Samuel Clarke's Scripture-doctrine of the Trinity and the controversy it aroused

Abstract

The writing of a "book may be a dangerous thing. This was found to be true by Samuel Clarke, philosopher and divine of the Church of England during the last part of the seventeenth and the beginning of the eighteenth centuriesClarke had been studying intensively on the subject of the Trinity, and at last he arrived at some conclusions which he thought would help others to come more readily to an understanding of this vital doctrine of the Christian faith. These conclusions he published in 1712, in a book called The Scripture-Doctrine of the Trinity and the reception it received was comparable only with that offered by water to a piece of red hot metal, submerged for cooling purposes.Trinitarian controversy was not a new thing in England: as late as the end of the seventeenth century, there had been such a controversy with Bishop George Bull as the leader of Orthodoxy. This had just died down when Clarke's book appeared to revitalize what had seemed dead. It started at least three separate controversies. They were: the controversy in which Clarke and his ideas were the targets of men's blows, that with which this thesis will concern itself; that in which certain Trinitarians argued among themselves; and that among the Dissenters leading to the Slaters' Hall controversy and also to Unitarianism later in the century.This thesis will consist of four main parts. The first will briefly sketch in the necessary background; the second will concern itself with Clarke, the man and his thought—mainly his theological thought, his philosophy having been sufficiently dealt with elsewhere—; the third will concern itself with the book and the controversy as such; the last will indicate any conclusions we may have been able to reach.Wherever it is possible, the material will be grouped. In other words, if several men have said the same thing, either one will be quoted, or the gist of what has been said by them will be given. This has been done, because, with the wealth of material found, quotations from each person writing on the subject would prove unwieldy and tiring to the reader. Much of the material on this subject has been found to be irrelevant, in that the writers spent so much time abusing each other that they came but slowly to the point of the argument. For this reason, the reader may be inclined to find this resume, if he wishes to call it that, rather shorter than he had expected. It is hoped that this will not prove displeasing, and that what material is gathered here will shed some light on a controversy and a man "both long dead.It is also to be hoped that, although no attempt is made to vindicate any of Clarke's heretical ideas, his thought may be scrutinized in such a way as to point out wherein he was an orthodox thinker, thus clearing his name, if possible, of part or all of the stain it has carried through these years.