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

nontrinitarian Nontrinitarianism is a form of Christianity that rejects the orthodox Christian theology 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 and civil parish in the Stroud district of Gloucestershire, England. Near the southern fringe of the Cotswolds The Cotswolds ( ) is a region of central South West England, along a range of rolling hills ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

. 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 colle ...

, 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, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

. The school had links to

Gloucester Cathedral Gloucester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Peter and the Holy and Indivisible Trinity and formerly St Peter's Abbey, in Gloucester, England, stands in the north of the city near the River Severn. It originated with the establishme ...

, 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 is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

. He concluded from his studies that the doctrine of the

Trinity The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, thr ...

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 Bicameralism, 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 ...

, 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 Mid ...

, where he remained until amnestied by the 1662 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 English Civil War who were committed to popular sovereignty, extended suffrage, equality before the law and religious tolerance. The hallmark of Leveller thought was its populism, as sh ...

pamphlet ''Englands New Chaines Discovered''. Biddle was strongly attacked by John Owen, in his massive work ''Vindiciae Evangelicae; or, The Mystery of the Gospel Vindicated and Socinianism Examined''. He was again in trouble with the Parliament of 1654–55, which ordered his book ''A Two-fold Catechism'' seized. Motions were made against Biddle as a part of the Commons’ debate on the

Instrument of Government The Instrument of Government was the first constitution of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland and was also the first codified and written constitution in England. It was drafted by Major-General John Lambert in 1653. Anteced ...

'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 a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

Presbyterians Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

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

sects A sect is a subgroup of a religion, religious, politics, political, or philosophy, philosophical belief system, typically emerging as an offshoot of a larger organization. Originally, the term referred specifically to religious groups that had s ...

(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 statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...

exiled him to the

Scilly Isles The Isles of Scilly ( ; ) are a small archipelago off the southwestern tip of Cornwall, England. One of the islands, St Agnes, is over farther south than the most southerly point of the British mainland at Lizard Point, and has the souther ...

, 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 theologian and a serial Dissenting minister of Presbyterian (1761–1764), Baptist (1765–1803), and then Unitarian (1804–1815) congregations. Toulmin's sympathy for bot ...

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 () in Christian theology refers to the condition of sinfulness that all humans share, which is inherited from Adam and Eve due to the Fall of man, Fall, involving the loss of original righteousness and the distortion of the Image ...

, denied

eternal punishment In religion and folklore, hell is a location or state in the afterlife in which souls are subjected to punishment after death. Religions with a philosophy of history#Cyclical and linear history, linear divinity, divine history sometimes depic ...

, and translated a mortalist tract. He condemned the

Ranters The Ranters were one of a number of English Dissenters, dissenting groups that emerged about the time of the Commonwealth of England (1649–1660). They were largely common people, and the movement was widespread throughout England, though they w ...

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

Christology In Christianity, Christology is a branch of Christian theology, theology that concerns Jesus. Different denominations have different opinions on questions such as whether Jesus was human, divine, or both, and as a messiah what his role would b ...

appears to be

Socinian Socinianism ( ) is a Nontrinitarian Christian belief system developed and co-founded during the Protestant Reformation by the Italian Renaissance humanists and theologians Lelio Sozzini and Fausto Sozzini, uncle and nephew, respectively. I ...

, denying the

pre-existence of Christ The pre-existence of Christ asserts the existence of Christ prior to his incarnation as Jesus. One of the relevant Bible passages is John 1 () where, in the Trinitarian interpretation, Christ is identified with a pre-existent divine hypostasi ...

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 () or chiliasm (from the Greek equivalent) is a belief which is held by some religious denominations. According to this belief, a Messianic Age will be established on Earth prior to the Last Judgment and the future permanent s ...

has led to a rediscovery of his work among

Christadelphians The Christadelphians () are a Restorationism, restorationist and Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Biblical unitarianism, (Biblical Unitarian) Christian denomination. The name means 'brothers and sisters in Christ',"The Christadelphians, or breth ...

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