John Biddle or Bidle (14 January 1615 – 22 September 1662) was an influential English

nontrinitarian Nontrinitarianism is a form of Christianity that rejects the mainstream Christian doctrine of the Trinity—the belief that God is three distinct hypostases or persons who are coeternal, coequal, and indivisibly united in one being, or essence ...

, and Unitarian. He is often called "the Father of English Unitarianism". Christopher Hill, ''Milton and the English Revolution'', p. 290.

Life

Biddle was born at

Wotton-under-Edge Wotton-under-Edge is a market town within the Stroud district of Gloucestershire, England. Located near the southern fringe of the Cotswolds, the Cotswold Way long-distance footpath passes through the town. Standing on the B4058, Wotton is abo ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a Counties of England, county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town ...

. He studied at

Magdalen Hall, Oxford Hertford College ( ), previously known as Magdalen Hall, is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on Catte Street in the centre of Oxford, directly opposite the main gate to the Bodleian Library. The coll ...

, taking an M. A. in 1641. At the age of 26, he became headmaster of the Crypt Grammar School,

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east of ...

. The school had links to

Gloucester Cathedral Gloucester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Peter and the Holy and Indivisible Trinity, in Gloucester, England, stands in the north of the city near the River Severn. It originated with the establishment of a minster dedicated to ...

, and since he was obliged to teach his pupils according to the Catechism of the Church of England, he immersed himself in the study of the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of ...

. He concluded from his studies that the doctrine of the

Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God th ...

was not supported by the Bible, and set about publishing his own views on the nature of God. He was imprisoned in Gloucester in 1645 for his views, but released on bail. He was imprisoned again by Parliament in 1646 and, in 1647, while he was still a prisoner, his tract ''Twelve Arguments Drawn Out of Scripture'' was published. Henry Vane defended Biddle in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

, and he was released on bail in 1648. After a short while he was again imprisoned, in

Newgate Newgate was one of the historic seven gates of the London Wall around the City of London and one of the six which date back to Roman times. Newgate lay on the west side of the wall and the road issuing from it headed over the River Fleet to M ...

, where he remained until amnestied by the 1652 Act of Oblivion. Biddle and the MP John Fry, who had tried to aid him, were supported by the 1649

Leveller The Levellers were a political movement active during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms who were committed to popular sovereignty, extended suffrage, equality before the law and religious tolerance. The hallmark of Leveller thought was its populi ...

pamphlet ''Englands New Chaines Discovered''. Biddle was strongly attacked by John Owen. He was again in trouble with the Parliament of 1654–55, which ordered his book ''A Two-fold Catechism'' seized.

Motions In physics, motion is the phenomenon in which an object changes its position with respect to time. Motion is mathematically described in terms of displacement, distance, velocity, acceleration, speed and frame of reference to an observer and meas ...

were made against Biddle as a part of the Commons’ debate on the

Instrument of Government The Instrument of Government was a constitution of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland. Drafted by Major-General John Lambert in 1653, it was the first sovereign codified and written constitution in England. Antecedence The ' ...

's provisions for religious liberty. They marked the moment when the house's attempts to suppress sectarian radicalism faltered. Parliament was dissolved in January 1655, which ended the proceedings against Biddle, and he was released in May of that year. Biddle found himself in trouble only weeks later when the

City A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

Presbyterians Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their na ...

decided to prosecute him using the Blasphemy Ordinance of 1648. This scared the

sects A sect is a subgroup of a religious, political, or philosophical belief system, usually an offshoot of a larger group. Although the term was originally a classification for religious separated groups, it can now refer to any organization that b ...

(especially the Baptists) who, seeing a worrying precedent that could lead to them also being prosecuted, then rallied to his side.

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three ...

exiled him to the

Scilly Isles The Isles of Scilly (; kw, Syllan, ', or ) is an archipelago off the southwestern tip of Cornwall, England. One of the islands, St Agnes, is the most southerly point in Britain, being over further south than the most southerly point of the ...

, out of the jurisdiction of any hostile English Parliaments. By exiling Biddle, Cromwell avoided a test case that could have put significant numbers of the sects at risk of prosecution. He was released in 1658. He was imprisoned once more, and became ill, leading to his death. His body was "conveyed to the burial place joyning to Old Bedlam in Moorfields near London, was there deposited by the Brethren, who soon after took care that an altar monument of stone should be erected over his grave with an inscription thereon." A biography of Biddle by

Joshua Toulmin Joshua Toulmin ( – 23 July 1815) of Taunton, England was a noted Christian theology, theologian and a serial English Dissenters, Dissenting minister of Presbyterianism, Presbyterian (1761–1764), Baptist (1765–1803), and then Unitarian ...

was published in 1789.

Works

*
A Two-fold Catechism
' He is believed to have translated the Polish

Racovian Catechism The Racovian Catechism ('' Pol.'': Katechizm Rakowski) is a nontrinitarian statement of faith from the 16th century. The title ''Racovian'' comes from the publishers, the Polish Brethren, who had founded a sizeable town in Raków, Kielce County, w ...

into English.

Views

He denounced

original sin Original sin is the Christian doctrine that holds that humans, through the fact of birth, inherit a tainted nature in need of regeneration and a proclivity to sinful conduct. The biblical basis for the belief is generally found in Genesis 3 (t ...

, denied

eternal punishment In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells ...

, and translated a mortalist tract. He condemned the

Ranters The Ranters were one of a number of dissenting groups that emerged around the time of the English Commonwealth (1649–1660). They were largely common people and the movement was widespread throughout England, though they were not organised and ...

. He affirmed that the Bible was the Word of God and his

Christology In Christianity, Christology (from the Greek grc, Χριστός, Khristós, label=none and grc, -λογία, -logia, label=none), translated literally from Greek as "the study of Christ", is a branch of theology that concerns Jesus. Diffe ...

appears to be

Socinian Socinianism () is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian belief system deemed heretical by the Catholic Church and other Christian traditions. Named after the Italians, Italian Christian theology, theologians Lelio Sozzini (Latin: Laelius Socinus) an ...

, denying the

pre-existence of Christ The pre-existence of Christ asserts the existence of Christ before his incarnation as Jesus. One of the relevant Bible passages is where, in the Trinitarian interpretation, Christ is identified with a pre-existent divine hypostasis (substantive ...

but accepting the virgin birth. Biddle's denial of the pre-existence of Christ was the main target of works including Puritan theologian John Owen's ''A Brief Declaration and Vindication of the Doctrine of the Trinity'' (1669).

Legacy

Biddle's appeal for conscience was one of the major milestones of the establishment of religious freedom in England. More recently Biddle's combination of

Christology and

millennialism Millennialism (from millennium, Latin for "a thousand years") or chiliasm (from the Greek equivalent) is a belief advanced by some religious denominations that a Golden Age or Paradise will occur on Earth prior to the final judgment and futur ...

has led to a rediscovery of his work among

Christadelphians The Christadelphians () or Christadelphianism are a restorationist and millenarian Christian group who hold a view of biblical unitarianism. There are approximately 50,000 Christadelphians in around 120 countries. The movement developed in the ...

and other non-Trinitarian groups in the 1970s and 1980s.A. Eyre. ''The Protestors'' Birmingham

Explanatory notes

References

External links

''Schaff'' article
taken from a Biblical Unitarian source.
John Biddles TWOFOLD SCRIPTURE CATECHISM
{{DEFAULTSORT:Biddle, John 1615 births 1662 deaths People from Wotton-under-Edge English Unitarian ministers Schoolteachers from Gloucestershire Alumni of Magdalen Hall, Oxford