An accidental blog

"If God is sovereign, then his lordship must extend over all of life, and it cannot be restricted to the walls of the church or within the Christian orbit." Abraham Kuyper Common Grace 1.1.

Monday, 21 April 2014

British Calvinists: John Preston (1587-1628)

John Preston (1587-1628) was born in Northamptonshire. He obtained a BA from King's College, Cambridge and then MA in 1611 from Queens' College, Cambridge. He was converted under the preaching of John Cotton. He then became ordained around 1611. Jonathan Moore describes him as "perhaps the most influential and esteemed leader of the godly in both church and state." 

He obtained his BD in 1620 and held numerous high level posts including dean of Queens',chaplain to Prince Charles and master of Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He attended the York House Conference in 1626 set up to bring a rapprochement between Arminians and Calvinists. 

Preston adopted a form of hypothetical universalism some time after 1615. He was a moderate and non-separating Calvinist, though he did much to help foster the growth of Puritanism during his time as master of Emmanuel.



Some of Preston's works are available here: http://www.prdl.org/author_view.php?a_id=466

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