Simon Birckbek or Birkbeck (1584–1656) was an English clergyman and controversialist.

Life

He was born at Hornby, Westmoreland. At the age of sixteen he became a student at

The Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault, queen of England. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassi ...

, where from a tabarder he became a Fellow. He proceeded B.A. in 1604, and B.D. in 1616. Entering holy orders about 1607, he became noted as a preacher and disputant, as well as for his knowledge of the

Church Fathers The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical peri ...

and

scholastics Scholasticism was a medieval European philosophical movement or methodology that was the predominant education in Europe from about 1100 to 1700. It is known for employing logically precise analyses and reconciling classical philosophy and C ...

. In 1616 he was admitted to the reading of the sentences, and the year after was made vicar of the church of

Gilling Gillingr (Old Norse: ; also Gilling) is a jötunn in Norse mythology, and the father of Suttungr. Gillingr and, later, his wife are murdered by the dwarfs Fjalar and Galar. In revenge, his son Suttungr tortures the dwarfs into giving him the mea ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

, and also of the chapel of Forcet, near

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

in the same county. He received these preferments through a relative, Humphrey Wharton. During the Civil War, he submitted to the authorities and kept his benefices. He died 14 September 1656, and was buried in Forcet Chapel.

Works

His major work is ''The Protestant's Evidence, showing that for 1,500 years after Christ divers Guides of God's Church have in sundry Points of Religion taught as the Church of England now doth'', London, 1635. The book is in the form of a dialogue between a

papist The words Popery (adjective Popish) and Papism (adjective Papist, also used to refer to an individual) are mainly historical pejorative words in the English language for Roman Catholicism, once frequently used by Protestants and Eastern Orthodox ...

and a Protestant, and was valued by

John Selden John Selden (16 December 1584 – 30 November 1654) was an English jurist, a scholar of England's ancient laws and constitution and scholar of Jewish law. He was known as a polymath; John Milton hailed Selden in 1644 as "the chief of learned m ...

. A friend having forwarded to Birckbek a copy of his book covered with marginal glosses, which the annotator entitled ''An Antidote necessary for the reader thereof'', an ''Answer to the Antidotist'' was appended to a second edition of the ''Evidence'' in 1657. The 1657 edition, with this appendix, was published again in 1849 in the supplement to

Edmund Gibson Edmund Gibson (16696 September 1748) was a British divine who served as Bishop of Lincoln and Bishop of London, jurist, and antiquary. Early life and career He was born in Bampton, Westmorland. In 1686 he was entered a scholar at Queen's ...

's ''Preservative from Popery''’ by the Reformation Society, with John Cumming as editor. Birckbek also wrote a ''Treatise of the Last Four Things'', London, 1655.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Birckbek, Simon 1584 births 1656 deaths 17th-century English Anglican priests People from Westmorland Alumni of the Queen's College, Oxford Fellows of the Queen's College, Oxford