James Foster (baptist minister)
Encyclopedia
James Foster was an English
Baptist minister.
. His grandfather had been a conformist minister at Kettering
in Northamptonshire
, and his father, James Foster, was a successful Devon
shire dissenting businessman (a fuller
). James the younger went to Thorpe's free school in Exeter from 1702, where he learned his Latin grammar; he then attended the Presbyterian Joseph Hallett's academy for dissenting ministerial students, also in Exeter. There, he met other radicals, including Hubert Stogdon, and achieved a reputation for rejecting human authority in matters of religious controversy, belief, and practical piety, privileging what he believed to be the indubitable consequences of reason and argument over passive faith and received wisdom.
on the one hand, and Lavington, another Exeter minister, on the other. The Exeter Assembly of ministers, siding with Lavington and with the trustees of the Exeter dissenting meeting-houses, demanded that Peirce's supporters sign a declaration of faith and subscribe to a set of largely unambiguously orthodox doctrines. Foster, with Stogdon and other students at the Academy, was a non-subscriber. His decision contributed to his departure from Exeter. He moved shortly afterwards to Milborne Port
, Somerset
, where he preached to a sympathetic but still relatively orthodox congregation. Frustrated, he soon left Milborne to live in the Presbyterian minister Nicholas Billingsley's house, at Ashwick
, near Shepton Mallet
. Also a lodger with Billingsley was Hubert Stogdon; all three were considered heterodox. Foster and Stogdon then jointly served the chapels at Colesford and Wookey
, near Wells
, but both remained poor. Foster's combined salary amounted to only £15 a year and he considered learning a trade to supplement his income and enable him to continue his dissenting ministry. Apparently, his chief consideration was to become, like Billingsley, a glove
r. But at about this time, a gentleman in the region called Robert Houlton took him on as chaplain in his house, relieving his financial pressures.
's Scripture Doctrine, the work which had triggered the Exeter Controversy, and which Hallett's students, most notably Stogdon, had encountered and read secretly several years earlier. Like Clarke, Foster hinted at the non-essentiality of the doctrine of the Trinity; he argued that the fundamentals of the Christian faith should operate in a marriage between reasonable interpretation of natural and revealed religion. He also came to denounce infant baptism after reading John Gale
's antipaedobaptist tracts; he believed it not to be sanctioned by scripture doctrine, and offered himself up to be re-baptized as an adult believer in London, perhaps by Gale himself. From 1724 Foster took over from Gale as co-minister with Joseph Burroughs at the General Baptist chapel in Paul's Alley, Barbican, London. By this point his Socinian leanings were well known; he and Burroughs were the only London ministers to invite the disgraced and formerly imprisoned Arian heretic Thomas Emlyn
to preach. From 1728 Foster supplemented his ministry with the newly-established Sunday evening lecture at the Old Jewry
. By 1744 he was pastor of the Independent congregation at Pinner's Hall. Emlyn was not the only radical with which he had known sympathies. The rebellious Earl of Kilmarnock
declared himself a presbyterian, and was given the sacrament whilst he was imprisoned in the Tower of London
by Foster, who also attended his execution. Foster published an Account of Kilmarnock's behaviour in 1746, after which he was viciously attacked for Jacobitism
, a claim which was far from the truth. Under the pressure of the sustained criticisms, his health began to fail.
in Aberdeen in December 1748 and was on several occasions offered livings in the conformist Church of Ireland
by Bishop Thomas Rundle. Alexander Pope
wrote in one of his Satires:
He also attracted freethinkers and London wits to his Old Jewry meetings and was respected - though disliked - by the orthodox Congregationalist Philip Doddridge
of Northampton. In the last part of his life, he probably lived with the mother of his friend Nehemiah Stokes in St Stephen, Coleman Street
. He began to suffer a series of debilitating strokes between April 1750 and July 1753, but maintained his preaching as often as his health permitted. He died at Pinners' Hall, Middlesex, on 5 November 1753, and was buried in Bunhill Fields
.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
Baptist minister.
Early life
Foster was born and baptized at Exeter, 6 September 1697. Most of our biographical knowledge of him comes from memoirs attached to a sermon preached at his funeral by his friend and colleague, Caleb FlemingCaleb Fleming
Caleb Fleming, D.D. was an English dissenting minister and polemicist.-Life:Fleming was born at Nottingham on 4 November 1698. His father was a hosier; his mother, whose maiden name was Buxton, was a daughter of the lord of the manor of Chelmerton, Derbyshire. Brought up in Calvinism, Fleming's...
. His grandfather had been a conformist minister at Kettering
Kettering
Kettering is a market town in the Borough of Kettering, Northamptonshire, England. It is situated about from London. Kettering is mainly situated on the west side of the River Ise, a tributary of the River Nene which meets at Wellingborough...
in Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...
, and his father, James Foster, was a successful Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
shire dissenting businessman (a fuller
Fulling
Fulling or tucking or walking is a step in woolen clothmaking which involves the cleansing of cloth to eliminate oils, dirt, and other impurities, and making it thicker. The worker who does the job is a fuller, tucker, or walker...
). James the younger went to Thorpe's free school in Exeter from 1702, where he learned his Latin grammar; he then attended the Presbyterian Joseph Hallett's academy for dissenting ministerial students, also in Exeter. There, he met other radicals, including Hubert Stogdon, and achieved a reputation for rejecting human authority in matters of religious controversy, belief, and practical piety, privileging what he believed to be the indubitable consequences of reason and argument over passive faith and received wisdom.
Fall-out from the Exeter Controversy
In the late 1710s, a controversy over the nature of the Trinity broke out in Exeter, between Stogdon, Hallett and James PeirceJames Peirce
James Peirce was an English dissenting minister, the catalyst for the Salter's Hall controversy.-Early life:The son of John Peirce, he was born at Wapping about 1674. His parents, who were in easy circumstances, were members of the congregational church at Stepney, under Matthew Mead...
on the one hand, and Lavington, another Exeter minister, on the other. The Exeter Assembly of ministers, siding with Lavington and with the trustees of the Exeter dissenting meeting-houses, demanded that Peirce's supporters sign a declaration of faith and subscribe to a set of largely unambiguously orthodox doctrines. Foster, with Stogdon and other students at the Academy, was a non-subscriber. His decision contributed to his departure from Exeter. He moved shortly afterwards to Milborne Port
Milborne Port
Milborne Port is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, east of Sherborne, and in the South Somerset district. It has a population of 2,735...
, Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, where he preached to a sympathetic but still relatively orthodox congregation. Frustrated, he soon left Milborne to live in the Presbyterian minister Nicholas Billingsley's house, at Ashwick
Ashwick
Ashwick is a village in the Mendip district of Somerset, England, about three miles north of Shepton Mallet and seven miles east from Wells. It has also been a civil parish since 1826...
, near Shepton Mallet
Shepton Mallet
Shepton Mallet is a small rural town and civil parish in the Mendip district of Somerset in South West England. Situated approximately south of Bristol and east of Wells, the town is estimated to have a population of 9,700. It contains the administrative headquarters of Mendip District Council...
. Also a lodger with Billingsley was Hubert Stogdon; all three were considered heterodox. Foster and Stogdon then jointly served the chapels at Colesford and Wookey
Wookey
Wookey is a village and civil parish west of Wells, on the River Axe in the Mendip district of Somerset, England. Wookey is often confused with its sister village Wookey Hole which is perhaps best known today for the Wookey Hole Caves...
, near Wells
Wells
Wells is a cathedral city and civil parish in the Mendip district of Somerset, England, on the southern edge of the Mendip Hills. Although the population recorded in the 2001 census is 10,406, it has had city status since 1205...
, but both remained poor. Foster's combined salary amounted to only £15 a year and he considered learning a trade to supplement his income and enable him to continue his dissenting ministry. Apparently, his chief consideration was to become, like Billingsley, a glove
Glove
A glove is a garment covering the hand. Gloves have separate sheaths or openings for each finger and the thumb; if there is an opening but no covering sheath for each finger they are called "fingerless gloves". Fingerless gloves with one large opening rather than individual openings for each...
r. But at about this time, a gentleman in the region called Robert Houlton took him on as chaplain in his house, relieving his financial pressures.
Other controversies
By this point, Foster was starting to publish controversial works on Christian doctrine. His Essay on Fundamentals showed the influence of Samuel ClarkeSamuel Clarke
thumb|right|200px|Samuel ClarkeSamuel Clarke was an English philosopher and Anglican clergyman.-Early life and studies:...
's Scripture Doctrine, the work which had triggered the Exeter Controversy, and which Hallett's students, most notably Stogdon, had encountered and read secretly several years earlier. Like Clarke, Foster hinted at the non-essentiality of the doctrine of the Trinity; he argued that the fundamentals of the Christian faith should operate in a marriage between reasonable interpretation of natural and revealed religion. He also came to denounce infant baptism after reading John Gale
John Gale (theologian)
John Gale was a British Baptist theologian. He was not widely known until the controversy over William Wall's work on infant baptism appeared....
's antipaedobaptist tracts; he believed it not to be sanctioned by scripture doctrine, and offered himself up to be re-baptized as an adult believer in London, perhaps by Gale himself. From 1724 Foster took over from Gale as co-minister with Joseph Burroughs at the General Baptist chapel in Paul's Alley, Barbican, London. By this point his Socinian leanings were well known; he and Burroughs were the only London ministers to invite the disgraced and formerly imprisoned Arian heretic Thomas Emlyn
Thomas Emlyn
Thomas Emlyn , English nonconformist divine.-Life:Emlyn was born at Stamford, Lincolnshire and served as chaplain to the presbyterian Letitia, countess of Donegal, and then to Sir Robert Rich, afterwards becoming colleague to Joseph Boyse, presbyterian minister in Dublin...
to preach. From 1728 Foster supplemented his ministry with the newly-established Sunday evening lecture at the Old Jewry
Old Jewry
Old Jewry is the name of a street in the City of London, in Coleman Street Ward, linking Gresham Street with The Poultry.William the Conqueror encouraged Jews to come to England soon after the Norman Conquest; some settled in cities throughout his new domain, including in London. According to Rev....
. By 1744 he was pastor of the Independent congregation at Pinner's Hall. Emlyn was not the only radical with which he had known sympathies. The rebellious Earl of Kilmarnock
William Boyd, 4th Earl of Kilmarnock
William Boyd , 4th Earl of Kilmarnock, was a Scottish nobleman.William Boyd was educated at Glasgow. Like his father in the rebellion of 1715, William initially supported the Government side, but in the rebellion of 1745, owing either to a personal affront or to the influence of his wife or to his...
declared himself a presbyterian, and was given the sacrament whilst he was imprisoned in the Tower of London
Tower of London
Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...
by Foster, who also attended his execution. Foster published an Account of Kilmarnock's behaviour in 1746, after which he was viciously attacked for Jacobitism
Jacobitism
Jacobitism was the political movement in Britain dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland, later the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Kingdom of Ireland...
, a claim which was far from the truth. Under the pressure of the sustained criticisms, his health began to fail.
Support for Foster
Despite criticism from many orthodox Calvinists, Foster was becoming a celebrated preacher and academic, winning increasing recognition from many moderates within Protestant and Roman Catholic dissent, as well as from within the radical Deist wing of the Church of England. He was awarded the degree of Doctor of Divinity (DD) from the Marischal CollegeMarischal College
Marischal College is a building and former university in the centre of the city of Aberdeen in north-east Scotland. The building is owned by the University of Aberdeen and used for ceremonial events...
in Aberdeen in December 1748 and was on several occasions offered livings in the conformist Church of Ireland
Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. The church operates in all parts of Ireland and is the second largest religious body on the island after the Roman Catholic Church...
by Bishop Thomas Rundle. Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope was an 18th-century English poet, best known for his satirical verse and for his translation of Homer. He is the third-most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, after Shakespeare and Tennyson...
wrote in one of his Satires:
- Let modest Foster, if he will, excel
- Ten Metropolitans in preaching well.
He also attracted freethinkers and London wits to his Old Jewry meetings and was respected - though disliked - by the orthodox Congregationalist Philip Doddridge
Philip Doddridge
Philip Doddridge DD was an English Nonconformist leader, educator, and hymnwriter.-Early life:...
of Northampton. In the last part of his life, he probably lived with the mother of his friend Nehemiah Stokes in St Stephen, Coleman Street
Coleman Street
Coleman Street is a street and one of the 25 ancient wards in the City of London.- The Ward :Warren Stormes Hale, Lord Mayor of London in 1864, was the Ward’s most notable civic dignitary...
. He began to suffer a series of debilitating strokes between April 1750 and July 1753, but maintained his preaching as often as his health permitted. He died at Pinners' Hall, Middlesex, on 5 November 1753, and was buried in Bunhill Fields
Bunhill Fields
Bunhill Fields is a cemetery in the London Borough of Islington, north of the City of London, and managed by the City of London Corporation. It is about 4 hectares in extent, although historically was much larger....
.
Works
- The resurrection of Christ prov'd, 1720
- An essay on fundamentals, 1720, 1754, 1761
- The usefulness, truth, and excellency of the Christian revelation, 1731, 1734
- A sermon occasion'd by the death of Mrs. Mary Wilks, 1732
- Sermons on the following subjects, 1732, 1733, 1735, 1736, 1737, 1738, 1743, 1744, 1745, 1755
- An answer to Dr. Stebbing's letter on the subject of heresy, 1735, 1736, 1737
- An answer to Dr. Stebbing's True state of the controversy with Mr. Foster, 1737
- A sermon, preached at Barbican, on Sunday, August 16, 1741, 1741
- A sermon preached at White'-Alley, 1742
- An account of the behaviour of the late Earl of Kilmarnock, 1746 [Edin, London, Dublin, Belfast], 1747 [Boston]
- An account of the apparition of the late Lord Kilmarnock, 1747
- Discourses on all the principal branches of natural religion and social virtue, 1749–52, 1754
- Offices of devotion, suited to the principal branches of natural religion, 1754