View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Stirling Online Research Repository The Thought of Philip Doddridge in the Context of Early Eighteenth-Century Dissent Robert Strivens School of History and Politics University of Stirling A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy November 2011 i I declare that this thesis has been composed by me and that the work which it embodies is my work and has not been included in another thesis. Signed ....[signature].................. Robert Strivens ii Abstract Philip Doddridge (1702-51) was pastor of the Independent congregation meeting at Castle Hill, Northampton, and tutor of the Northampton academy from 1729 to his death in 1751. He is regarded as a leader of moderate Dissent during that period and the heir, theologically and pastorally, of Richard Baxter. He has been seen as forming a bridge between the more rational Dissenters, on the one hand, and the more conservative and orthodox wing of Dissent on the other. His thought has not, however, been the subject of a detailed analysis in the context of his time. This thesis sets out to conduct such an analysis in order to examine more closely his position within early eighteenth-century Dissent. Doddridge’s philosophical and theological views are considered in chapters two to five. Chapter two assesses the extent of his indebtedness to the philosophy of John Locke, examining also the views of Isaac Watts and showing how Doddridge and Watts modified Locke’s thought in some areas in order to accommodate Christian beliefs. In chapter three, Doddridge’s views on natural theology, natural law and reason are considered and the influence on him of Samuel Clarke, in particular, is examined. Turning to theology, chapter four looks at the use in early eighteenth-century Dissent of terms such as ‘Baxterian’ and ‘moderate Calvinist’ and then considers Doddridge’s doctrinal positions on a range of subjects which are generally considered to represent Baxterian theology. Chapter five examines Doddridge’s views on the key interconnected areas of confessional subscription, scripture and the doctrine of the Trinity. Practical subjects are then considered in chapters six to eight. Doddridge’s views on Christian piety are examined in chapter six. Chapter seven considers ways in iii which Doddridge sought to communicate, examining the audiences whom he aimed to reach, the ways in which he attempted to reach them and the content of what he wanted to say. The eighth chapter looks at the subject of identity and argues that Doddridge is to be viewed, not so much as a bridge between different wings of Dissent, but as a leader amongst moderate Calvinists. In conclusion, this thesis argues that Philip Doddridge sought to expound a Calvinist theology in the context of the philosophical and theological debates of his day and to promote an ordered Dissent focused on central evangelical truths and united around the language of scripture. iv Table of Contents Declaration p. i Abstract p. ii Table of Contents p. iv Acknowledgments p. v List of Abbreviations p. vi Chapter 1 Introduction p. 1 Chapter 2 The Influence of John Locke p. 33 Chapter 3 Natural Theology, Natural Law and Reason p. 58 Chapter 4 Baxterianism and Moderate Calvinism p. 80 Chapter 5 Subscription, Scripture and Trinitarianism p. 112 Chapter 6 Piety p. 138 Chapter 7 Communication p. 165 Chapter 8 Identity p. 199 Chapter 9 Conclusion p. 227 Bibliography p. 238 v Acknowledgements The completion of this thesis would have been impossible without the help of many others. My interest in Philip Doddridge was first stimulated when I was asked to give a paper on the Northampton academy at the Westminster Conference in London in 2001. My thanks are due to the committee of that conference for thereby opening the door into the fascinating world of early eighteenth-century ministerial training. Research and writing for this project have been carried out while I have been engaged in pastoral duties and, latterly, seminary teaching responsibilities. I am very grateful to the elders, deacons, members and congregation of Banbury Evangelical Free Church and to the Board of London Theological Seminary for allowing me the necessary time for this work, including a three-month period of study leave at a crucial stage, and for their encouragement of it. Dr David Wykes, Librarian of Dr Williams’s Library, and Dr Isabel Rivers, at the Centre for Dissenting Studies located at that Library, have given valuable advice, encouragement and opportunities for discussion of a variety of aspects of early eighteenth-century Dissent. I am grateful to them for their time and their interest. My thanks are due also to other friends and scholars who have read material in draft, discussed issues with me and referred me to relevant material, including Graham Beynon, Dr Mark Burden, Dr Michael Haykin, Dr Robert Oliver, Dr Kyle Roberts, Dr Tessa Whitehouse and Dr Garry Williams. The librarians and staff at the Angus Library, Regent’s Park College, Oxford, the Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service, the Bodleian Library, the British Library, Cambridge University Library, Cardiff Central Library, Dr Williams’s Library, the Library of Harris Manchester College, Oxford, the John Rylands University Library, Manchester, Lambeth Palace Library, the archives of the Moravian Church (British Province), the National Library of Scotland, the National Library of Wales, New College Library, Edinburgh, and the Minister of Castle Hill United Reformed Church, Northampton have been unfailingly helpful and efficient in providing access to relevant material and, at Harris Manchester College, in helping with the transcription of parts of shorthand notes of Doddridge’s lectures. My thanks also to the staff at The Connecticut Historical Society for making and sending to me digital images of Doddridge’s 1741 letter to Daniel Wadsworth. When I embarked on this project, I had little idea of the amount of time and effort that it would require, nor of the highs and lows which are, as I gather from friends who have been through it before me, an inevitable part of a PhD project. I owe a great debt to my supervisor, Professor David Bebbington, for his patience in trying to instil in a rather impatient pastor the principles of sound historical research and writing and for the support, encouragement, instruction and help which he has consistently provided throughout this project. Without his experienced and expert guidance, this thesis would never have seen the light of day. Most of all, however, my thanks are due to the unfailing support given to me by my wife and family, who have heard more, at the meal table and elsewhere, about Philip Doddridge than they could ever have wished to know. vi List of Abbreviations DWL Dr Williams’s Library, London Humphreys, Correspondence J. D. Humphreys, ed., The Correspondence and Diary of Philip Doddridge, D.D. ..., 5 vols. (London: H. Colburn and R. Bentley, 1829-31). Nuttall, Calendar G. F. Nuttall, ed., Calendar of the Correspondence of Philip Doddridge, D. D. (1702-1751) (London: HMSO, 1979). Years are stated as if the new year began on 1st January. 1 Chapter 1 Introduction ‘Dum vivimus, vivamus’ is the motto which is said to belong to the coat of arms of the Doddridge family: ‘While we live, let’s live!’1 It accurately captures the spirit of the early eighteenth-century Dissenting minister bearing that name, Philip Doddridge, who believed that life, as the gift of God, is given to be enjoyed (and that it is most enjoyed when lived for him who gave it). Much has consequently been written, rightly, about Doddridge’s generosity of spirit and freedom from partiality (or, in eighteenth- century terms, his ‘candour’), his humanity and kind-heartedness, his love for Christian unity and distaste for contention and division amongst those who profess faith in Jesus Christ and the breadth of the relationships that he maintained with contemporaries of often diverse views. Doddridge has proven to be an attractive figure for biographers and historians. He was held in high respect by his contemporaries, but did not entirely escape criticism from them: all his candour was not enough to ward off attacks from theological opponents both to the right and to the left and, perhaps more painfully, even some of his closest associates in the Dissenting ministry were unsettled by the friendly nature of his correspondence with leaders of the evangelical revival, in particular George Whitefield. The life-loving Philip Doddridge was not, then, a completely uncontroversial figure in his own time. Philip Doddridge’s life spans the first half of the eighteenth century: he was born in London on 26 June 1702 and died in Lisbon on 26 October 1751. His forebears knew what it was to suffer for the Christian faith: his paternal grandfather, John Doddridge, lost his living as a Church of England clergyman at the Restoration,2 and his 1 [Job Orton], Memoirs of the Life, Character and Writings of the Late Reverend Philip Doddridge, D. D. of Northampton (Salop: Printed by J. Cotton and J. Eddowes, 1766), p. 170. 2 Edmund Calamy, An Abridgment of Mr Baxter’s History of His Life and Times. With an Account of Many Others of Those Worthy Ministers Who Were Ejected, after the Restauration of King Charles the 2 mother’s father, John Bauman, a Hussite from Prague, was forced to flee his homeland in 1636, after Habsburg forces had regained control of Bohemia. Doddridge apparently valued highly his descent from those ‘who had made such Sacrifices to Conscience and Liberty’.3 Philip’s father was ‘brought up to Trade’ and is described as ‘an Oil-man in London’; he died when Philip was thirteen.