William Whiston | |
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 Portrait bySarah Hoadly,c. 1720 | |
| Born | (1667-12-09)9 December 1667 Norton-juxta-Twycross,Leicestershire, England |
| Died | 22 August 1752(1752-08-22) (aged 84) Lyndon, Rutland, England |
| Alma mater | Clare College, Cambridge |
| Known for | Translating theworks of Josephus,catastrophism,isoclinic maps, work onlongitude |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics,theology |
| Institutions | Clare College, Cambridge |
| Academic advisors | Isaac Newton Robert Herne |
| Notable students | James Jurin |
| Signature | |
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William Whiston (9 December 1667 – 22 August 1752) was an Englishtheologian, historian,natural philosopher, andmathematician, a leading figure in the popularisation of the ideas ofIsaac Newton. He is now probably best known for helping to instigate theLongitude Act in 1714 (and his attempts to winthe rewards that it promised) and his important translations of theAntiquities of the Jews and other works byJosephus (which are still in print). He was a prominent exponent ofArianism and wroteA New Theory of the Earth.
Whiston succeeded his mentor Newton asLucasian Professor of Mathematics at theUniversity of Cambridge. In 1710 he lost the professorship and was expelled from the university as a result of his unorthodox religious views. Whiston rejected the notion of eternal torment in hellfire, which he viewed as absurd, cruel, and an insult to God. What especially pitted him against church authorities was his denial of the doctrine of theTrinity, which he believed hadpagan origins.
Whiston was born to Josiah Whiston (1622–1685) and Katherine Rosse (1639–1701) atNorton-juxta-Twycross, inLeicestershire, where his father wasrector. His mother was daughter of the previous rector at Norton-juxta-Twycross, Gabriel Rosse. Josiah Whiston was apresbyterian, but retained his rectorship after theStuart Restoration in 1660. William Whiston was educated privately, for his health, and so that he could act asamanuensis to his blind father.[1][2] He studied atQueen Elizabeth Grammar School atTamworth, Staffordshire. After his father's death, he enteredClare College, Cambridge as asizar in 1686. He applied himself to mathematical study, was awarded the degree of Bachelor of Arts (BA) (1690), and AM (1693), and was elected Fellow in 1691 and probationary senior Fellow in 1693.[1][3]
William Lloyd ordained Whiston atLichfield in 1693. In 1694, claiming ill health, he resigned his tutorship at Clare toRichard Laughton, chaplain toJohn Moore, thebishop of Norwich, and swapped positions with him. He now divided his time between Norwich, Cambridge and London. In 1698 Moore gave him the living ofLowestoft where he became rector. In 1699 he resigned his Fellowship of Clare College and left to marry.[1]
Whiston first metIsaac Newton in 1694 and attended some of his lectures, though he first found them, by his own admission, incomprehensible. Encouraged after reading a paper byDavid Gregory onNewtonian philosophy, he set out to master Newton'sPrincipia mathematica thereafter. He and Newton became friends.[1] In 1701 Whiston resigned his living to become Isaac Newton's substitute, giving the Lucasian lectures at Cambridge.[2] He succeeded Newton as Lucasian professor in 1702. There followed a period of joint research withRoger Cotes, appointed with Whiston's patronage to thePlumian professorship in 1706. Students at the Cotes–Whiston experimental philosophy course includedStephen Hales,William Stukeley, andJoseph Wasse.[4]
In 1707 Whiston wasBoyle lecturer; this lecture series was at the period a significant opportunity for Newton's followers, includingRichard Bentley andSamuel Clarke, to express their views, especially in opposition to the rise ofdeism.[5] The "Newtonian" line came to include, with Bentley, Clarke and Whiston in particular, a defence ofnatural law by returning to the definition ofAugustine of Hippo of amiracle (a cause of human wonderment), rather than the prevailing concept of a divine intervention against nature, which went back toAnselm. This move was intended to undermine arguments of deists and sceptics.[6] The Boyle lectures dwelt on the connections between biblical prophecies, dramatic physical events such as floods and eclipses, and their explanations in terms of science.[7] On the other hand, Whiston was alive to possible connections of prophecy with current affairs: theWar of the Spanish Succession, and later theJacobite rebellions.[8]
Whiston supported a qualifiedbiblical literalism: the literal meaning should be the default, unless there was a good reason to think otherwise.[9] This view again went back to Augustine. Newton's attitude to thecosmogony ofThomas Burnet reflected on the language of theGenesis creation narrative; as did Whiston's alternative cosmogony. Moses as author ofGenesis was not necessarily writing as a natural philosopher, nor as a law-giver, but for a particular audience.[10] The new cosmogonies of Burnet, Whiston andJohn Woodward were all criticised for their disregard of the biblical account, byJohn Arbuthnot,John Edwards andWilliam Nicolson in particular.[11]
The title for Whiston's Boyle lectures wasThe Accomplishment of Scripture Prophecies. Rejectingtypological interpretation of biblical prophecy, he argued that the meaning of a prophecy must be unique. His views were later challenged byAnthony Collins.[12] There was a more immediate attack byNicholas Clagett in 1710.[13] One reason prophecy was topical was theCamisard movement that saw French exiles ("French prophets") in England. Whiston had started writing on themillenarianism that was integral to the Newtonian theology, and wanted to distance his views from theirs, and in particular from those ofJohn Lacy.[14] Meeting the French prophets in 1713, Whiston developed the view that thecharismatic gift of revelation could bedemonic possession.[15]
It is no longer assumed that Whiston'sMemoirs are completely trustworthy on the matter of his personal relations with Newton. One view is that the relationship was never very close, Bentley being more involved in Whiston's appointment to the Lucasian chair; and that it deteriorated as soon as Whiston began to write on prophecy, publishingEssay on the Revelation of St John (1706).[14] This work proclaimed the millennium for the year 1716.[16]
Whiston's 1707 edition of Newton'sArithmetica Universalis did nothing to improve matters. Newton himself was heavily if covertly involved in the 1722 edition, nominally due toJohn Machin, making many changes.[17]
In 1708–9 Whiston was engagingThomas Tenison andJohn Sharp as archbishops in debates on the Trinity. There is evidence fromHopton Haynes that Newton reacted by pulling back from publication on the issue;[18] hisantitrinitarian views, from the 1690s, were finally published in 1754 asAn Historical Account of Two Notable Corruptions of Scripture.
Whiston was never a Fellow of theRoyal Society. In conversation withEdmond Halley he blamed his reputation as a "heretick". Also, though, he claimed Newton had disliked having an independent-minded disciple; and was unnaturally cautious and suspicious by nature.[19]
Whiston's route to rejection of theNicene Creed, the historical orthodox position againstArianism, began early in his tenure of the Lucasian chair as he followed hints fromSamuel Clarke. He read also inLouis Ellies Dupin, and theExplication of Gospel Theism (1706) ofRichard Brocklesby.[20] His study of theApostolic Constitutions then convinced him that Arianism was the creed of the early church.[2]
Thegeneral election of 1710 brought theTories solid political power for a number of years, up to theHanoverian succession of 1714. Their distrust of theological innovation had a direct impact on Whiston, as well as others of similar views. Hisheterodoxy was notorious.[21] In 1710 he was deprived of his professorship and expelled from the university.[2]
The matter was not allowed to rest there: Whiston tried to get a hearing beforeConvocation. He did have defenders even in thehigh church ranks, such asGeorge Smalridge.[22] For political reasons, this development would have been divisive at the time.Queen Anne made a point of twice "losing" the papers in the case.[23] After her death in 1714 the intended hearing was allowed to drop.[24] The party passions of these years found an echo inHenry Sacheverell's attempt to exclude Whiston from his church ofSt Andrew's, Holborn, taking place in 1719.[24][25]
Whiston founded a society for promoting primitive Christianity, lecturing in support of his theories in halls andcoffee-houses at London,Bath, andTunbridge Wells.[2] Those he involved includedThomas Chubb,[26]Thomas Emlyn,[27]John Gale,[28]Benjamin Hoadley,[29]Arthur Onslow,[29] andThomas Rundle.[30] There were meetings at Whiston's house from 1715 to 1717; Hoadley avoided coming, as did Samuel Clarke, though invited.[31] A meeting with Clarke, Hoadley,John Craig and Gilbert Burnet the younger had left these leadinglatitudinarians unconvinced about Whiston's reliance on theApostolical Constitutions.[32]
Franz Woken [de;fr;pl] wrote a 1728 Latin work on Whiston's view of primitive Christianity.[33] His challenge to the teachings ofAthanasius meant that Whiston was commonly consideredheretical on many points. On the other hand, he was a firm believer in supernatural aspects of Christianity. He defended prophecy and miracle. He supportedanointing the sick and touching for theking's evil. His dislike ofrationalism in religion also made him one of the numerous opponents of Hoadley'sPlain Account of the Nature and End of the Sacrament. He was fervent in his views of ecclesiastical government and discipline, derived from theApostolical Constitutions.[2]
Around 1747, when his clergyman began to read theAthanasian Creed, which Whiston did not believe in, he physically left the church and theAnglican communion, becoming aBaptist.[2]
By the 1720s, somedissenters and earlyUnitarians viewed Whiston as a role model.[1]The series ofMoyer Lectures often made Whiston's unorthodox views a particular target.[34]
Whiston held thatSong of Solomon wasapocryphal and that theBook of Baruch was not.[2] He modified the biblicalUssher chronology, setting theCreation at 4010 BCE.[35] He challenged Newton's system ofThe Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended (1728). Westfall absolves Whiston of the charge that he pushed for the posthumous publication of theChronology just to attack it, commenting that the heirs were in any case looking to publish manuscripts of Newton, who died in 1727.[36]
Whiston's advocacy of clericalmonogamy is referenced inOliver Goldsmith's novelThe Vicar of Wakefield. His last "famous discovery, or rather revival of DrGiles Fletcher, the Elder's," which he mentions in his autobiography, was the identification of theTatars with thelost tribes of Israel.[2]
Whiston began lecturing on natural philosophy in London. He gave regular courses atcoffee houses, particularly Button's, and also at the Censorium, a set of riverside meeting rooms in London run byRichard Steele.[37] At Button's, he gave courses of demonstration lectures on astronomical and physical phenomena, andFrancis Hauksbee the younger worked with him on experimental demonstrations. His passing remarks on religious topics were sometimes objected to, for example by Henry Newman of theSPCK writing to Steele.[38][39]
His lectures were often accompanied by publications. In 1712, he published, withJohn Senex, a chart of theSolar System showing numerous paths of comets.[40] In 1715, he lectured on the totalsolar eclipse of 3 May 1715 (which fell in AprilOld Style in England); Whiston lectured on it at the time, inCovent Garden, and later, as a natural event and as a portent.[41]
By 1715 Whiston had also become adept at newspaper advertising.[42] He frequently lectured to the Royal Society.
In 1714, he was instrumental in the passing of theLongitude Act, which established theBoard of Longitude. In collaboration withHumphrey Ditton he publishedA New Method for Discovering the Longitude, both at Sea and Land,[43] which was widely referenced and discussed. For the next forty years he continued to propose a range of methods to solve thelongitude reward, which earned him widespread ridicule, particularly from the group of writers known as theScriblerians.[44][45] In one proposal for using magnetic dip to find longitude he produced one of the firstisoclinic maps of southern England in 1719 and 1721. In 1734, he proposed using theeclipses ofJupiter's satellites.[46]
Whiston'sA New Theory of the Earth from its Original to the Consummation of All Things (1696) was an articulation ofcreationism andflood geology. It held that theglobal flood ofNoah had been caused by acomet. The work obtained the praise ofJohn Locke, who classed the author among those who, if not adding much to our knowledge, "At least bring some new things to our thoughts."[2] He was an early advocate, along withEdmond Halley, of the periodicity of comets; he also held that comets were responsible for pastcatastrophes in Earth's history. In 1736, he caused widespread anxiety among London's citizens when he predicted the world would end on16 October that year because a comet would hit the earth.[47]William Wake asArchbishop of Canterbury officially denied this prediction to calm the public.
There was no consensus within the Newtonians as to how far mechanical causes could be held responsible for key events of sacred history:John Keill was at the opposite extreme to Whiston in minimising such causes.[48] As a natural philosopher, Whiston's speculations respected no boundary with his theological views. He saw the creation of man as an intervention in thenatural order. He picked up onArthur Ashley Sykes's advice to Samuel Clarke to omit an eclipse and earthquake mentioned byPhlegon of Tralles from future editions of Clarke's Boyle lectures, these events being possibly synchronous withChrist's crucifixion. Whiston publishedThe Testimony of Phlegon Vindicated in 1732.[49]
Whiston married Ruth, daughter of George Antrobus, his headmaster at Tamworth school. He had a happy family life and died inLyndon Hall,Rutland, at the home of his son-in-law,Samuel Barker, on 22 August 1752.[1] He was survived by his children Sarah, William, George, and John.[50]
Whiston's later life was spent in continual controversy:theological, mathematical,chronological, and miscellaneous. He vindicated his estimate of theApostolical Constitutions and the Arian views he had derived from them in hisPrimitive Christianity Revived (5 vols., 1711–1712). In 1713 he produced a reformedliturgy. HisLife of Samuel Clarke appeared in 1730.[2]
In 1727 he published a two volume work calledAuthentik Record belonging to the Old and New Testament. This was a collection of translations and essays on various deuterocanonical books, pseudepigrapha and other essays with a translation if relevant.[2]
Whiston translated the complete works ofJosephus into English, and published them along with his own notes and dissertations under the titleThe Genuine Works of Flavius Josephus the Jewish Historian in 1737. This translation was based on the same Greek edition of Josephus' works used bySiwart Haverkamp in his prior translation.[51] The text on which Whiston's translation of Josephus is based is, reputedly, one which had many errors in transcription.[52] In 1745 he published hisPrimitive New Testament (on the basis ofCodex Bezae andCodex Claromontanus).[53]
Whiston left memoirs (3 vols., 1749–1750). These do not contain the account of the proceedings taken against him at Cambridge for hisantitrinitarianism, which was published separately at the time.[2]
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Whiston, William".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 597.
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