Arthur Ashley Sykes (1684–1756) was an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

religious writer, known as an inveterate controversialist. Sykes was a

latitudinarian Latitudinarians, or latitude men, were initially a group of 17th-century English theologiansclerics and academicsfrom the University of Cambridge who were moderate Anglicans (members of the Church of England). In particular, they believed that a ...

of the school of

Benjamin Hoadly Benjamin Hoadly (14 November 167617 April 1761) was an English clergyman, who was successively Bishop of Bangor, of Hereford, of Salisbury, and finally of Winchester. He is best known as the initiator of the Bangorian Controversy. Life ...

, and a friend and student of

Isaac Newton Sir Isaac Newton () was an English polymath active as a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author. Newton was a key figure in the Scientific Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment that followed ...

Life

Sykes was born in London in 1683 or 1684 and educated at St. Paul's School. In 1701 he was admitted to

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus") is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th c ...

, where he received a scholarship (1702), B.A. (1705), M.A. (1708), and D.D. (1726). He was vicar of

Rayleigh Rayleigh may refer to: Science *Rayleigh scattering *Rayleigh–Jeans law *Rayleigh waves *Rayleigh (unit), a unit of photon flux named after the 4th Baron Rayleigh *Rayl, rayl or Rayleigh, two units of specific acoustic impedance and characte ...

in Essex from 1718 till his death in 1756. In 1739 with

Thomas Birch Thomas Birch (23 November 17059 January 1766) was an English historian. Life He was the son of Joseph Birch, a coffee-mill maker, and was born at Clerkenwell. He preferred study to business but, as his parents were Quakers, he did not go to ...

he helped George Turnbull become ordained in the Church of England.

Controversialist

Sykes took part successively in many of the Anglican theological controversies of his time.

Trinitarian controversy

Sykes wrote in support of

Samuel Clarke Samuel Clarke (11 October 1675 – 17 May 1729) was an English philosopher and Anglican cleric. He is considered the major British figure in philosophy between John Locke and George Berkeley. Clarke's altered, Nontrinitarian revision of the 1 ...

's line on the Trinity, against an attack of 1718 by Thomas Bennet, in ''A Discourse of the Ever-Blessed Trinity in Unity'' (1718).

Bangorian controversy

The sermon of Hoadly that set off the Bangorian Controversy had been anticipated by Sykes preaching in January 1717, on the same text with essentially the same theme. Sykes answered the ''Discourse of the Visible and Invisible Church of Christ'' in the controversy, by John Rogers, with his own ''The Authority of the Clergy and the Liberties of the Laity Stated''; to which Rogers replied.

Bentley controversy

In 1718 he wrote to defend

Richard Bentley Richard Bentley FRS (; 27 January 1662 – 14 July 1742) was an English classical scholar, critic, and theologian. Considered the "founder of historical philology", Bentley is widely credited with establishing the English school of Hellenis ...

in the '' St James's Post'', who had been deprived of his degrees by

Thomas Gooch Sir Thomas Gooch, 2nd Baronet (1674–1754) was an English bishop. Life Gooch was born to Thomas Gooch of Great Yarmouth, Yarmouth, and educated at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, which he entered in 1691. He graduated Bachelor of Arts ...

acting as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. The controversy was continued by

Thomas Sherlock Thomas Sherlock (167818 July 1761) was a British divine who served as a Church of England bishop for 33 years. He is also noted in church history as an important contributor to Christian apologetics. Life Born in London, he was the son of the ...

and

Conyers Middleton Conyers Middleton (27 December 1683 – 28 July 1750) was an English clergyman. Though mired in controversy and disputes, he was also considered one of the best stylists in English of his time. Early life Middleton was born at Richmond, North Y ...

Miracles and prophecy

Sykes made some concessions to

deist Deism ( or ; derived from the Latin term '' deus'', meaning "god") is the philosophical position and rationalistic theology that generally rejects revelation as a source of divine knowledge and asserts that empirical reason and observation ...

criticism of the reliability of the testimony to the biblical

miracle A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divi ...

s. He also restricted the scope of the miraculous, for example rejecting the reports associated to the

Convulsionnaires of Saint-Médard The Convulsionnaires (or Convulsionaries) of Saint-Médard was a group of 18th-century French religious pilgrims who exhibited convulsions and later constituted a religious sect and a political movement. This practice originated at the tomb of F ...

, and the tomb of the

Jansenist Jansenism was a 17th- and 18th-century theological movement within Roman Catholicism, primarily active in France, which arose as an attempt to reconcile the theological concepts of free will and divine grace in response to certain development ...

supporter François de Pâris. He also stated that the cures of

Valentine Greatrakes Valentine Greatrakes (14 February 1628 – 28 November 1682), also known as "Greatorex" or "The Stroker", was an Irish faith healer who toured England in 1666, claiming to cure people by the laying on of hands. Early life Greatrakes was born o ...

were not miraculous. His doctrine of the working of the biblical miracles linked them to an active spiritual dimension of fulfilment of

prophecy In religion, mythology, and fiction, a prophecy is a message that has been communicated to a person (typically called a ''prophet'') by a supernatural entity. Prophecies are a feature of many cultures and belief systems and usually contain di ...

Demoniacs and mental illness

In 1737 Sykes published ''An enquiry into the meaning of demoniacks in the New Testament'', rejecting any belief in the existence of demons and regarding those possessed as simply suffering from

mental illness A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...

. In this he went further than

Joseph Mede Joseph Mede (1586 in Berden – 1639) was an English scholar with a wide range of interests. He was educated at Christ's College, Cambridge, where he became a Fellow in 1613. He is now remembered as a biblical scholar. He was also a naturalist ...

's exposition of the Doctrine of Demons, as in the later work of Dr.

Richard Mead Richard Mead, FRSFRCP (11 August 1673 – 16 February 1754) was an English physician. His work, ''A Short Discourse concerning Pestilential Contagion, and the Method to be used to prevent it'' (1720), was of historic importance in advancing t ...

. He was answered by Thomas Church, in an anonymous work of the same year. Sykes also rejected the devil as a supernatural evil being, anticipating the allegory argument of

John Epps Dr John Epps (15 February 1805 – 12 February 1869) was an English physician, phrenologist and homeopath. He was also a political activist, known as a champion of radical causes on which he preached, lectured and wrote in periodicals. Life Ear ...

. Two replies to this work were published in 1737 and 1738 by Leonard Twells. These works were part of a larger debate on

demonology Demonology is the study of demons within religious belief and myth. Depending on context, it can refer to studies within theology, religious doctrine, or occultism. In many faiths, it concerns the study of a hierarchy of demons. Demons may be n ...

and possession, with Sykes siding with the sceptics Francis Hutcheson and

Thomas Woolston Thomas Woolston (baptised November 166827 January 1733) was an English theologian. Although he was often classed as a deist, his biographer William H. Trapnell regards him as an Anglican who held unorthodox theological views. Biography Thom ...

, against

Zachary Pearce Zachary Pearce, sometimes known as Zachariah (8 September 1690 – 29 June 1774), was an English Bishop of Bangor and Bishop of Rochester. He was a controversialist and a notable early critical writer defending John Milton, attacking Richard Be ...

and

Richard Smalbroke Richard Smallbrooke (1672 – 22 December 1749) was an English churchman, Bishop of St David's and then of Lichfield and Coventry. Life The son of Samuel Smallbrooke (buried 23 May 1701) of Rowington,Burial: https://www.familysearch.org/ar ...

Pseudonyms

Sykes used many pseudonyms, some of them shared with others. One, used in the book on "demoniacks", was T.P.A.P.O.A.B.I.T.C.O.S., standing for "The Precentor and Prebendary of Alton Borealis in the Church of Sarum".

Newton papers

Sykes at the end of his life was passed Isaac Newton's papers on theology and chronology. He prepared a digest of the material, but found almost none of it fit for publication. The papers went next to Jeffery Ekins.The Newton Project, ''History of his Papers 1727–1872''.
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References

External links

CERL page.Open Library page.Arthur Ashley Sykes papers, 1730-1752
at Pitts Theology Library,

Candler School of Theology Candler School of Theology is one of seven graduate schools at Emory University, located in Atlanta metropolitan area, metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. A university-based school of theology, Candler educates Minister (Christi ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sykes, Arthur Ashley 1684 births 1756 deaths 18th-century English Anglican priests People educated at St Paul's School, London Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge People from Rayleigh, Essex