William Whiston

William Whiston (9 December 1667 – 22 August 1752) was an English theologian, historian, natural philosopher, and mathematician. He is best known for helping to start the Longitude Act in 1714 and for translating important works by Josephus, such as the Antiquities of the Jews.

Whiston was a student and follower of the famous scientist Isaac Newton. He took over Newton’s job as Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge. However, Whiston lost this position in 1710 because of his unusual religious beliefs.

Early life and career

William Whiston was born in 1667 in Norton-juxta-Twycross, in Leicestershire. His father was a rector. Whiston was educated privately and later attended Queen Elizabeth Grammar School at Tamworth, Staffordshire. He then went to Clare College, Cambridge to study mathematics.

In 1694, Whiston met Isaac Newton and started learning about Newton's ideas. They became friends, and in 1702, Whiston took over Newton’s job as a professor at Cambridge. During this time, he worked with scientist Roger Cotes on experiments and lectures.

Newtonian theologian

William Whiston gave important talks in 1707 about science and faith. These talks were based on the work of Isaac Newton. Whiston believed that the Bible's true meaning should be easy to understand.

He also wrote about how events in the Bible, like floods and eclipses, could be explained with science.

Whiston's ideas sometimes caused disagreements with other thinkers. This also made his relationship with Newton difficult. He also talked about deep religious topics, which sometimes made others uncomfortable.

Unorthodox religious views

William Whiston had many different ideas about religion that many churches did not accept at the time. He stopped believing in a very important church statement called the Nicene Creed and instead supported a view called Arianism. Because of these beliefs, he lost his teaching job and had to leave the university.

Whiston started groups to share his ideas about what he called “primitive Christianity.” He talked about his beliefs in many places in London and other towns. Even though some people agreed with him, many thought his ideas were wrong. Later in life, he left the church he was part of and joined a different group called the Baptists. Whiston also had special views on when events in the Bible happened and wrote about many religious topics during his lifetime.

Scientific lecturer and popular author

William Whiston gave talks about science in London, often at coffee houses and special meeting rooms. He explained how stars and other science ideas worked and sometimes talked about religion too.

He wrote books and charts about space, including one showing paths of objects called comets. He helped make a law to solve a problem sailors had finding their location at sea. For many years, he shared ideas about how to solve this, even though some people made fun of him. He also wrote a book saying a comet caused a big flood long ago. Once, he worried many people in London by saying a comet might hit Earth, but a leader told everyone not to worry.

Personal life and death

William Whiston married Ruth, the daughter of his headmaster at Tamworth school, George Antrobus. He died on 22 August 1752 at Lyndon Hall in Rutland, while staying with his son-in-law, Samuel Barker. He had children named Sarah, William, George, and John.

Works

William Whiston spent many years talking about different subjects like religion, math, and history. He wrote a book called Primitive Christianity Revived in 1711–1712 to share his ideas about early Christian beliefs. In 1713, he made a new plan for church services. In 1730, he wrote a book about the life of Samuel Clarke.

In 1727, Whiston published a book called Authentik Record. It had translations and essays about old books not in the main Bible. In 1737, he translated the works of the ancient writer Josephus into English and added his own notes. By 1745, he also published Primitive New Testament, using old handwritten copies of the Bible.

Whiston wrote his own memoirs in three volumes between 1749 and 1750.

Editions

• New theory of the Earth. London: Robert Roberts. 1696.
• New theory of the Earth (in German). Frankfurt am Main: Christian Gottlieb Ludwig. 1713.