October 1548-1595 A.D. Remembering Prof. William Whittaker—English Reformed Churchman
October 1548-1595
A.D. Remembering Prof. William
Whittaker—English Reformed Churchman
Veitch,
Donald Philip. “The English Reformer: Professor William Whittaker.” Reformed
Churchmen. 28 Jun 2009. http://reformationanglicanism.blogspot.com/2009/06/english-reformer-professor-william.html. Accessed 19 Sept 2014.
The English Reformer: Professor William Whittaker
William
Whittaker’s A Disputation on the Holy Scripture Against the Papists, Especially
Bellarmine and Stapleton, ed. Parker Society (Cambridge Press, 1849).
On the frontispiece of this volume the purpose is stated: “For the Publication of the Works of the Fathers and Early Writers of the Reformed English Church.” Clearly, the use of the word “Reformed” was operative with the editors of this infamous collection.
A downloadable version is available at:
http://books.google.com/books?id=PhYXAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=william+whittaker+scriptures&as_brr=1
This work consists of the following sections:
On the frontispiece of this volume the purpose is stated: “For the Publication of the Works of the Fathers and Early Writers of the Reformed English Church.” Clearly, the use of the word “Reformed” was operative with the editors of this infamous collection.
A downloadable version is available at:
http://books.google.com/books?id=PhYXAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=william+whittaker+scriptures&as_brr=1
This work consists of the following sections:
1.
Preface by the Editor
2.
William Whittaker’s Dedicatory to
Lord Burghley, Elizabeth’s secretary
3.
Preface to the Controversies
4.
First Question: Number of Canonical
Books
5.
Second Question: Authentic Versions
of the Scriptures
6.
Third Question: The Authority of
Scripture
7.
Fourth Question: The Perspicuity of
the Scripture
8.
Fifth Question: Of the Interpretation
of Scripture
9.
Sixth Question: Of the Perfection of
Scripture, against Unwritten Tradition
10.
Closing: To the Reader
It will be clear from this volume
that cardinal difference between the Reformed/Reformational communions and the
Roman communion on the subject of Sacred Scriptures.
William Whittaker (1548-1595) remains
one of the greatest Anglican theologians of the Elizabethan period. He was the
Master of St. John’s College, Cambridge and one of Cambridge’s leading divines.
Whittaker was born in Holme,
Lancashire, 1547, and nearly related to Alexander Nowell, the celebrated dean
of St. Paul’s and author of Nowell’s Catechism. His uncle, Dean Nowell, sent
Whittaker to St. Paul’s in London followed by entrance to Trinity Hall,
Cambridge in October 1564. He received his B.A. (1568). In 1571, he began his
Master’s work. Throughout his labours, his uncle assisted Whittaker by
defraying costs and granting Whittaker “leases.”
He proved himself an indefatigable
student of the Scriptures, varied commentators, and the Schoolmen. John
Whitgift, Master of Trinity and the future Archbishop of Canterbury, took note
of the young scholar.
By 1578, he had been admitted to the
degree of B.D. at Oxford. By 1579, he had distinguished himself and was
appointed the Queen’s Professor of Divinity. In 1580, Queen Elizabeth added the
Chancellorship of St. Paul’s, London.
His teachings were consistently
Calvinistic and, in some quarters, were viewed as puritan-leaning. However, in
a letter to Bancroft, he is no friend to the radical puritans and had “small
sympathy” for them. However, he shared with the Puritans an hostility for
Arminianism which was making inroads to the Church of England. He embraced the
Book of Common Prayer and the Thirty-nine Articles in their intended, not
Tractarian, sense. By 1582, he was engaged in opposing Romanism and took part
in a disputation, Pontifex Romanus est ill Antichristus, or The Roman Pope is
that Antichrist.
He also published Dec Ecclesia, De
Conciliis, De Romano Pontice, De ministris et presybyteris Ecclesiae, De
sanctis mortuis, De Ecclesia triumphante, De Sacramentkis in genere, De
Baptismo, and De Eucharistia. A longer list is provided in the Preface.
Were Professor Whittaker, the
Anglican and Calvinist alive today, he would not be accepted in any Anglican
body in the United States. We doubt few
have engaged his writings, including those from the Anglican Church of North
America.
Through the influence of John
Whitgift and Sir Burghley, Whittaker was appointed by the Crown to be the
Master of St. John’s College, Cambridge. The college grew in numbers and
Calvinism was the dominant ethos.
In 1587, he was granted the D.D. and
by 1592, the Mastership of Trinity College. In 1594, he published De
Authoritate Scriptura with a dedication to Whitgift. The book that is before us
is one of the great textbooks on the doctrine of Scripture.
Cardinal Bellamarine was his
principle foe who had enormous respect for Professor Whittaker’s academic and
theological prowess. It was reputed that Bellarmine’s fellow-Jesuits would
comment on the picture of Whittaker maintained in Bellarmine’s office; it was a
mutual respect between two academic lions, one a Calvinist, the other a Papist.
Whittaker is a must for every
bibliography for an Anglican Churchman. It was copiously used by the late Rev.
Dr. Philip Edcumbe Hughes in The Theology of the English Reformers.
To be continued. Part One
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