Thomas Burnet | |
|---|---|
 Thomas Burnet byJacob Ferdinand Voet | |
| Born | c. 1635 Croft-on-Tees,Yorkshire, England |
| Died | 27 September 1715 (agedc. 80) |
| Nationality | English |
| Occupation | theologian |
Thomas Burnet (c. 1635? – 27 September 1715[1][2]) was an Englishtheologian and writer oncosmogony.
He was born atCroft nearDarlington in 1635. After studying atNorthallerton Grammar School[3] under Thomas Smelt, he went toClare College, Cambridge in 1651.[3] There he was a pupil ofJohn Tillotson.Ralph Cudworth, the Master of Clare, moved toChrist's College, Cambridge in 1654, and Burnet followed him. He became fellow of Christ's in 1657, M.A. in 1658, and was proctor in 1667.[4][5]
Burnet took employment travelling withLord Wiltshire, son ofCharles Paulet, 6th Marquess of Winchester, and through Tillotson as tutor toLord Ossory, grandson ofJames Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde. The influence of the Duke of Ormonde, one of the governors, secured his appointment in 1685 to themastership of Charterhouse . Burnet took part in the resistance offered to James II's attempt to make Andrew Popham a pensioner of the Charterhouse. At two meetings held by the governors 17 January and Midsummer day 1687, the king's letters of dispensation were produced, but, in spite of the efforts ofGeorge Jeffreys, a governor, the majority refused compliance.[5][6]
After theGlorious Revolution Burnet becamechaplain in ordinary andClerk of the Closet toWilliam III (until 1695). He received no clerical preferment and lived quietly in the Charterhouse, where he died on 27 September 1715, and was buried in the chapel.[5][3]
Burnet's best known work is hisTelluris Theoria Sacra, or Sacred Theory of the Earth. The first part was published in 1681 inLatin, and in 1684 in English translation; the second part appeared in 1689 (1690 in English). It was a speculativecosmogony, in which Burnet suggested ahollow earth with most of the water inside untilNoah's Flood, at which time mountains and oceans appeared. He calculated the amount of water on Earth's surface, stating there was not enough to account for the Flood. Burnet was to some extent influenced byDescartes who had written on thecreation of the earth inPrincipia philosophiae (1644), and was criticised on those grounds byRoger North.[6] The heterodox views ofIsaac La Peyrère included the idea that the Flood was not universal; Burnet's theory was at least in part intended to answer him on that point.[7]
Burnet's system had its novel features, as well as those such as thefour classical elements that were very traditional: an initiallyovoid Earth, a Paradise before the Flood that was always in the spring season, and rivers flowing from the poles to the Equator.Herbert Croft published criticism of the book in 1685, in particular accusing Burnet of following theSecond Epistle of Peter rather than theBook of Genesis. During the 1690sJohn Beaumont andJohann Caspar Eisenschmidt picked up on Burnet's ideas. They engendered a great deal of controversy at the time, and Burnet defended himself against selected critics,John Keill andErasmus Warren.[6]
Isaac Newton was an admirer of Burnet's theological approach to geological processes. Newton even wrote to Burnet, suggesting the possibility that when God created the Earth, the days were longer.[8] However, Burnet did not find this explanation scientific enough. Lengthening the days would require an intervention on God's part. Burnet tightly held the belief that God created the world and all its processes perfectly from the start. He wrote:
We think him a better Artist that makes a Clock that strikes regularly at every hour from the Springs and Wheels which he puts into the work, than he that hath so made his Clock that he must put his finger to it every hour to make it strike.[9]
Some of the views expressed in this work, also known asArchaeologiae Philosophicae sive Doctrina Antiqua de Rerum Originibus (1692), were so unacceptable to contemporary theologians that he had to resign his post at Court. In this he considered whether thefall of man was a symbolic event rather than literal history.
Burnet's treatiseDe Statu Mortuorum et Resurgentium was published posthumously in 1720.[10] InEdward Gibbon'sThe History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire III p. 99 Gibbon made reference to Burnet'sDe Statu Mortuorum et Resurgentium noting that Burnet "exposes the inconveniences which must arise", if souls "possess a more active and sensible existence".Thomas Newton, Bishop of Bristol and Dean of St. Paul's, criticised Gibbon and claimed that Burnet's views were exactly the opposite.[11]
Burnet's work had an influence onSamuel Taylor Coleridge. He is quoted at the beginning of the 1817 edition of hisThe Rime of the Ancient Mariner.
The ridgeDorsa Burnet in theOcean of Storms on theMoon was named after him.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Stephen, Leslie (1886). "Burnet, Thomas (1635?–1715)". InStephen, Leslie (ed.).Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 07. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Cousin, John William (1910).A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. London: J. M. Dent & Sons – viaWikisource.
