But however vague and uncertain might be the
meaning of Hoadly in regard to several of the important bearings of the
questions around which he aroused discussion, he was explicit in denying
the power of the Church over the conscience, and its right to determine
the condition of men in relation to the favour of God. The most able of
his opponents was William Law; others were Andrew Snape, provost of
Eton, and Thomas Sherlock, dean of Chichester. So exercised was the mind
of the religious world over the dispute that in July 1717 as many as
seventy-four pamphlets made their appearance; and at one period the
crisis became so serious that the business of London was for some days
virtually at a stand-still. Hoadly, being not unskilled in the art of
flattery, was translated in 1721 to the see of Hereford, in 1723 to
Salisbury and in 1734 to Winchester. He died at his palace at Chelsea on
the 17th of April 1761. His controversial writings are vigorous if
prolix and his theological essays have little merit. He must have been a
much hated man, for his latitudinarianism offended the high church party
and his rationalism the other sections. He was an intimate friend of Dr
Samuel Clarke, of whom he wrote a life.
Hoadly's brother, JOHN HOADLY (1678-1746), was archbishop of Dublin from
1730 to 1742 and archbishop of Armagh from the latter date until his
death on the 19th of July 1746. In early life the archbishop was very
intimate with Gilbert Burnet, then bishop of Salisbury, and in later
life he was a prominent figure in Irish politics.
The works of Benjamin Hoadly were collected and published by his son
John in 3 vols. (1773). To the first volume was prefixed the article
"Hoadly" from the supplement to the _Biographia Britannica_. See also
L. Stephen, _English Thought in the 18th Century_.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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