Thomas Edwards (1599–1647) was an English

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...

clergyman. He was a very influential preacher in London of the 1640s, and was a polemical writer, arguing from a conservative

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 ...

point of view against the Independents.

Life

He graduated M.A. from

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the 16 "old colleges" of the university, and was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. Its buildings span the R ...

in 1625, and became a well-known preacher. He continued to reside at Cambridge, where, after taking orders, he was appointed a university preacher, nicknamed 'Young Luther.' In February 1627 he preached a sermon in which he counselled his hearers not to seek carnal advice when in doubt; declared he would testify and teach no other doctrine though the day of judgment were at hand, and was committed to prison until he could find bonds for his appearance before the ecclesiastical courts. After being frequently summoned before the courts, he received an order on 31 March 1628 to make a public recantation of his teaching in St. Andrew's Church, with which he complied on 6 April. Edwards did not remain much longer at Cambridge, and in 1629 a Thomas Edwards was licensed to preach in St. Botolph's, Aldgate. His career was cut short by

William Laud William Laud (; 7 October 1573 – 10 January 1645) was a bishop in the Church of England. Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by Charles I of England, Charles I in 1633, Laud was a key advocate of Caroline era#Religion, Charles I's religious re ...

. He was later able to campaign once more against 'popish innovations and

Arminian Arminianism is a movement of Protestantism initiated in the early 17th century, based on the Christian theology, theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed Church, Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius and his historic supporters known as Remo ...

tenets' at various city churches, at Aldermanbury, and in

Coleman Street Coleman Street is one of the Wards of the City of London, 25 ancient wards of the City of London, England, and lies on the City's northern boundary with the London Borough of Islington. The ward, which includes land lying on either side of the ...

. In July 1640, on the delivery at Mercers' Chapel of a proudly nonconformist sermon he was prosecuted in the

high commission court High may refer to: Science and technology * Height * High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area * High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory * High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift to ...

. He preached where he considered his services were most needed:

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

, London,

Hertford Hertford ( ) is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. The parish had a population of 26,783 at the 2011 census. The town grew around a Ford (crossing), ford on ...

, Dunmow, and

Godalming Godalming ( ) is a market town and civil parish in southwest Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, at the confluence of the Rivers Wey and Ock. The civil parish covers and includes the settl ...

to which at one time he commuted with three or four journeys a week from London. His base in London from 1644 was

Christ Church, Newgate Christ Church Greyfriars, also known as Christ Church Newgate Street, was a church in Newgate Street, opposite St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London. Established as a monastic church in the thirteenth century, it became a parish church afte ...

, an important Presbyterian centre. He was particularly concerned about religious sectarianism in the army, opposing the tendency emerging as the

Levellers 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 ...

but not yet known as such. He overplayed his hand against the military, in July 1647. With other ministers in London, he encouraged a popular occupation of Parliament, to get reversed the measures taken to exclude eleven Presbyterian leaders. From 26 July for about a week the Presbyterian side, with City of London backing, were apparently in power in London. The Army then moved in, taking back control by 4 August. Edwards went into exile in the Netherlands, and died of ague before the end of the year.

''Gangraena''

His major work was ''

Gangraena ''Gangraena'' is a book by English puritan clergyman Thomas Edwards, published in 1646. A notorious work of heresiography, it appeared the year after Ephraim Pagitt's ''Heresiography''. These two books attempted to catalogue the fissiparous Pr ...

'' from 1646, a large catalogue of sectarian Protestant views, written from a fearsomely adversarial point of view and treating them as

heresies Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy. Heresy in Christianity, Judai ...

. He hoped that the list would silence or damage his opponents, but they responded, criticising Presbyterianism. In the work, as the first ideological identification of

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 ...

s, Edwards summed up Levellers' views and attacked their radical political egalitarianism that showed no respect for the constitution. The prime targets in part III of his work were the men who were to be recognized as the leaders of the Leveller party.

Other writings

His first book was ''Reasons Against the Independent Government of Particular Congregations'' of 1641, an attack on

religious tolerance Religious tolerance or religious toleration may signify "no more than forbearance and the permission given by the adherents of a dominant religion for other religions to exist, even though the latter are looked on with disapproval as inferior, ...

and the Independent faction as it was coming to importance, and addressed to Parliament. It started a round of controversy, one participant being

Katherine Chidley Katherine Chidley (floruit, fl. 1616–1653) was an English Puritan activist and controversialist. Initially involved in resistance to Episcopal polity, episcopal authority and in Ecclesiastical separatism, separatist activity in Shrewsbury and L ...

, another

William Walwyn William Walwyn (''bap.'' 1600–1681) was an English pamphleteer, a Leveller and a medical practitioner. Life Walwyn was a silkman in London who took the parliamentary side in the English Civil War. He advocated religious toleration and emerged ...

with '' A Whisper In The Eare of Mr Thomas Edwards'' in 1646 using mild satire. Another work was ''Antapologia'' of 1644, an attack on five members of the

Westminster Assembly The Westminster Assembly of Divines was a council of Divinity (academic discipline), divines (theologians) and members of the English Parliament appointed from 1643 to 1653 to restructure the Church of England. Several Scots also attended, and ...

belonging to the Independents (

William Bridge William Bridge (c. 1600 – 1670) was a leading English Independent minister, preacher, and religious and political writer. Life A native of Cambridgeshire, the Rev. William Bridge was probably born in or around the year 1600. He studied at ...

Jeremiah Burroughs Jeremiah Burroughs (sometimes Burroughes; 1599 – London, 13 November, 1646) was an English Congregationalist and a well-known Puritan preacher. Biography Burroughs studied at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and was graduated M.A. in 1624, ...

Thomas Goodwin Thomas Goodwin ( Rollesby, Norfolk, 5 October 160023 February 1680), known as "the Elder", was an English Puritan theologian and preacher, and an important leader of religious Independents. He served as chaplain to Oliver Cromwell, and was app ...

Philip Nye Philip Nye (c. 1595–1672) was a leading English Independent theologian and a member of the Westminster Assembly of Divines. He was the key adviser to Oliver Cromwell on matters of religion and regulation of the Church. Life Philip Nye was bo ...

, and Sidrach Simpson, collectively called the Five Dissenting Brethren). It has been called "the most elaborate and least gracious" of the

pamphlets on the Independents.

Family

His son,

John Edwards Johnny Reid Edwards (born June 10, 1953) is an American lawyer and former politician who represented North Carolina in the United States Senate from 1999 to 2005. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the vice presidential nominee under ...

, was a theologian. ''Concise Dictionary of National Biography'', article on John Edwards.

Notes

References

*Francis J. Bremer, Tom Webster, ''Puritans and Puritanism in Europe and America: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia'' (2006), s.v. pp. 85–87.

External links

*P. R. S. Baker
‘Edwards, Thomas (c.1599–1648)’
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 1 June 2007 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Thomas 1599 births 1647 deaths English Presbyterian ministers of the Interregnum (England) Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge 17th-century English writers 17th-century English male writers 17th-century English Puritan ministers