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Daniel Whitby
View on WikipediaDaniel Whitby (1638–1726) was a controversial English theologian and biblical commentator. An Arminian priest in the Church of England, Whitby was known as strongly anti-Calvinistic and later gave evidence of Unitarian tendencies.
Life
[edit]The son of Thomas Whitby, rector (1631–7) of Rushden, Northamptonshire, then rector of Barrow-on-Humber, Lincolnshire, he was born at Rushden on 24 March 1638. After attending school at Caster, Lincolnshire, he became in 1653 a commoner of Trinity College, Oxford, matriculating on 23 July, when his name is written Whitbie. He was elected scholar on 13 June 1655, graduated with a Bachelor of Arts on 20 April 1657, M.A. on 10 April 1660, and was elected fellow in 1664. In the same year he came out as a writer against Roman Catholic doctrine, attacking Serenus Cressy. He was answered by John Sergeant, to whom he replied in 1666. Seth Ward, bishop of Salisbury, made him his chaplain in 1668,[1] giving him on 22 October the prebend of Yatesbury, Wiltshire, and on 7 November the prebend of Husborn-Tarrant and Burbage.[2]
In 1669 he became perpetual curate of St. Thomas's and rector of St. Edmund's, Salisbury. He next wrote on the evidences (1671). On 11 September 1672 he was installed precentor at Salisbury, and at once accumulated B.D. and D.D. (13 September). He resumed his anti-Catholic polemics in 1674, and continued to publish on this topic at intervals till 1689.[2]
Whitby's reputation suffered by his anonymous publication, late in 1682, of The Protestant Reconciler, a plea for concessions to nonconformists, with a view to their comprehension. A fierce paper war followed, in which Lawrence Womock, David Jenner, and Samuel Thomas took part. In contemporary pamphlets Whitby, nicknamed Whigby, was unfavourably contrasted with Titus Oates; ironical letters of thanks were addressed to him, purporting to come from Anabaptists and others. The University of Oxford in convocation (21 July 1683) condemned the proposition 'that the duty of not offending a weak brother is inconsistent with all human authority of making laws concerning indifferent things,' and ordered Whitby's book to be burned by the university marshal in the schools quadrangle. Seth Ward extorted from Whitby a retraction (9 October 1683); and he issued a second part of the Protestant Reconciler, urging dissenters to conformity.[2]
In 1689 Whitby wrote in favour of taking the oaths to William and Mary. He took a small part in the Socinian controversy by publishing (1691) a Latin tract on the divinity of Christ. On 14 April 1696 he received the prebend of Taunton Regis.[2]
Whitby suffered in his later years from failing sight, and employed an amanuensis; otherwise he retained his faculties, including a tenacious memory. He was at church the day before he died; and returning home fainted and died the night following, on 24 March 1726, his eighty-eighth birthday.[2]
Works
[edit]His major work was a 'Paraphrase and Commentary on the New Testament,' begun in 1688 and published in 1700; last edition, 1822. Philip Doddridge thought it preferable to any other commentary. In his commentary he opposes John Tillotson's view of hell torments. Faith he defined as mere assent to Gospel facts as true. In 1710, Whitby challenged the critical works of John Mill and defended Textus Receptus against thirty thousand textual variants in Mill's edition of the New Testament. Of this Examen variantium Lectionum Johannis Milli[3] use was made by Anthony Collins; it was reprinted (Leyden, 1724) by Sigebert Haverkamp.[2]
During 1710–11 Whitby was engaged in refuting the Calvinistic positions of John Edwards.[2] In 1710 he wrote his Discourse on the Five Points (on the Five Points of Calvinism) which eventually drew Calvinist responses from English Baptist John Gill in his The Cause of God and Truth (1735) and American Congregationalist Jonathan Edwards in his Freedom of the Will (1754).
Whitby is usually ranked as an Arminian. However, his views regarding original sin were not in line with historical Arminianism.[4] In the Bangorian controversy he wrote (1714 and 1718) in defence of Benjamin Hoadly. On the doctrine of our Lord's deity, which he had defended in 1691 and had upheld throughout his New Testament commentary (1703), he was affected by the treatise (1712) of Samuel Clarke, as shown by his later criticisms of George Bull and Daniel Waterland.[2]
A later Latin dissertation (1714) rejects the authority of the fathers as interpreters of Scripture, or as entitled to determine controversies respecting the Trinity. He had been led to this position by his antagonism (1707) to the arguments on which Henry Dodwell the elder based his rejection of the natural immortality of the soul. He made further use of it in criticisms directed (1718) against Bull and (1720–1) Waterland.[2]
The extent of his departure from conventional opinion was not revealed till the posthumous publication in April 1727 of his Last Thoughts, which he calls his 'retractation,' and which 'clearly shows his unitarianism'.[2][5]
Concerning the Whitby's position in respect of the Roman Catholic Church, he published the 1674 pamphlet A discourse concerning the idolatry of the Church of Rome,[6] which was followed by A treatise in confutation of the Latin service practised and, by the order of the Trent Council, continued in the Church of Rome[7] and also by The fallibility of the Roman Church : demonstrated from the manifest error of the 2d Nicene & Trent councils : which assert that the veneration and honorary worship of images is a tradition primitive and apostolical (London, 1687).[8] At least from 1699 until 1702, Whitby was also a close friend and an epistolary correspondent of John Locke (1632 – 28 October 1704), which a short time before was returned from Netherlands to the Lady Masham's country house in Essex.[9]
Views on the Millennium
[edit]Whitby is considered by many to have systematised postmillennialism, even if seeds of this millennialist belief were sown long before with persons such as Augustine. Although Whitby may have been an Arminian minister, postmillennialism is now commonly associated with Calvinist and Covenantal churches, specifically Reconstructionist churches.[10]
Clarence Larkin wrote:
"...a new interpretation of the Millennial Reign of Christ was demanded. This interpretation was furnished by the Rev. Daniel Whitby (1638–1726), a clergyman of the Church of England, who claimed that in reading the promises made to the Jews in the Old Testament of their restoration as a nation, and the re-establishment of the Throne of David, he was led to see that these promises were spiritual and applied to the Church. This view he called a 'New Hypothesis.'...
"His 'New Hypothesis' was that by the preaching of the Gospel Mohammedanism would be overthrown, the Jews converted, the Papal Church with the Pope (Antichrist) would be destroyed, and there would follow a 1000 years of righteousness and peace known as the Millennium; at the close of which there would be a short period of Apostasy, ending in the return of Christ."
See also
[edit]
Notes
[edit]- ^ Wallace, Dewey D. Jr. (2007). "Whitby, Daniel". In Donald K. McKim (ed.). Dictionary of major biblical interpreters (2nd ed.). Downers Grove, Ill.: IVP Academic. pp. 1048–1052. ISBN 9780830829279.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
- ^ Daniel Whitby, Examen variantum Lectionum Johannis Milli (London 1710)
- ^ In the 1816 (Third edition, corrected) of Daniel Whitby's book: A discourse concerning I. The true import of the words election and reprobation, and the things signified by them in the Holy Scripture. II. The extent of Christ's redemption. III. The grace of God; where it is enquired, whether it be vouchsafed sufficiently to those who improve it; and whether men be wholly passive in the work of their regeneration. IV. The liberty of the will in a state of trial and probation. V. The perseverance or defectibility of the saints, with some reflections on the state of heathens, the providence and prescience of God. And lastly, an answer to three objections against the doctrines asserted. To which is added, a postscript, in answer to some of Doctor Edwards's remarks, there is an "Advertisement to this Edition" that precedes Whitby's "Preface." This "Advertisement," which introduces Whitby's book and praises its contents (with one exception), is done by James Nichols the editor. Nichols writes how "Uncommonly valuable are his labours on the New Testament" as well as "his 'Discourse on the Five Points.'" This work "has been recommended, by some of the highest dignitaries of our Church, and by other profound divines, as a work" which "successfully" coveys "the doctrines of Arminianism, and the arguments by which they are supported." In this work Whitby successfully made use of "The Testimonies of the Ancient Fathers in favour of Universal Redemption [i.e., Christ died for all mankind]" in opposition to Calvinism's Limited Redemption (i.e., Christ died only for the elect). "Every Arminian will cordially unite with him in his general arguments [on 'the Five Points'], except in a few places where his opinions respecting original sin, and the operation of the Holy Spirit, are not very clearly expressed, but have in some instances the appearance of leaning too much towards Semi-Pelagianism." (James Nichols, "Advertisement," page 7)
- ^ Letter of 17 July 1727 by Samuel Crellius, in 'Thesaurus Epistolicus La-Crozianus,' quoted in Robert Wallace's Anti-trinitarian Biography, 1850, iii. 471.
- ^ Daniel Whutby (1674). A discourse concerning the idolatry of the Church of Rome. OCLC 605012672. Archived from the original on 20 December 2019.
- ^ Daniel Whitby (1687). "A treatise in confutation of the Latin service practised and, by the order of the Trent Council, continued in the Church of Rome". WorldCat. London., with the book and a digital version.
- ^ Daniel Whitby (1687). The fallibility of the Roman Church: demonstrated from the manifest error of the 2d Nicene & Trent councils: which assert that the veneration and honorary worship of images is a tradition primitive and apostolical. London. OCLC 932870155., with original manuscript and microfilm.
- ^ Daniel Whitby (1980). "Letter n. 2533 of Daniel Whitby to Locke [dated] January 11, 1699 (2536); Letter n. 3203 of Daniel Whitby to Locke [dated] 28 October 1702 (3188)". In E. S. de Beer (ed.). The Clarendon Edition of the Works of John Locke: The Correspondence of John Locke: In Eight Volumes. Vol. 6. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/oseo/instance.00023203. ISBN 9780198245636. OCLC 5906452949.
- ^ "Daniel Whitby – Study Archive @ PreteristArchive.com". Archived from the original on 8 February 2007. Retrieved 11 December 2006.
- ^ Clarence Larkin, "Dispensational Truth", Chapter II: Pre-Millennialism"
References
[edit]- . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
External links
[edit]- Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Whitby, Daniel". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
Daniel Whitby
View on GrokipediaEarly Life and Education
Family and Upbringing
Daniel Whitby was born on 24 March 1638 in the rectory house at Rushden, Northamptonshire, to Thomas Whitby, M.A., who served as rector there before moving to the rectory at Barrow-on-Humber, Lincolnshire. His father's clerical role immersed him in a household centered on Anglican ministry and scriptural study from an early age. Whitby received his initial schooling in Lincolnshire, reflecting his family's relocation, before transitioning to higher education.[4] In 1653, he entered Trinity College, Oxford, as a commoner and matriculated on 23 July, with his surname recorded as Whitbie.[4]Academic Training at Oxford
Whitby, coming from a family with strong clerical ties, matriculated at Trinity College, Oxford, in 1653. He was elected a scholar of the college on 13 June 1655.[5] He progressed through his studies, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts on 20 April 1657 and a Master of Arts on 10 April 1660. In 1664, Whitby was elected a fellow of Trinity College, marking his establishment as an early scholarly figure at the institution. That same year, as a newly elected fellow, Whitby entered polemical writing by attacking Roman Catholic doctrines in a reply to Serenus Cressy, followed by a response to John Sergeant in 1666.[6]Clerical Career
Church Positions and Advancements
Whitby's ecclesiastical advancements began in 1668 when Seth Ward, Bishop of Salisbury, appointed him as chaplain, providing key support for his rising positions within the Church of England. That year, he was collated to the prebend of Yatesbury in Wiltshire on 22 October and to the prebends of Husborn-Tarrant and Burbage on 7 November.[7] In 1669, Whitby assumed the role of rector of St. Edmund's, Salisbury.[8] His progress continued with installation as precentor of Salisbury Cathedral in 1672, during which year he also accumulated the degrees of Bachelor of Divinity and Doctor of Divinity.Chaplaincy under Seth Ward
In 1668, Seth Ward, Bishop of Salisbury, appointed Daniel Whitby as his chaplain, shortly thereafter granting him the prebend of Yatesbury on 22 October and the prebends of Husborn-Tarrant and Burbage on 7 November. This patronage secured Whitby's position within the diocese, offering ecclesiastical support amid his rising clerical career.[9] The chaplaincy proved instrumental in shielding Whitby from fallout over his 1682 publication The Protestant Reconciler, which advocated concessions to nonconformists. In 1683, Ward intervened forcefully, compelling Whitby to issue a retraction on 9 October in which he acknowledged a "want of prudence and deference to authority," revoked "all irreverent and unmeet expressions," and renounced the book's principal propositions. Under this pressure, Whitby followed with a second part to The Protestant Reconciler, shifting to urge dissenters toward conformity with the Church of England.[9] Ward's actions thus preserved Whitby's standing, demonstrating the bishop's protective influence despite Whitby's controversial leanings.Theological Views
Opposition to Calvinism
Whitby articulated a definition of saving faith as mere assent to the facts of the Gospel, rejecting deeper notions of inherent efficacy tied to Calvinistic regeneration.[10] In 1710–11, he directly refuted the Calvinistic positions advanced by John Edwards, emphasizing Arminian alternatives to doctrines of grace and election.[11] That same year, Whitby published his Discourse on the Five Points, a systematic critique challenging Calvinistic tenets including unconditional election, limited atonement, total depravity, irresistible grace, and perseverance of the saints, arguing instead for conditional election based on foreseen faith and universal provision in Christ's redemption.[12][13][14] This work provoked significant responses, including John Gill's The Cause of God and Truth in 1735 and engagements by Jonathan Edwards in his 1754 Freedom of the Will, which addressed Arminian arguments akin to Whitby's rejection of deterministic predestination.[12] Whitby's stance on original sin further marked his divergence from stricter Calvinism and even historical Arminianism, as he denied the imputation of Adam's guilt to posterity, viewing it instead as inherited corruption susceptible to remedial grace rather than total inability.[4][15]Shift Toward Unitarianism
In his earlier career, Whitby affirmed the divinity of Christ through a 1691 Latin tract dedicated to that doctrine. However, his views evolved, as evidenced by his 1707 opposition to Henry Dodwell's denial of the soul's natural immortality, where Whitby defended traditional notions of the soul's enduring spiritual nature.[5] Influenced by Samuel Clarke's 1712 treatise on the Scripture doctrine of the Trinity, Whitby began critiquing orthodox Trinitarian arguments. This included his 1714 Latin dissertation, Dissertatio de S. Scripturarum interpretatione secundum patrum, which rejected reliance on church fathers by dismissing their interpretive authority in resolving Trinity controversies. He made further use of this approach in criticisms directed in 1718 against George Bull's defenses of patristic Christology and later, in 1720–1721, against Daniel Waterland's responses to Clarke.[16][17] Whitby's posthumously published Last Thoughts (1727), or Hysterai Phrontides, served as an explicit retractation of positions in his New Testament commentary, correcting passages on Christ's divinity and revealing Unitarian tendencies through revised interpretations emphasizing scriptural sufficiency over creedal orthodoxy.[18][19]Major Works
New Testament Commentary
Whitby's most significant exegetical contribution was his Paraphrase and Commentary on the New Testament, a comprehensive work offering verse-by-verse explanations, historical context, and theological interpretations of the Gospels, Acts, Epistles, and Revelation.[20] Published in two volumes in 1703 after years of preparation, it emphasized rational exegesis and moral applications, reflecting his broader Arminian leanings in passages addressing predestination and grace.[21] Within this commentary, Whitby critiqued views akin to those of John Tillotson on the nature of hell torments, advocating for a stricter interpretation of eternal punishment.[22] In response to John Mill's Novum Testamentum (1707), which cataloged around 30,000 textual variants, Whitby published Examen Variantium Lectionum Johannis Millii in 1710, vigorously defending the integrity of the Textus Receptus against claims of widespread corruption.[23] This Latin treatise argued that most variants were minor and did not undermine core doctrines, positioning Whitby as a key defender of traditional Protestant textual traditions. The work was reprinted in 1724 and later invoked in debates on biblical criticism.[24] The commentary received high praise from contemporaries like Philip Doddridge, who deemed it superior to other English exegetical works for its clarity and scholarly depth.[21]Discourse on the Five Points
In 1710, Daniel Whitby published A Discourse on the Five Points, a treatise that systematically critiqued the core doctrines of Calvinism, including total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and perseverance of the saints.[25][26] This work advanced Arminian principles by arguing for human free will in salvation, conditional election based on foreseen faith, and the possibility of apostasy, thereby positioning Whitby as a prominent opponent of strict predestination within the Church of England.[27][28] The discourse exerted lasting influence on theological debates, prompting defenses of Calvinism such as English Baptist John Gill's The Cause of God and Truth (1735), which directly refuted Whitby's arguments across four parts.[29][30] Its republication in the 1730s further fueled responses from Calvinist thinkers, underscoring Whitby's role in shaping Arminian apologetics against high Calvinism.[28]Controversies and Polemics
Protestant Reconciler Dispute
In late 1682, Whitby anonymously published The Protestant Reconciler, Humbly Pleading for Condescension to Dissenting Brethren in Things Indifferent, advocating for Church of England concessions to nonconformists to foster broader Protestant comprehension amid renewed persecution of dissenters.[31][32] The tract argued that avoiding offense to weaker brethren outweighed strict uniformity in non-essential matters, aiming to reconcile separated Protestants. The work ignited a fierce paper war, with opponents including Lawrence Womock, David Jenner, and Samuel Thomas issuing rebuttals that decried it as subversive to ecclesiastical authority. Whitby earned the derisive nickname "Whigby," juxtaposed unfavorably with Titus Oates to imply political radicalism. The controversy also prompted ironical letters addressed to him, purportedly from Anabaptists mocking his conciliatory stance. On 21 July 1683, the University of Oxford convocation condemned a central proposition of the Reconciler—that the duty of not offending a weak brother conflicted with compulsory uniformity—and ordered public burning of the book.[32] Under pressure from Bishop Seth Ward, Whitby retracted his views on 9 October 1683.Anti-Catholic Writings
Whitby's early anti-Catholic polemics emerged during his time at Oxford, where in 1664 he compiled arguments against Roman Catholic doctrine by attacking the work of Serenus Cressy, prompting a rebuttal from John Sergeant in 1666. He resumed these efforts in 1674 with A Discourse Concerning the Idolatry of the Church of Rome, in which he defended accusations of idolatry against the Catholic Church and addressed purported refutations of Edward Stillingfleet's related arguments.[33] This marked the start of sustained publications on the topic, extending intermittently through the 1680s, including critiques tied to the Council of Trent's affirmations of Latin liturgy. In 1687, Whitby published The Fallibility of the Roman Church, demonstrating the church's errors through analysis of the Second Council of Nicaea and the Council of Trent's endorsements of image veneration and honorary worship as primitive apostolic traditions, arguing these contradicted scriptural authority.[34] His polemics culminated in 1689 support for oaths of allegiance to William III and Mary II, aligning with Protestant resistance to Catholic influences following the Glorious Revolution.Later Years
Involvement in Debates
Whitby engaged in the Socinian controversy by publishing a Latin tract in 1691 affirming the divinity of Christ. In the Bangorian controversy, he defended Bishop Benjamin Hoadly through writings in 1714 and 1718, including A Defense of the Propositions Contain'd in the Lord Bishop of Bangor's Sermon.[35] He maintained a friendship with John Locke, exchanging epistolary correspondence from 1699 to 1702, as documented in Locke's collected letters.[36] In his later years, Whitby experienced failing sight and relied on an amanuensis for writing, yet preserved his mental faculties and a strong memory.[5]Death and Legacy
Daniel Whitby died on 24 March 1726, coinciding with his eighty-eighth birthday, after attending church the day before, fainting upon his return home, and dying the following night.[11] In April 1727, his posthumously published Hysterai Phrontides, or the Last Thoughts of Dr. Whitby appeared, offering corrections to passages in his New Testament commentary and articulating final reflections that evidenced his Unitarian leanings, particularly on the doctrine of the Trinity.[18][37] Whitby's legacy endures as a prominent Arminian theologian in the Church of England, renowned for his staunch anti-Calvinistic arguments that influenced subsequent debates on predestination and free will, even as his later divergences—including rejections of original sin's imputation and Unitarian tendencies—distinguished him from orthodox Trinitarianism.[11][1]References
- https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/Page:Fasti_ecclesiae_Anglicanae_Vol.2_body_of_work_part_2.djvu/389