TheBangorian Controversywas atheologicalargument within theChurch of Englandin the early 18th century, with strong political overtones. The origins of the controversy lay in the 1716 posthumous publication ofGeorge Hickes'sConstitution of the Catholic Church, and the Nature and Consequences of Schism.In it, Hickes, asBishop of Thetford,on behalf of the minoritynon-jurorfaction that had broken away from the Church of England after theGlorious Revolution,excommunicated all but the non-juror churchmen.Benjamin Hoadly,theBishop of Bangor,wrote a reply,Preservative against the Principles and Practices of Non-Jurors;his ownErastianposition was sincerely proposed as the only test of truth.
The controversy itself began very visibly and vocally when Hoadly delivered a sermon on 31 March 1717[which calendar?]toGeorge I of Great BritainonThe Nature of the Kingdom of Christ.His text wasJohn18:36, "My kingdom is not of this world" and from that, Hoadly deduced, supposedly at the request of the king himself, that there is noBiblicaljustification for any church government of any sort. He identified the church with theKingdom of Heaven.It was therefore not of this world, and Christ had not delegated His authority to any representatives.
Background
editTwo competing visions of government were in play. On the one hand, there was a vision of God appointing the king and the bishops to be leaders, selecting them from all others and imbuing them with special characters, either throughgraceor in creation. That view held that the king, as the head of theEstablished Church,was not only a secular leader of a state but also a religious primate. Power and regulation flowed downward from God to the people. That was the aristocratic model that was favoured by theToryparty and had been used to propose thedivine right of kings.
The other view was that power flowed up from the people to the leaders, that leaders were no more intrinsically better than those led, and God gives out revelation freely. ThatWhigview was also the view of thePuritansand the "Independents" (the variousCongregationalandBaptistchurches,Quakersetc.).
George I favoured the Whigs inParliamentand favoured alatitudinarianecclesiastical policy in general. That was probably not by any desire to give up royal prerogative but to break the power of the aristocracy and theHouse of Lords.A significant obstacle to all kings of England had been the presence of bishops in the Lords. While a king could createpeers,it was much more difficult for him to move bishops into and out of the Lords.
Sermon and aftermath
editThe sermon was immediately published and instantly drew counterattacks.William Law(Three Letters to the Bishop of Bangor) andThomas Sherlock(dean of Chichester), in particular, gave vigorous defences of church polity. Hoadly himself wroteA Reply to the Representations of Convocationto answer Sherlock,Andrew Snape,provost ofEton,andFrancis Hare,then dean of Worcester. The three men, and another opponent,Robert Moss,dean of Ely, were deprived of their royal chaplaincies by the king. Hoadly did not, however, attempt to answer William Law. It has been claimed that in all, over 200 pamphlets linked to the controversy were published by 53 writers. Of those, 74 were published in July 1717.[1][2][3]
In May 1717, theConvocationappointed a committee to study the sermon. When the report was ready for synodal sanction against Hoadly, the king dismissed the convocation, which did not meet again for over 130 years.
Timeline of publications
edit| Year | Author | Publication | Position | Replies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1716 | George Hickes(died 1715), posthumously published byThomas Deacon[4] | The Constitution of the Catholick Church and the Nature and Consequences of Schism | Non-juror | Benjamin Hoadly,‘A Preservative against the Principles and Practices of the Nonjurors both in Church and State,1716.[5] |
| 1717 | Andrew Snape | Letters to the Bishop of Bangor[6] | High Church | |
| 1717 | Thomas Sherlock | Remarks on the Bishop of Bangor's Treatment of the Clergy and Convocationand other works[7] | High Church | |
| 1717 | William Law | Three Letters to the Bishop of Bangor,from 1717.[8] | Non-juror of the Hanoverian succession[9] | |
| 1718 | Robert Moss | The Report Vindicated from Misreports[10] | High Church | |
| 1718 | Thomas Herne | A letter to the Reverend Dr. Edward Tenison, concerning some citations made from... the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury's preliminary discourse to the Apostolical fathers, in a paper lately published, intituled, A letter to the Reverend the Prolocutor: being an answer to a paper, &c. By the author of that letter[11] | Supporter of Hoadley and Tenison | |
| 1719 | Francis Hare | Church Authority Vindicated[12] | High Church | Hoadly,An Answer to Dr. Hare's Sermon, intituled "Church Authority vindicated,"1720.[5][13] |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^"Outlines of the History of the Theological Literature of the Church of England (1897)".Anglicanhistory.org.Retrieved1 March2013.
- ^"New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, Vol. V: Goar – Innocent – Christian Classics Ethereal Library".Ccel.org.Retrieved1 March2013.
- ^"History of English thought in the eighteenth century".Retrieved1 March2013.
- ^.Dictionary of National Biography.London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
- ^ab.Dictionary of National Biography.London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
- ^.Dictionary of National Biography.London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
- ^.Dictionary of National Biography.London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
- ^"§5. Law's Controversial Writings against Hoadly, Mandeville and Tindal. XII. William Law and the Mystics. Vol. 9. From Steele and Addison to Pope and Swift. The Cambridge History of English and American Literature: An Encyclopedia in Eighteen Volumes. 190721".Bartleby.Retrieved1 March2013.
- ^.Dictionary of National Biography.London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
- ^Warner, Rebecca Louise. "Moss, Robert".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(online ed.). Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/19403.(Subscription orUK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^A Letter to the Reverend Dr. Edward Tenison, Concerning Some Citations Made from.... the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury's Preliminary Discourse to the Apostolical Fathers, in a Paper Lately Published, Intituled, A Letter to the Reverend the Prolocutor: Being an Answer to a Paper, &c. By the Author of that LetteratGoogle Books
- ^.Dictionary of National Biography.London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
- ^Denis Larionov & Alexander Zhulin."Read the ebook Catalogue of the printed books in the library of Merton College by Merton College. Library".Ebooksread.Retrieved1 March2013.
Further reading
edit- Cross, F. A., ed.The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church.1964. London: Oxford University Press.
- Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911)..Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
- Starkie, Andrew (2007).Church of England and the Bangorian controversy, 1716–1721.Studies in modern British religious history. Vol. 14. Martlesham, Suffolk:Boydell Press.pp. 1–272.ISBN978-0-511-12611-6.