Forgotten Anniversary 1 John Biddle

I've seen hardly anything noting that this year is the 350th since the death of the father of unitarianism. For the record

John Biddle was born Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire, England, 14 January 1615 and died 22 September 1662. He was an influential English non-Trinitarian, and Unitarian. He is often called "the Father of English Unitarianism".

He studied at Magdalen Hall, Oxford, taking an MA 1641. Aged 26, he became headmaster of the Crypt Grammar School, Gloucester.The school had links to Gloucester Cathedral, and since he was obliged to teach his pupils according to the Catechism of the Church of England, he immersed himself in the study of the Bible.

He concluded from his studies that the doctrine of the Trinity was not supported by the Bible and set about publishing his own views on the nature of God. He was imprisoned in Gloucester, 1645, for his views but was released on bail. He was imprisoned again by Parliament 1646 and 1647. While still a prisoner, his tract Twelve Arguments Drawn Out of Scripture was published. Henry Vane defended Biddle in the House of Commons, and he was released on bail 1648. After a short while he was again imprisoned, in Newgate, where he remained until amnestied by the 1652 Act of Oblivion. Biddle and the MP John Fry, who had tried to aid him, were supported by the 1649 Leveller pamphlet Englands New Chaines Discovered. Biddle was strongly attacked by John Owen. In 1654-5 he was again in trouble with Parliament, which ordered his book A Two-fold Catechism to be seized; Cromwell exiled him to the Scilly Isles, out of the jurisdiction of any hostile English Parliaments. He was released in 1658 but was imprisoned once more, and became ill, leading to his death.

A biography by Joshua Toulmin was published in 1789.

Works

A Two-fold Catechism He is believed to have translated the Racovian Catechism into English.

Views

He denounced original sin, denied eternal punishment and translated a mortalist tract. He condemned the Ranters. He affirmed that the Bible was the Word of God and his Christology appears to be Socinian, denying the pre-existence of Christ but accepting the virgin birth.

Legacy

His appeal for conscience was one of the major milestones of the establishment of religious freedom in England. More recently his combination of Socinian Christology and millennialism has led to a rediscovery of his work among Christadelphians and other non-Trinitarian groups in the 1970s and '80s.