Thomas Woolston | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 1668 (baptised) Northampton, England |
| Died | 27 January 1733 (aged 64) |
| Education | Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge |
| Occupation | Theologian |
| Known for | Allegorical interpretation of Scripture, Deistical controversy |
| Notable work | "The Old Apology for the Truth of the Christian Religion against the Jews and Gentiles Revived" (1705), "The Moderator between an Infidel and an Apostate" (1725), "Discourses on the Miracles of the New Testament" (1727-1729) |
Thomas Woolston (baptised November 1668 – 27 January 1733)[1][2] was anEnglish theologian. Although he was often classed as adeist, his biographerWilliam H. Trapnell regards him as anAnglican who held unorthodox theological views.
Thomas Woolston, born atNorthampton in 1668, the son of a currier, the scholar enteredSidney Sussex College, Cambridge, in 1685; attained theMaster of Arts in 1692;[3] theBachelor of Divinity conferred in 1699; tookorders and was made a fellow of his college.[4][5]
After a time, by the study ofOrigen and the other early Fathers, he became possessed with the notion of the importance of anallegorical or spiritual interpretation ofScripture, and advocated its use in the defence ofChristianity both in his sermons and in his first book, while attacking what he saw as the shallow literalist interpretation of contemporary divines,The Old Apology for the Truth of the Christian Religion against the Jews and Gentiles Revived (1705). For many years he published nothing, but in 1720-1721 the publication of letters and pamphlets in advocacy of his assessment of the Old Testament,[6] with open challenges to the clergy to refute them, brought him into trouble. It was reported that his mind was disordered, and he lost his fellowship. From 1721 he lived for the most part inLondon, on an allowance of £30 a year from his brother and other presents.[5]
His influence on the course of the deistical controversy began with his book,The Moderator between an Infidel and an Apostate (1725, 3rd ed. 1729). The infidel intended wasAnthony Collins, who had maintained in his book alluded to that theNew Testament is based on the Old, and that not the literal but only the allegorical sense of the prophecies can be quoted in proof of the Messiahship ofJesus; theapostate was the clergy who had forsaken the allegorical method of the fathers. Woolston denied absolutely the proof frommiracles, called in question the fact of the resurrection of Christ and other miracles of the New Testament, and maintained that they must be interpreted allegorically, or as types of spiritual things. Two years later he began a series of Discourses on the same subject, in which he applied the principles of his Moderator to the miracles of the Gospels in detail. TheDiscourses, 30,000 copies of which were said to have been sold, were six in number, the first appearing in 1727, the next five 1728–1729, with two Defences in 1729 1730. For these publications he was tried before Chief JusticeRaymond in 1729. Found guilty ofblasphemy, Woolston was sentenced (28 November) to pay a fine of £25 for each of the first fourDiscourses, with imprisonment until paid, and also to a year's imprisonment and to give security, for his good behaviour during life. He failed to find this security, and remained in confinement until his death.[7]
Upwards of sixty pamphlets appeared in reply to hisModerator andDiscourses. Among them were:
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Woolston, Thomas".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 818–819.