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< ...

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

, 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

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