the controversy aroused by it

320 Pages·2017·47.62 MB·English

JAMES HERVEY'S THERON AND ASPASIO
AND
THE CONTROVERSY AROUSED BY IT
BY
ROBERT LLOYD CAMPBELL
A Thesis
Submitted To The Faculty Of Divinity Of The University Of Edinburgh
In Partial Fulfillment Of The Requirements
For The Degree Doctor Of Philosophy
EDINBURGH
1954
1i 1X
!m
PREFACE
When James Hervey published his Theron and Aspasio in
1 ?55, an uneasy peace had prevailed in the Calvinistic Controversy
for a number of years. The initial stage of the Controversy began
with a correspondence between John Wesley and George Whitefield
which has been wittily summed up as follows: "Dear George, I
have read what you have written on the subject of Predestination,
and God has taught me to see that you are wrong and that I am
.
right. Yours affectionately, J. Wesley "; "Dear John, I have
read what you have written on the subject of Predestination, and
God has taught me that I am right and you are wrong. Yours
affectionately, G. Whitefield."
Wesley and Whitefield became estranged, and a small
pamphlet war ensued. The conciliatory efforts of Howell Harris
and the Countess of Huntingdon soon restored a certain measure
of amity to the scene. The two leaders were reconciled and
remained friends, but the Tabernacle had gone up alongside the
Foundry, and thereafter there were two kinds of Methodists.
The publication of Hervey's book initiated the second
stage of the Calvinistic Controversy, which then took the form
of a dispute about the imputed righteousness of Christ. This
dispute lasted until 1768 when the expulsion of six Calvinistic
Methodist students from the University of Oxford precipitated
the third and final stage of the Controversy.
111
Theron and Aspasïo also gave rise to a debate over the
nature of saving faith. Hervey's doctrine of faith was challenged
by the Glassite leader, Robert Sandeman, and several others were
quickly drawn into the contest.
This is a study of James Hervey, his book, and the
controversy which he aroused. The literature of this controversy
has not received a great amount of attention. Most historians
in touching upon the controversy have seemed to take a consider-
able amount of satisfaction in declaring that an analysis of its
literature was beyond the scope of their inquiry. It has been
my purpose to examine this literature in detail, to sift it, and
to present, as best I could, its essential arguments.
This was a bitter controversy, and much of the language
is highly abusive. In order to preserve something of the original
flavor I have not hesitated to include a fair sample of the
invectives.
I would like to take this opportunity to express my
thanks to my advisers, Principal John Baillie and Professor T. F.
Torrance, and to Principal Emeritus Hugh Watt for the help and
encouragement which they have given me. I wish also to express
my appreciation for the friendly assistance given by the librar-
ians and staffs of the various libraries in Edinburgh, London,
Oxford, Cambridge, Glasgow, and Northampton where I gathered the
material for this study.
iv
Unless otherwise indicated all citations to Theron and
Aspasio are to the first edition, octavo, and those to William
Cudworth's Defence of Theron and Aspasio, to the second edition.
All citations to Sandem ants Letters on Theron and Aspasio are to
the fourth edition. The General Collection of Hervey's letters
which has been used is that in his Works, where the letters are
numbered consecutively and are more nearly in chronological
order than they are in the two- volume edition. One final note:
the American system of spelling and punctuation has been used
throughout.
New College, Edinburgh R.L.C.
13 May 1954
CONTENTS
P aae
PREFACE
PART I. THERON AND ASPASIO
CHAP. I. THE AUTHOR OF THERON AND ASPASIO 1
CHAP. II. THE MEDITATIONS: PROGENITOR OF THERON
AND ASPASIO 42
CHAP. III. INTRODUCTION TO THERON AND ASPASIO. 65
CHAP. IV. THE THEOLOGY OF THERON AND ASPASIO. 86
. . .
PART II. THE CONTROVERSY OVER THE NATURE OF SAVING FAITH
CHAP. V. SAiQDEMAN' S ATTACK AND CUDWORTH' S DEFENSE. 122
CHAP. VI. SANDENIAN' S IMPACT ON SAMUEL .PIKE AND THE
LONDON CHURCH 161
CHAP. VII. THE EXTENSION OF THE CONTROVERSY OVER
SAVING FAITH 184
PART III. THE CONTROVERSY OVER IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS
CHAP. VIII. WESLEY'S ATTACK AND HERVEY' S
VINDICATION 214
CHAP. IX. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CONTROVERSY OVER
IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS 247
AN EVALUATION OF THE CONTROVERSY 279
BIBLIOGRAPHY 298
PART I
THRON AND ASPASIO
CHAPTER I
THE AUTHOR OF THRON AND ASPASIO
James Hervey was born on February 26, 1713 -14, in the
village of Hardingstone just outside of Northampton. His father
was rector of Collingtree some two miles from Hardingstone, and
his grandfather, of Weston Favell, twice that far in the opposite
direction. The patronage of both parishes had been in the pos-
session of the family for many years .l The Herveys appear to
have been highly respectable. One ancestor had been a member of
Parliament for Northampton, and another, a judge .2 In more
prosperous times they had owned the manor of Hardingstone,3 but
they were no longer wealthy, and as the living of Collingtree was
small, Hervey's father found it necessary to supplement his income
by farming.4
Little has been recorded about Hervey's early years. At
the age of seven he was sent to the Free Grammar School in North-
ampton to study Latin and Greek.5 In neither was his learning
prodigious, however, for the master refused to allow any of the
'Salzman, The Victoria History of the Counties of
England; Northamptonshire, IV:111.
2Northampton Mercury, June 17, 1904
3W. E. M. Brown, The Polished Shaft, p. 4.
4Cole, Herveiana, Letters of Hervey, p. 6.
5Ryland, The Character of the Rev. James Hervey, p. 147.
2
other pupils to progress faster than his own son, who was not
exceptionally bright.
By the time Hervey was seventeen he had grown so tall that
he was embarrassed to continue as a grammar school pupil, so his
father obtained for him a small grant of 20 L. per year at Lincoln
1
College, Oxford. In 1731 he entered the university under the
tutelage of the rector of the college. Here he remained for
five years before receiving his B.A. He largely wasted the
first two years, later attributing this as much to lack of guid-
ance from his tutor as to his own indolence.
In 1733 he came under the influence of the Oxford Method-
ists, John Wesley's "Holy Club," with whose aims and activities he
was one in spirit. The members2 of this little group were Church
of England ritualists. They met together several times each week
for prayer, study, and religious conversation. They observed the
fast days of the church and adopted the rare practice of receiving
the Communion weekly. Most of them devoted an hour every day to
acts of charity: visited and aided the prisoners and the sick,
read to the illiterate, and gave what money they could spare to
the poor. In addition, they carried on a vigorous campaign to
'Ibid.
2The original members of the group in 1730 were John
and Charles Wesley, William Morgan, and Robert Kirkham. John
Gambold, John Clayton, Benjamin Ingham, Thomas Broughton, and
Wesley Hall all joined before Hervey Later, John Kinchin,
John Whitelamb, Richard Hutchins, and George Whitefield were
added to the group.
3
encourage and instruct their acquaintances in the practice of the
Christian life .1
The religious zeal of these young men won for them the
ridicule of their fellow students. They were dubbed with such
uncomplimentary titles as "Bible-bigots," "Bible- moths,"
"methodists," and "the Holy Club." Their notoriety extended even
beyond the bounds of the university. In London Fog's Weekly
Journal printed a letter from a correspondent at Oxford who accused
the "Methodists" of "superstitious Customs" and claimed that "they
have the Misfortune to be taken by all, who have ever been in their
Company, for Madmen, and those whom the world is pleas'd to
distinguish, by the Title of Fools."2 In later years Hervey him-
self is said to have referred to this period of his life as "the
days of his self -righteousness, "3 but at the time he was in full
agreement with the emphasis upon salvation by works. To his
sister he wrote: "What sweet complacency, what unspeakable satis-
faction shall we reap from the contemplation of an uninterrupted
series of spotless actions: "4
In his new environment he began to show more concern for
his studies. At John Wesley's urging he commenced the study of
1Letter of John Wesley to Richard Morgan in The Journal
of John Wesley, I:87ff. Also Whitefield's Journals, p. 38
2No. 211+, December 9th, 1732.
3John Brown, Memoirs of the Life and Character of the
Late Rev. James Hervey., p. 56.
4Letter No. 1, General Collection of Letters in Works,
Vols. V and VI. (Hereafter referred to as Gen. Col.)
4
Hebrew with no other help than that of a Westminster grammar.1
The measure of his success was indicated by his usual custom in
later life of reading from the unpointed text at family devotions.
Through the study of literature, especially Joseph Spence's Es
or,.Mr. Pope's Odyssey in Four Dialogues, he cultivated a style,
and his reading in science and natural theology awakened in him
the interest in nature that was to contribute so largely to his
popularity as an author. After he had decided to go into orders,
he appears to have given some special attention to his preparation
for the ministry. In a letter to his father he said: "I shd be
glad if you wd make me a present of Chrysostom's & Gregorie's De
3acerdotio. "2 This was a volume of more than 600 pages in Latin
and Greek and not easy reading.
At last, in 1736 he received his degree. Although his
father wanted him to take a curacy near the university in order to
retain the exhibition at Lincoln College, Hervey thought it unfair
to deprive someone else who might need the money more than he did.
He chose to return to Hardingstone and serve as curate to his
father at Collingtree.3
On September 19th he was ordained a deacon of the Church
of England by the Bishop of Oxford.4 Three months later his
1Cole, op. cita, Part I, p. 7.
2Box of loose papers and clippings labeled "Weston" in
the Northampton Public Library.
3Cole, op. cit., Part I, p. 9.
'Hervey, Letters, Elegant. Interesting,. and Evangelical,
p. 98.