GILL, JOHN (1697–1771)

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GILL, JOHN (1697–1771)

English Baptist theologian
Born to working-class parents in Kettering, Northamptonshire, Gill was educated at the local grammar school. He never attended college or university but learned Greek, Hebrew, and Latin with the help of local Nonconformist ministers. After preaching locally he was called to the pastorate of the Calvinist Baptist church which met at Horsleydown, Southwark, in 1719. Here he remained as pastor until his death. Being near London he was also in demand as a lecturerin various centers.
Many of his books were replies to attacks on high or hyper-Calvinism, which he held. In defense of the doctrine of eternal justification he wrote, The Doctrine of God’s Everlasting Love to His Elect(1732). Against John Wesley he wrote, The Doctrine of Predestination Stated and Set in Scripture-Light (1752). His massive The Case of God and Truth (four volumes) was meant to answer Arminian views of divine election. His great Body of Divinity (1770), published at the end of his life and often reprinted, was based on the sermons he preached. They were heavily doctrinal in content.
The famous book of Andrew Fuller, Gospel Worthy of All Acceptation (1785), which led to a renewal of Baptist churches, was aimed at the denial of that arid Calvinism that Gill and others bequeathed to the Calvinist Baptist Church of England. Yet of Gill, Augustus Toplady wrote, “While true religion and sound learning have a single friend in the British Empire, the works and name of Gill will be precious and revered.”
P. Toon