Nathanial Lardner
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Nathaniel Lardner (6 June 1684 – 24 July 1768) was an
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...
Presbyterian minister Presbyterian (or presbyteral) polity is a method of church governance ("ecclesiastical polity") typified by the rule of assemblies of presbyters, or elders. Each local church is governed by a body of elected elders usually called the session (o ...
and
theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...
.


Life

Lardner was born in
Hawkhurst Hawkhurst is a village and civil parish in the borough of Tunbridge Wells in Kent, England. The village is located close to the border with East Sussex, around south-east of Royal Tunbridge Wells and within the High Weald Area of Outstanding N ...
,
Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...
in 1684. He was the elder son of Richard Lardner (1653–1740), an independent minister, and of a daughter of Nathaniel Collyer or Collier, a Southwark tradesman. His sister Elizabeth married
Daniel Neal Portrait of Neal by William Holl the Elder Daniel Neal (14 December 16784 April 1743) was an English historian. Biography Born in London, he was educated at the Merchant Taylors' School, and at the universities of Utrecht and Leiden. In 1704 ...
, who studied with Lardner in
Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...
. After studying for the
Presbyterian 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 ...
ministry in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, and also at
Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...
and
Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...
, he took license as a preacher in 1709, but was not successful. In 1713, he entered the family of Lady Treby, widow of Sir George Treby, as tutor and domestic chaplain, where he remained until 1721. In 1724 he was appointed to deliver the Tuesday evening lecture in the Presbyterian chapel, Old Jewry, London, and in 1729 he became assistant minister to the Presbyterian congregation in Crutched Friars. He geraduated with a degree of DD from
Marischal College Marischal College ( ) is a large granite building on Broad Street in the centre of Aberdeen in north-east Scotland, and since 2011 has been the headquarters of Aberdeen City Council. The building was constructed for and is on long-term lease fr ...
in Aberdeen in 1743. He died in Hawkhurst on 24 July 1768.


Works

An anonymous volume of ''Memoirs'' appeared in 1769; and a life by
Andrew Kippis Andrew Kippis (28 March 17258 October 1795) was an English nonconformist clergyman and biographer. Life The son of Robert Kippis, a silk-hosier, he was born at Nottingham. Having gone to Carre's Grammar School in Sleaford, Lincolnshire he pas ...
is prefixed to the edition of the ''Works of Lardner'', first published in 1788. The full title of his principal work—a work which, although now out of date, entitles its author to be regarded as the founder of modern critical research in the field of early Christian literature—is ''The Credibility of the Gospel History; or the Principal Facts of the New Testament confirmed by Passages of Ancient Authors, who were contemporary with our Saviour or his Apostles, or lived near their time''. Part 1, in 2 octavo volumes, appeared in 1727; the publication of part 2, in 12 octavo volumes, began in 1733 and ended in 1755. In 1730 there was a second edition of part 1, and the Additions and Alterations were also published separately. A Supplement, otherwise entitled ''A History of the Apostles and Evangelists, Writers of the New Testament'', was added in 3 volumes (1756–1757), and reprinted in 1760. Other works by Lardner are ''A Large Collection of Ancient Jewish and Heathen Testimonies to the Truth of the Christian Revelation, with Notes and Observations'' (4 volumes, quarto, 1764–1767); ''The History of the Heretics of the two first Centuries after Christ'', published posthumously in 1780; and a considerable number of occasional sermons.


Theology

Lardner made a case against the
subordinationism Subordinationism is a Trinity, Trinitarian doctrine wherein the God the Son, Son (and sometimes also the Holy Spirit in Christianity, Holy Spirit) is subordinate to the God the Father, Father, not only in submission and role, but with actual ontol ...
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 ...
in which the eternal
Logos ''Logos'' (, ; ) is a term used in Western philosophy, psychology and rhetoric, as well as religion (notably Logos (Christianity), Christianity); among its connotations is that of a rationality, rational form of discourse that relies on inducti ...
unites with a human body in the man Jesus, opposed to the
Trinitarian 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, three ...
view. Lardner went further to argue that the New Testament does not teach that Jesus or any element within him pre-existed Mary's pregnancy. According to Lardner the Logos of John 1:1, was to be understood as a divine attribute, which metaphorically “became flesh” in the man Jesus, and other traditional pre-existence proof texts are interpreted in ways consistent with Christ's not existing before his conception. Lardner analyzes the use of “spirit” in the Bible and concludes that it refers to God, or to various of God's properties, actions, or gifts.Tuggy, D. in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy 2009 This view was essentially
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 ...
.


Networking

He was in close relations with
Thomas Secker Thomas Secker (21 September 16933 August 1768) was an Archbishop of Canterbury in the Church of England. Early life and studies Secker was born in Sibthorpe, Nottinghamshire. In 1699, he went to Richard Brown's free school in Chesterfield, ...
, exchanged letters with Edward Waddington, and had a large literary correspondence with continental scholars, and with the ministers of
New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...
. Among his English dissenting correspondents were
John Brekell John Brekell (1697–1769) was an English presbyterian Minister (Christianity), minister and theological writer. Life Brekell was born at North Meols, Lancashire, in 1697, and was educated for the ministry at Nottingham, at the dissenting academy ...
,
Samuel Chandler Samuel Chandler (1693 – 8 May 1766) was an English Nonconformist (Protestantism), Nonconformist minister and pamphleteer. He has been called the "uncrowned patriarch of English Dissenters, Dissent" in the latter part of the reign of George II ...
,
Philip Doddridge Philip Doddridge D.D. (26 June 1702 – 26 October 1751) was an English Nonconformist (specifically, Congregationalist) minister, educator, and hymnwriter. Early life Philip Doddridge was born in London, the last of the twenty children ...
, and
Henry Miles Henry Miles, FRS (2 June 1698 – 10 February 1763) was an English Dissenting minister and scientific writer; a Fellow of the Royal Society known for experiments on electricity. Life He was born in Stroud, Gloucestershire, on 2 June 1698. He ...
. He corresponded also with Thomas Morgan the Welsh
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 ...
and moral philosopher, of very different views but who found Lardner impartial.


Notes


References

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External links

*
Lardner, Nathaniel, 1684-1768
in
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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lardner, Nathanial 1684 births 1768 deaths English theologians People from Hawkhurst English Unitarians Burials at Bunhill Fields 18th-century English Presbyterian ministers 18th-century English writers