 William Twisse was born in 1578 of German parents. He took both his B.
A. and his M. A. from New College, Oxford. After several pastorates and
teaching positions as chaplain and university professor, he was
appointed prolocutor of the Westminster Assembly of Divines, a post he
accepted reluctantly. The minutes show that his involvement was more formal
than personal, and that Cornelius Burgess fulfilled the duties of
prolocutor more than did Twisse; in fact, it says that the prolocutor (Twisse)
was "very sick and in great straits." In 1645, Twisse fainted in the
pulpit while preaching, and died a year later. He was buried in
Westminster Abbey with great pomp, but in 1661 his remains, along with those of
several others, were dug up and put in a common pit in the churchyard
of St. Margaret's Westminster.
Twisse is most known for his Of the Morality of the Fourth Commandment
as Still in Force to Bind Christians and his The Riches of God's Love
to the Vessels of Mercy, Consistent with His Absolute Hatred and
Reprobation of the Vessels of Wrath. In 1997, Twisse's work A Treatise of Mr.
Cotton's Clearing Certaine Doubts Concerning Predestination Together
with an Emination Thereof was reprinted, but has sold out of its print
run. In 1999 The Riches of God's Love . . . was reprinted, but has also
sold out of its print run. Twisse's response (as far as we are told) to
John Cotton on Romans 9 is available on the internet at
http://www.truecovenanter.com/supralapsarian/twisse_romans09.html.
Sir Henry Vane, Jr.Commoner member of the Westminster Assembly.
Sir Henry Vane, Sr.Commoner member of the Westminster Assembly. |
|
|
