Select Page

Thomas Cartwright (1535–1603)

An Early Puritan and Precisionist
Today, many Christians are turning back to the puritans to, “walk in the old paths,” of God’s word, and to continue to proclaim old truth that glorifies Jesus Christ. There is no new theology. In our electronic age, more and more people are looking to add electronic books (ePubs, mobi and PDF formats) to their library – books from the Reformers and Puritans – in order to become a “digital puritan” themselves. Take a moment to visit Puritan Publications (click the banner below) to find the biggest selection of rare puritan works updated in modern English in both print form and in multiple electronic forms. There are new books published every month. All proceeds go to support A Puritan’s Mind.

His Works:

  1. Commentarii succincti & dilucidi in Proverbia Salomonis (Amstelodami : Sumptibus Henrici Laurentii …, 1632) / added author(s): Johannes Polyander
  2. Commentary upon the Epistle of St. Paul to the Colossians (Edinburgh : James Nichol, 1864) [Bound with Henry Airay, Lectures upon the whole Epistle of St. Paul to the Philippians (1864)]
  3. Harmonia evangelica commentario illustrata (Amstelodamum, 1647)
  4. Harmonia evangelica, commentario analytico, metaphrastico, practico: illustrata: antehac diversis voluminibus edita, nunc summa industria in unum corpus redacta, summariis aucta, & à mendis, quibus scatebat, repurgata. Operis rationem & usum praefatio docebit Amsterodami : Apud Ludovicum Elzevirium, 1647
  5. Lectures upon the whole Epistle of St. Paul to the Philippians (Airay); bound with: A Commentary upon the Epistle of St. Paul to the Colossians (Cartwright) (Edinburgh : James Nichol, 1864) / added author(s): Henry Airay
  6. Metaphrasis et homiliae in librum Salomonis qui inscribitur Ecclesiastes (Amstelodami : Sumptibus Henrici Laurentii., 1632)
  7. The second replie of Thomas Cartwright agaynst maister doctor Whitgiftes second answer, touching the Church discipline ([Heidelberg] : jmprinted [by Michael Schirat], 1575)

 

Biography of Thomas Cartwright:

Thomas Cartwright (1535–1603), English Puritan divine, was born in Hertfordshire. He studied divinity at St John’s College, Cambridge, but on Mary’s accession had to leave the university, and found occupation as clerk to a counsellor-at-law. On the accession of Elizabeth, he resumed his theological studies, and was soon afterwards elected fellow of St John’s and later of Trinity College. In 1564 he opposed John Preston in a theological disputation held on the occasion of Elizabeth’s state visit, and in the following year helped to bring to a head the Puritan attitude on church ceremonial and organization. He was popular in Ireland as chaplain to the archbishop of Armagh (1565–1567), and in 1569 he was appointed Lady Margaret professor of divinity at Cambridge; but John Whitgift, on becoming vice-chancellor, deprived him of the post in December 1570, and—as master of Trinity—of his fellowship in September 1571. This was a natural consequence of the use which he made of his position; he inveighed bitterly against the hierarchy and constitution of the Anglican Church, which he compared unfavourably with the primitive Christian organization. So keen was the struggle between him and Whitgift that the chancellor, William Cecil, had to intervene. After his deprivation by Whitgift, Cartwright visited Beza at Geneva. He returned to England in 1572, and might have become professor of Hebrew at Cambridge but for his expressed sympathy with the notorious “Admonition to the Parliament” by John Field and Thomas Wilcox. To escape arrest he again went abroad, and officiated as clergyman to the English residents at Antwerp and then at Middelburg. In 1576 he visited and organized the Huguenot churches of the Channel Islands, and after revising the Rhenish version of the New Testament, again settled as pastor at Antwerp, declining the offer of a chair at St Andrews. In 1585 he returned without permission to London, was imprisoned for a short time, and became master of the earl of Leicester’s hospital at Warwick. In 1590 he was summoned before the court of high commission and imprisoned, and in 1591 he was once more committed to the Fleet. But he was not treated harshly, and powerful influence soon secured his liberation. He visited Guernsey (1595–1598), and spent his closing years in honour and prosperity at Warwick, where he died on the 27th of December 1603. Cartwright was a man of much culture and originality, but exceedingly impulsive. His views were distinctly Presbyterian, and he stoutly opposed the Brownists or Independents. He never conceived of a separation between church and state, and would probably have refused to tolerate any Nonconformity with his reformed national Presbyterian church. To him, however, the Puritanism of his day owed its systematization and much of its force.

Offsite Banner Ad:

Help Support APM

Search the Site

Reformed Theology at A Puritan's Mind