 17th-century English Anglican priests Masters of Emmanuel College, Cambridge Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge 17th-century Anglican theologians