John Worthington (theologian)

John Worthington (* 1618 in Manchester , † 1671 in London ) was a British theologian. He is best known today for his diary.

Life

Worthington studied from 1633 in Cambridge at Emmanuel College . In 1642 he became a Fellow and in 1644 Dean and Tutor (responsible for religious instruction of the students). He was a student of Benjamin Whichcote and Joseph Mede , whose works he later edited. From 1650 to 1660 he was a Masters at Jesus College, Cambridge; his predecessor there Thomas Young had not wanted to take the oath required by the Puritans after the Commonwealth of England was proclaimed , although he himself was a Scottish Presbyterian and had received his post in 1642 when the Army of Parliament occupied Cambridge. From 1657 to 1658 Worthington was vice chancellor of the university. With the Restoration he lost his post as Master of Emmanuel in 1660, when Richard Sterne, who had been deposed in 1642, was reinstated. Worthington had successfully run the college and got on well with his successor, Sterne, but his career in the Church, which he now had to embark on, was hampered by the resentment of the Bishop of Ely Matthew Wren, the Puritan appointed minister in their further Career disabled. Worthington had already gained a reputation as a preacher during his time in Cambridge, even beyond Cambridge, for example in London. He became Canon of Windsor and Rector of St. Benet Finch in London. When this was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666, he first had a country parish in Lincolnshire near Grantham . There his wife and youngest daughter died of illnesses and his health deteriorated. He had sponsors in high church positions, such as the Bishop of Canterbury Gilbert Sheldon, who made him canon of Lincoln Cathedral. For health reasons he preferred to go to Hackney near London as a paid preacher . Due to the influence of his friends, he was to become rector of the newly built St. Benet Fink again, but died before that. The funeral sermon was held by the future Archbishop of Canterbury, John Tillotson.

Worthington was closely associated with the Cambridge Platonists around Henry More , but did not publish any philosophical works himself. He also belonged to the circle of Samuel Hartlib and was one of its correspondents. After Hartlib's death, he organized his archive, which the Baron William Brereton had acquired; it is in Sheffield University Library today.

From him comes a translation of the Imitatio Christi by Thomas von Kempen ( The Christian's Pattern , London 1654) and he edited the theological lectures of John Smith (1616-1652) ( Select Discourses , London 1660), who was his colleague at Emmanuel College was, Fellow and Dean of Queens' College , and was a Cambridge Platonist. After his death, some Worthington sermons appeared, edited by his son.

In 1657 he married the seventeen-year-old Mary Whichcote, niece of the philosopher Benjamin Whichcote. They had four daughters and one son. Worthington was musical and occasionally played viola da gamba and sang sacred texts, accompanied by his wife on the organ.

Fonts

• The diary and correspondence of Dr. John Worthington , Chetham Society, 4 volumes 1847 to 1888 (Ed. James Crossley), Volume 1, Archives , Volume 2, Part 1, Archives , Volume 2, Part 2, Archives

literature

• Stefan Weyer: The Cambridge Platonists. Religion and Liberty in England in the 17th Century. Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main et al. 1993, ISBN 3-631-45684-0 , pp. 129-133
• John T. Young: Worthington, John. In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , Vol. 60, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861410-1 , pp. 358-360

Web links

• Biography at Jesus College

Remarks

1. ↑ Hartlib Papers, Sheffield