Sydrach Simpson (1600–1655)

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Biography of Sydrach Simpson (1600–1655):

Sydrach Simpson (also found in some historical sources as Sydrach Sympson) was born around 1600 and died in 1655. He belonged to that remarkable generation of Puritan ministers who labored through some of the most turbulent religious and political years in English history. Though not as widely known today as Thomas Goodwin, Jeremiah Burroughs, Philip Nye, or William Bridge, Simpson stood among their number as a respected preacher, churchman, and defender of Congregational principles.

              He was educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, entering as a sizar in either 1616 or early 1617. Emmanuel College was a strong center of Puritan learning during this period and produced many ministers who later became influential in the reforming movements of the seventeenth century.

              After completing his studies, Simpson became curate and lecturer at St. Margaret’s Church, Fish Street, London. His preaching quickly gained attention and popularity. Yet these were difficult days for ministers who desired further reform in the Church of England. Under Archbishop William Laud, conformity to ceremonial practices and ecclesiastical regulations was enforced with increasing severity. During Laud’s metropolitan visitation in 1635, Simpson was summoned, along with several other Puritan ministers, for alleged breaches of church canons. Although he formally submitted, the environment became increasingly hostile toward ministers of Puritan convictions.

              Like many of his contemporaries, Simpson eventually found his position untenable. Alongside Thomas Goodwin, Philip Nye, Jeremiah Burroughs, and William Bridge, he left England and sought refuge in the Netherlands. These men would later become famous as the “Five Dissenting Brethren” and would play a major role in shaping English Congregationalism.

              Upon arriving in Rotterdam, Simpson joined the English church there. At first, he greatly admired the order and government of the congregation. After presenting a confession of faith, he was received into membership. In time, however, he became convinced that certain practices should be altered. Among the changes he advocated was the revival of “prophesyings,” a Puritan practice in which members of the congregation could ask questions and seek clarification following the sermon for their greater spiritual benefit.

              These disagreements eventually produced tension between Simpson and the church’s leadership, particularly William Bridge. The dispute became serious enough that Simpson withdrew and established a separate congregation. The new church began with only a handful of members but gradually grew into a substantial body. Joseph Symonds later served alongside him in this work. The divisions among the English congregations in Rotterdam became significant and eventually required mediation by fellow ministers and even the involvement of civil authorities before reconciliation and consolidation could be achieved.

              The experience in Holland was important not only for Simpson personally but also for the development of Congregational thought among English exiles. The practical challenges these ministers faced in organizing churches outside the structures of the established church helped shape many of the ecclesiastical convictions they would later defend in England.

              By approximately 1641, Simpson had returned to London, likely before some of his fellow exiles. He resumed preaching at St. Margaret’s, Fish Street, and also lectured at Blackfriars. When the Westminster Assembly was convened in 1643, Simpson was appointed one of its members. He attended faithfully and became one of the leading representatives of the Independent, or Congregational, position.

              Within the Assembly, Simpson worked closely with Goodwin, Nye, Burroughs, and Bridge. Together they became known as the “Five Dissenting Brethren.” While the majority of the Assembly favored Presbyterian church government, these men argued for Congregational principles. In 1643 they jointly published the famous Apologeticall Narration, a respectful defense of Congregationalism presented to Parliament.

              Contemporary accounts consistently describe Simpson as moderate in debate and courteous in spirit, even when firmly defending his convictions. He participated in numerous discussions regarding church government, liberty of conscience, and the relationship between church and state. He became known as a strong advocate for liberty of conscience, extending toleration further than many of his contemporaries were willing to allow.

              During the years of the Commonwealth, Simpson’s influence continued to grow. In 1650 he was appointed Master of Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, replacing Richard Vines, who had been removed for refusing the Engagement. Simpson also served on important parliamentary committees, including one charged with drafting a list of fundamental doctrines for presentation to Parliament.

              In 1654 he was appointed one of the commissioners responsible for examining and approving ministers for public preaching. These commissioners became commonly known as the “Triers.” Established under Oliver Cromwell’s government, the Triers were intended to ensure that ministers entering pulpits possessed both sound doctrine and godly character. Simpson’s appointment reflected the respect he had earned among both churchmen and political leaders.

              He also served as one of the visitors of Cambridge University and held several ecclesiastical positions in London, including the rectories of St. Mary Abchurch and later St. Bartholomew Exchange. At St. Mary Abchurch he organized a Congregational church and exercised pastoral oversight according to Independent principles.

              Not all accounts of Simpson were favorable. Some critics, particularly opponents of Congregationalism, accused him of promoting excessive liberty in matters of conscience and church government. Others objected to his opposition to Presbyterian systems of ecclesiastical appeals. Yet even many opponents acknowledged his learning, preaching ability, and personal devotion.

              One nineteenth-century historian observed that attempts to portray Simpson as a dangerous radical often rested on remarkably weak evidence. For example, critics cited a sermon in which Simpson warned that efforts at church reformation frequently encounter opposition and treachery. Such statements were hardly unusual among Puritan ministers living through the upheavals of the seventeenth century.

              As a preacher, Simpson was widely respected. He possessed considerable learning and was known for earnestness, seriousness, and practical application. Though perhaps not as celebrated as Goodwin or Burroughs, he earned a reputation as a faithful expositor of Scripture and an able defender of Congregational principles.

              In his final years, declining health appears to have affected both his body and spirit. Several accounts mention periods of spiritual darkness and melancholy. Yet the closing scene of his life reflects the hope that sustained him throughout his ministry. Friends and fellow ministers gathered around him in prayer during his last illness. After thanking them for their care, he declared that his soul was satisfied. Then, lifting his hands toward heaven, he exclaimed, “He is come, he is come!” and shortly afterward entered into the presence of his Lord.

              Earlier historians often placed his death in 1658. Modern research, however, establishes that he died on April 18, 1655, and was buried at St. Bartholomew Exchange in London. His will, signed “Sidrach Simpson,” was made shortly before his death and reveals that he left behind a wife named Isabella and a family provided for through a considerable estate.

              Simpson’s son, also named Sidrach Simpson, later became a Doctor of Divinity and served for many years as rector of Stoke Newington. Unlike his father, the younger Simpson aligned himself with the established church and was known for his High Church convictions.

              Though many of Simpson’s writings have been lost, several important works remain. He preached a number of sermons before Parliament during the critical years of the English Civil Wars. He also wrote in defense of Congregational principles, liberty of conscience, and the right administration of the church. Among his surviving works are treatises on faith, unbelief, covetousness, and coming to Christ. He also assisted in preserving and promoting the writings of his friend Jeremiah Burroughs, serving as editor for several of Burroughs’s published works.

              Today, Sydrach Simpson deserves to be remembered as one of the significant Congregational voices of the Puritan era. He stood among the leading Independent divines of his generation, participated in the Westminster Assembly during one of the most important periods in British church history, and labored faithfully for what he believed to be a more biblical pattern of church government. His life reflects both the struggles and the convictions of the English Puritan movement during the seventeenth century.

 

His works:

1. “The Anatomist Anatomis’d … Answer to … An Anatomy of Independencie,” 1644, 4to (in reply to Alexander Forbes).
2. “Diatribe … the Judgement of the Reformed Churches … concerning … Preaching by those who are not Ordained,” 1647 [5 Feb. 1646] 4to (anon.; identified as Simpson’s by Nye and Loder in preface to No. 4); answered by Lazarus Seaman.
3. “A Plain and Necessary Confutation of Antichristian Errors,” 1654, 4to.
4. “Two Books … I. Of Unbelief. … II. Not going to Christ … is pardonable,” [14 Dec.] 1658, 4to (ed. by Philip Nye and John Loder).
5. “Two Books … I. Of Faith. … II. Of Covetousness,” [15 Dec.] 1658, 4to (from notes by Captain Mark Coe, Simpson’s constant hearer for twelve years, and one of his executors).
6. He prefaced Jeremiah Burroughs’s “Exposition of First Peter,” 1650, fol., and was joint editor of several of Burroughs’s works.
7. Various sermons.

 

For further study:

 

Simpson’s publications; his will, at Somerset House; Edwards’s Antapologia, 1644, pp. 142 sq., 215 sq. (has particulars from Bridge, and from Simpson’s Letters); Baillie’s Dissuasive, 1645–6; Edwards’s Gangræna, 1646, ii. 16; The Form of an Excommunication made by Mr. S. Sympson, 1651; Norwood’s Declaration after Excommunication, 1651; Dell’s Tryal of the Spirits, 1653; Reliquiæ Baxterianiæ, 1696, i. 64, ii. 197; Walker’s Sufferings of the Clergy, 1714, ii. 53; Peck’s Desiderata Curiosa, 1779, ii. 494; Granger’s Biographical Hist. of England, 1779, iii. 33; Wilson’s Dissenting Churches of London 1808, i. 470 sq.; Brook’s Lives of the Puritans, 1813, iii. 39 sq., 231, 311 sq.; Neal’s Hist. of the Puritans (Toulmin), 1822, ii. 288, iv. 189; Hanbury’s Historical Memorials, 1841, ii. 1844, iii.; Fletcher’s Hist. of Independency, 1849, iv. 23 sq.; Mitchell and Struthers’s Minutes of Westminster Assembly, 1874, pp. 293, 321; Barclay’s Inner Life of Religious Societies of the Commonwealth, 1876, p. 104; Browne’s Hist. Congr. Norf. and Suff., 1877, p. 69; Freshfield’s Unpublished Records of London, 1887, pp. 22 sq.; Freshfield’s Vestry Minute Books of St. Bartholomew, Exchange, 1890, xxxi–ii; Cole’s manuscript Athenæ Cantabr.; Milbourne’s Funeral Sermon for Sidrach Symson, D.D., 9 Nov. 1704.