Philip Doddridge (clergyman)

Philip Doddridge, engraving by George Vertue after a portrait by Andrea Soldi

United Reformed Church, Doddridge Street, Northampton, where Doddridge was pastor

Interior of the chapel with stalls and galleries

Philip Doddridge DD (born June 26, 1702 in London , † October 26, 1751 in Lisbon ) was an English dissenter as well as educator and hymn writer of the Baroque .

Live and act

origin

Philip Doddridge was born in London as the last of twenty children of Daniel Doddridge († 1715), an edible oil and pickled vegetable dealer . His grandfather John Doddridge (1621-1689), rector in Shepperton , was removed from office under the Act of Uniformity of 1662 and became a Protestant " nonconformist ". Philips mother Elizabeth was the surviving daughter of the clergyman John Bauman († 1675), a Lutheran clergyman who fled from religious persecution in Prague during the Thirty Years' War .

Education and training

Before Philip could read, his mother explained the Old and New Testaments to him using the blue Dutch picture tiles on the living room fireplace. Philip Doddridge was raised at home in his youth, and later at a private school in London. In 1712 he attended the Grammar School in Kingston-upon-Thames , where his maternal grandfather was already principal.

Doddridge's mother died on April 12, 1711 when he was eight years old. Four years later, on July 17, 1715, his father died. His guardian Downes transferred him to another private school in St Albans , where he was shaped by the Presbyterian pastor Samuel Clark. Downes wasted Doddridge's inheritance, leaving thirteen-year-old orphan Philip Doddridge penniless in St. Albans. Clark took him on as a child and accompanied his upbringing. He encouraged him to pursue a spiritual career. They remained lifelong friends and at Clark's funeral Doddridge preached with the words: To him under God I owe even myself and all my opportunities of public usefulness in the church. (German: "After God I owe him myself and all my opportunities to work in the church.")

marriage

On December 22, 1730 he married Mercy Maris (1709-1790), daughter of Richard Maris, baker and maltster in Worcester , and his second wife Elizabeth Brindley. The marriage took place in Upton upon Severn , where Mercy's family lived. They had nine children. The first, Elizabeth or Tetsey (1731–1736), died before her fifth birthday and was buried under the altar of Doddridge Chapel. Only four children grew up.

Contribution to education and religious life

Because of his independent religious inclinations, Philip Doddridge turned down offers that would have led him to an Anglican priesthood or a legal career. In 1719 he decided instead, with the support of Clark, to attend the Dissenter Academy in Kibworth in Leicestershire . Here he was tutored by John Jennings, whom Doddridge succeeded shortly afterwards in 1723. Shortly thereafter, Doddridge was elected by a general meeting of nonconformist clergymen to lead the academy in the newly formed Market Harborough , a few miles away . The academy moved many times and became known as the Northampton Academy . When Doddridge died in 1751, the academy continued to exist.

In the same year 1723 Doddridge received the invitation to run for pastor of the independent church in Northampton , which he also accepted. His popularity as a preacher is said to have been based primarily on his "high sensitivity, coupled with physical advantages and perfect sincerity". Most of his sermons were practical. His goal was to cultivate a spiritual and devout attitude in his audience.

Philip Doddridge continued his teaching and pastoral work in the 1730s and 1740s. He developed numerous close relationships with independent religious thinkers, such as Isaac Watts . Doddridge was a very active writer and hymn poet. Doddridge wrote over 400 hymns, mostly related to his sermons. In 1736 both King's College, Aberdeen and Robert Gordon's College awarded him the “Doctor of Divinity”.

His 1745, The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul , dedicated to Isaac Watts, has been reprinted many times and has been translated into seven languages and has been widely influential. Charles Spurgeon was very fond of the book. William Wilberforce , the leader in the fight against slavery and the slave trade, is said to have moved the book to Christianity.

Death and inheritance

In 1751 Philip Doddridge's health deteriorated considerably. He sailed for Lisbon on September 30 of the same year . The change of location was in vain and he died there of tuberculosis. He was buried in a cemetery attached to the British Factory in Lisbon, and his grave has been preserved.

Fonts

Paraphrased explanation of all New Testament scriptures. Translated by Friedrich Eberhard Rambach. 4 volumes. Publishing house Seidel and Scheidhauer, Magdeburg / Leipzig 1751–1758.
Beginning and progression of true godliness in the human soul. John S. Wiestling, Harrisburg (Pennsylvania) 1828.

literature

Doddridge, Philip . In: Encyclopædia Britannica . 11th edition. tape 8 : Demijohn - Edward . London 1910, p. 369 (English, full text [ Wikisource ]).
J. Waugh: Three sermons on the evidences of Christianity. 1752. books.google.com.mx
Job Orton: Memoirs. 1766.
Thomas Stedman: Letters to and from Dr Doddridge. 1790.
Correspondence and Diary. 5 volumes, by his grandson, John Doddridge Humphreys, 1829.
John Stoughton: Philip Doddridge: His Life and Labor: A Centenary Memorial . Jackson and Walford, London 1851 ( archive.org ).
Charles Stanford: Philip Doddridge. 1880.

Web links

Wikiquote: Philip Doddridge - Quotes

Individual evidence

^ Doctor of Divinity, mostly honorary doctoral degree in theology awarded on the basis of special achievements
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Malcolm Deacon: Philip Doddridge of Northampton . Northamptonshire Libraries, Northampton 1980, ISBN 0-905391-07-1 .
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Isabel Rivers: Philip Doddridge. In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Harrison (Eds.): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , from the earliest times to the year 2000 (ODNB). Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861411-X , ( oxforddnb.com license required ), as of 2004
^ TNA Records of the Court of Chancery, C 5/472/72, C 5/83/25.
↑ Meditations on the tears of Jesus over the grave of Lazarus : an eulogy in St Albans , December 16, 1750, on occasion of the much lamented death of the late Reverend Samuel Clark , ... by P Doddridge , London 1751.
^ WN Terry: Mercy Maris. In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Harrison (Eds.): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , from the earliest times to the year 2000 (ODNB). Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861411-X , ( oxforddnb.com license required ), as of 2004
↑ Irene Parker: Dissenting academies in England . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2009, ISBN 978-0-521-74864-3 , pp. 77–90 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive - first edition: 1914).
↑ Biography. Christian Classics Ethereal Library
↑ Lewis A. Drummond: Spurgeon. Prince of Preachers. Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids 1992, ISBN 0-8254-2473-9 , p. 21 ( limited preview in Google book search).

personal data
SURNAME	Doddridge, Philip
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	English hymn poet of the Baroque era
DATE OF BIRTH	June 26, 1702
PLACE OF BIRTH	London
DATE OF DEATH	October 26, 1751
Place of death	Lisbon

[1] Doctor of Divinity, mostly honorary doctoral degree in theology awarded on the basis of special achievements

[Deacon-2] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Malcolm Deacon: Philip Doddridge of Northampton . Northamptonshire Libraries, Northampton 1980, ISBN 0-905391-07-1 .

[ODNB-3] Isabel Rivers: Philip Doddridge. In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Harrison (Eds.): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , from the earliest times to the year 2000 (ODNB). Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861411-X , ( oxforddnb.com license required ), as of 2004

[4] TNA Records of the Court of Chancery, C 5/472/72, C 5/83/25.

[5] Meditations on the tears of Jesus over the grave of Lazarus : an eulogy in St Albans , December 16, 1750, on occasion of the much lamented death of the late Reverend Samuel Clark , ... by P Doddridge , London 1751.

[6] WN Terry: Mercy Maris. In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Harrison (Eds.): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , from the earliest times to the year 2000 (ODNB). Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861411-X , ( oxforddnb.com license required ), as of 2004

[IP77-7] Irene Parker: Dissenting academies in England . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2009, ISBN 978-0-521-74864-3 , pp. 77–90 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive - first edition: 1914).

[8] Biography. Christian Classics Ethereal Library

[9] Lewis A. Drummond: Spurgeon. Prince of Preachers. Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids 1992, ISBN 0-8254-2473-9 , p. 21 ( limited preview in Google book search).