Thomas Edwards (1729–1785) was an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

clergyman and divine.

Life

Edwards was born at Coventry in August 1729, the son of Thomas Edwards, and educated at the

Free Grammar School Free Grammar Schools were schools which usually operated under the jurisdiction of the church in pre-modern England. Education had long been associated with religious institutions since a Cathedral grammar school was established at Canterbury unde ...

, King Henry VIII's, there. In 1746 he entered

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

, but migrated the following year to Clare Hall, graduating B.A. in 1750 and M.A. in 1754, and becoming a fellow of Clare. He was ordained deacon 1751, and priest 1753, by Frederick Cornwallis, bishop of Lichfield and Coventry. In 1755 he published ''A New English Translation of the Psalms,'' &c., and in 1758 a sermon preached at St. Michaels. In 1758 he became master of the

free grammar school Free Grammar Schools were schools which usually operated under the jurisdiction of the church in pre-modern England. Education had long been associated with religious institutions since a Cathedral grammar school was established at Canterbury unde ...

and

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of St. John the Baptist, Coventry. In this year he married Ann Barrott. In 1759 Edwards, published ''The Doctrine of Irresistible Grace proved to have no foundation in the Writings of the N. T.,'' a book of some importance in the Calvinist and Arminian controversy, and in 1762 ''Prolegomena in Libros Veteris Testamenti Poeticos'',ib. xx. 32-5 to which he added an attack upon Robert Lowth's ''Metricæ Harianæ brevis Confutatio,'' which led to a

controversy Controversy is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view. The word was coined from the Latin ''controversia'', as a composite of ''controversus'' – "turned in an opposite d ...

of some length. In 1766 he proceeded D.D., and in 1770 was presented to

Nuneaton Nuneaton ( ) is a market town in the borough of Nuneaton and Bedworth in northern Warwickshire, England, close to the county border with Leicestershire and West Midlands County.OS Explorer Map 232 : Nuneaton & Tamworth: (1:25 000) : Nuneaton's ...

in Warwickshire, where he passed the rest of his life, having severed his connection with Coventry in 1779. He lost his wife in 1784, and dying in June 1785 was buried at Foleshill. He was of a mild and benevolent temper, and fond of retirement. His chief friend was Edmund Law,

bishop of Carlisle The Bishop of Carlisle is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Carlisle in the Province of York. The diocese covers the county of Cumbria except for Alston Moor and the former Sedbergh Rural District. The see is in the city of Car ...

Theology

From a theological perspective, Edwards was an

Arminian Arminianism is a branch of Protestantism based on the theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius (1560–1609) and his historic supporters known as Remonstrants. Dutch Arminianism was originally articulated in the ''Re ...

divine.

Works

* ''The Doctrine of Irresistible Grace proved to have no foundation in the Writings of the N. T.'', 1759 * ''Prolegomena in Libros Veteris Testamenti Poeticos'', 1762 * ''Epistola ad doctissimum R. Lowthium,'' 1765. * ''Two Dissertationes'', 1767. * ''Due Dissertationes,'' 1768. * ''The Indispensable Duty of Contending for the Faith,'' 1773. * ''Selecta quædam Theocriti Idyllia'' (350 lines of Theocritus, 250 pages of notes, and 20 pages of addenda, &c.)

References

Citations

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Thomas 1729 births 1785 deaths 18th-century English Anglican priests 18th-century English non-fiction writers 18th-century English male writers Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Arminian ministers Arminian writers English religious writers Clergy from Coventry