One of those memories I treasure for the years I served at the First Unitarian Society in Newton, Massachusetts, was the pulpit. I was always careful when speaking of the church and various things about it to say “our,” after all it was our church. But, I always said, “my” pulpit. Even though I held it in trust, it had been presented to me within that trust and it was “mine” for eight years.
As an object it was a wonder to behold. Among the delights of the thing were the carved figures that circled the pulpit, which itself reached up and out. Once you were in there, there was no removing you until you were done. The figures were all Unitarian “greats.” Among them John Biddle. Although in subsequent years I’ve come to suspect the image was imaginative, as there appears to be no authoritative contemporary image of him.
John Biddle, sometimes Bidle was born near Gloucestershire, in England, on this day in 1615. He attended Magdalen Hall in Oxford and earned an MA in 1641. As a headmaster of a school affiliated with the cathedral he turned his attention to the scriptures, and like many who read the document critically found insufficient and certainly no direct support for the doctrine of the trinity. (There are only two explicit references, one in Matthew, the other in John. The general consensus among scholars is that they do not exist in early versions of the texts, and are interpolations added long after their original composition…)
That was, of course, his downfall. In 1645 he was imprisoned. Then again the following year. And then again the year after that. While imprisoned he wrote Twelve Arguments Drawn Out of Scripture, Wherein the Commonly Received Opinion Touching the Deity of the Holy Spirit, Is Clearly and Fully Refuted. And soon he was imprisoned once more and remained so until the amnesty of 1660.
He once again fell foul of the government who ordered his Twofold Catechism: The One simply called A Scripture Catechism, the Other, A brief Scripture-Catechism for Children confiscated and destroyed. The new government, well actually the dictator Oliver Cromwell had him imprisoned once more. Little is more dangerous than a really good idea. This time, his health broken, he died.
It is also possible that he translated the renowned Racovian Catechism, a critical link between English and continental Unitarians.
Now, orthodox Christians like to celebrate their saints and martyrs upon the date of their death. Makes a ton of sense, it is the moment they go to their glory. One can argue it is also the date that we can truly assess a person’s life. But, me, I prefer birthdays, filled, as all our birthdays are, with possibility and hope.
And so today, the 14th of January, I feel called to recall and to celebrate the life of a true hero of the deep way, a martyr to relentless not knowing, to taking the path of honesty in heart and mind to wherever it may go.
I celebrate John Biddle.
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