Whitby, DANIEL

Whitby, DANIEL, was born at Rushden in Northamptonshire in 1638, studied at Trinity College, Oxford, graduating B.A. in 1657, and was elected fellow of his college in 1664. He became prebendary of Salisbury in 1668, rector of St Edmund's, Salisbury, in 1672, and died there, March 24, 1726. His first writings were a series of hot attacks on popery, but in 1683, unfortunately for his peace, he turned from rending the papists to seeking a basis of union with the Dissenters, and so brought down upon his head the furies of the wrath of Oxford and his bishop. His book, which was entitled The Protestant Reconciler, was publicly burned at Oxford, and his diocesan, Dr Seth Ward, made him sign a strong expression of his repentance for having 'through want of prudence and deference to authority' printed a book containing these false, erroneous, and schismatical principles: (1) that it is not lawful for superiors to impose anything in the worship of God not antecedently necessary; and (2) that the duty of not offending a weak brother is inconsistent with all human rights of making laws concerning indifferent things. In the second part of his Protestant Reconciler, published also in 1683, he attempted to smooth down the objections of the Dissenters to re-enter the Church of England. His next important task was A Paraphrase and Commentary on the New Testament (2 vols. 1753). In his Discourse on Election and Reprobation (1710) he spoke out the Arminianism for which he had exchanged the Calvinism of his training. Dr Clarke's Scripture Doctrine of the Trinity converted him to Arianism, and he published Arian tracts and treatises which brought him controversy with Waterland. In this faith he died, 24th March 1726, as we find from his Last Thoughts (1727).