Thomas Sherlock (167818 July 1761) was a
British divine
Divinity or the divine are things that are either related to, devoted to, or proceeding from a deity.[divine< ...](_blank)
who served as a
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...
bishop for 33 years. He is also noted in church history as an important contributor to
Christian apologetics.
Life
Born in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, he was the son of the Very Reverend
William Sherlock,
Dean of St Paul's
The dean of St Paul's is a member of, and chair of the Chapter of St Paul's Cathedral in London in the Church of England. The dean of St Paul's is also ''ex officio'' dean of the Order of the British Empire.
The current dean is Andrew Tremlet ...
. He was educated at
Eton College
Eton College () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI of England, Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. i ...
and
St Catharine's College, Cambridge
St Catharine's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1473 as Katharine Hall, it adopted its current name in 1860. The college is nicknamed "Catz". The college is located in the historic city-centre of Cam ...
. In 1704 he succeeded his father as
Master of the Temple
The Temple Church is a Royal peculiar church in the City of London located between Fleet Street and the River Thames, built by the Knights Templar as their English headquarters. It was consecrated on 10 February 1185 by Patriarch Heraclius of J ...
, where he was very popular.
Sherlock died in July 1761, and is buried in the churchyard of
All Saints Church, Fulham
All Saints' Church is the ancient parish church of Fulham, in the County of Middlesex, pre-dating the Reformation. It is now an Anglican church in Fulham, London, sited close to the River Thames, beside the northern approach to Putney Brid ...
, Middlesex. Much of his ancestral and earned wealth passed to the
Gooch baronets who took Sherlock for many generations thereafter in tribute; his picture hanging in
Benacre Hall, their purchased home in the period of his passing.
Career
In 1714 he became
master of his
old college at
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
and later the
university's vice-chancellor, whose privileges he defended against
Richard Bentley. In 1715, he was appointed
Dean of Chichester.
He took a prominent part in the
Bangorian controversy against
Benjamin Hoadly. Sherlock became
Bishop of Bangor in 1728. He was translated to
Salisbury
Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath.
Salisbury is in the southeast of ...
in 1734, where he was ex officio
Chancellor of the Order of the Garter; and in 1748 to
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, where he was sworn of the
Privy Council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mo ...
. Sherlock was a capable administrator and cultivated friendly relations with
Dissenters. In
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
he gave good service to his old schoolfellow,
Robert Walpole
Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, (26 August 1676 – 18 March 1745; known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole) was a British statesman and Whig politician who, as First Lord of the Treasury, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Lea ...
,
Prime Minister of Great Britain
The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern pr ...
.
Writings
He published against
Anthony Collins's
deistic ''Grounds of the Christian Religion'' a volume of sermons entitled ''The Use and Intent of Prophecy in the Several Ages of the World'' (1725); and in reply to
Thomas Woolston's ''Discourses on the Miracles'' he wrote a volume entitled ''The Tryal of the Witnesses of the Resurrection of Jesus'' (1729), which soon ran through fourteen editions. His ''Pastoral Letter'' (1750) on the late earthquakes had a circulation of many thousands, and four or five volumes of ''Sermons'' which he published in his later years (1754–1758) were also at one time highly esteemed.
Jane Austen
Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...
, wrote to her niece Anna in 1814, "I am very fond of Sherlock's Sermons, prefer them to almost any."
[Ross, Josephine. ''Jane Austen: A Companion,'' ch. 4'','' Thistle Publishing. Kindle Edition.]
A collected edition of his works, with a memoir, in five volumes, by
Thomas Smart Hughes
Thomas Smart Hughes (1786–1847) was an English cleric, theologian and historian.
Life
Born at Nuneaton, Warwickshire, on 25 August 1786, he was the eldest surviving son of Hugh Hughes, curate of Nuneaton, and rector of Hardwick, Northamptonshi ...
, appeared in 1830.
Sherlock's ''Tryal of the Witnesses'' is generally understood by scholars such as Edward Carpenter, Colin Brown and William Lane Craig, to be a work that the Scottish philosopher
David Hume
David Hume (; born David Home; 7 May 1711 NS (26 April 1711 OS) – 25 August 1776) Cranston, Maurice, and Thomas Edmund Jessop. 2020 999br>David Hume" '' Encyclopædia Britannica''. Retrieved 18 May 2020. was a Scottish Enlightenment ph ...
had probably read, and to which Hume offered a counter viewpoint in his empiricist arguments against the possibility of miracles.
Sherlock also wrote a respected work entitled ''A Discourse Concerning the Divine Providence'', in which he argues that the Sovereignty and Providence of God are unimpeachable.
Apologetics
Since the Deist controversy Sherlock's argument for the evidences of the resurrection of Jesus Christ has continued to interest later Christian apologists such as
William Lane Craig and
John Warwick Montgomery. His place in the history of apologetics has been classified by
Ross Clifford as belonging to the legal or juridical school of Christian apologetics.
Notes
References
*
Further reading
*Colin Brown, ''Miracles and the Critical Mind'' (Exeter: Paternoster/Grand Rapids:
William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company is a religious publishing house based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Founded in 1911 by Dutch American William B. Eerdmans (November 4, 1882 – April 1966) and still independently owned with William's daughte ...
, 1984).
*Edward Carpenter, ''Thomas Sherlock 1678–1761'' (London: SPCK, 1936).
*Ross Clifford, ''John Warwick Montgomery's Legal Apologetic: An Apologetic for All Seasons'' (Bonn: Verlag fur kultur und Wissenschaft, 2004).
*William Lane Craig, ''The Historical Argument for the Resurrection of Jesus During the Deist Controversy'' (Lewiston & Queenston: Edwin Mellen Press, 1985).
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sherlock, Thomas
1678 births
1761 deaths
People educated at Eton College
Alumni of St Catharine's College, Cambridge
Bishops of Bangor
Bishops of London
Deans of the Chapel Royal
Bishops of Salisbury
Chancellors of the College of William & Mary
Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain
Writers from London
Masters of the Temple
Masters of St Catharine's College, Cambridge
English sermon writers
Deans of Chichester
18th-century Church of England bishops
Vice-Chancellors of the University of Cambridge
Chancellors of the Order of the Garter
Burials at All Saints Church, Fulham
18th-century Welsh Anglican bishops
17th-century Anglican theologians
18th-century Anglican theologians