Thomas Watson

Thomas Watson was born around 1620, probably in Yorkshire, in a family that was inclined to the Puritan cause. Little is known of his early years. He was sent to Emmanuel College, in Cambridge, the Puritan college of the university, where he took his degree in 1639 or 1640, and his master's in 1642. He was a young man of scholarly gifts and a quiet manner. He was ordained, and he married Abigail Beadle, the daughter of a minister, John Beadle, of Barnston, in Essex. The couple had a number of children. He took an early interest in preaching, and he was known as a clear and fluent speaker.

In 1646, at the age of about twenty-six, he was appointed rector of St. Stephen's, Walbrook, in the city of London, one of the main parish churches of the City, and it had a prominent congregation. He was a man of piety and learning, who became popular. He lectured on the Thursdays, and the church was crowded. He preached before the Lord Mayor and the aldermen. He was known for his pithy sayings and his vivid images. His preaching was both solemn and sweet. He was a Presbyterian in his view of church government, and he stood for a moderate course. When King Charles I was put on trial in 1648, he took a stand against the execution, and he was one of the ministers who signed a protest. He did not approve of the regicide.

His opposition to the Commonwealth led to trouble. In 1651, he was imprisoned in the Tower of London, along with other Presbyterian ministers, for his part in a plot to restore the king, known as Love's Plot, after Christopher Love, who was executed. He was in danger, but he was spared. He was released after a short time, in 1652, and was restored to his post. He gave himself again to the work of his parish. He took care of the poor and the sick. He was loved by his people.

In 1662, when the Act of Uniformity was passed, he refused to conform and was ejected from his pulpit, with two thousand other ministers. He lost his position and his income. For ten years, he lived in hard circumstances. He continued to preach to a small group in his home, at risk of fines and prison. In 1665, during the Great Plague, he stayed in London and served the sick and the dying, while many of the other clergy fled. In 1666, he saw the Fire of London. In 1672, when the king issued the Declaration of Indulgence, which permitted Nonconformists to hold public worship in licensed places, he took out a license for the great hall of Crosby House, in Bishopsgate. A large congregation gathered. From 1675 until his death, he shared the pulpit there with Stephen Charnock, a man of great gifts.

He wrote a number of books, which were published in his life and after his death. They are marked by a clear structure, a rich use of Scripture and a gift for pithy sayings, which make them easy to remember. Among the early works are The Godly Man's Picture, published in 1666, a description of the marks of a true believer, The Beatitudes, The Ten Commandments, The Lord's Prayer and The Doctrine of Repentance. In The Great Gain of Godliness and All Things for Good, he wrote on the providence of God. His most important work, A Body of Divinity, was published in 1692, after his death. It is a series of lectures on the Westminster Shorter Catechism, which he had given at Crosby Hall. It set out in a clear and warm manner the whole of Christian doctrine, with abundant illustration. It is one of the best systematic statements of Puritan theology.

His writing was admired in the centuries that followed. Charles Spurgeon called him a treasury of wisdom and said that his works are a mine of wealth. Spurgeon wrote that he was one of the greatest of the Puritans. He was known for sayings such as that the sea of God's love is bottomless and that sin is a burden that will sink a man to hell. He wrote with a graphic style, with homely illustrations. He taught that the Christian life is one of joy and not of gloom.

His weaknesses were few. He was perhaps overly cautious in his dealing with the authorities. He avoided controversy. His relations with the Anglican authorities were somewhat uneasy. He was also known to be a man of poor health, who suffered from a number of illnesses. After the death of Stephen Charnock in 1680, he carried on alone. In 1685, he was forced by his failing health to leave London, and he retired to Barnston, in Essex, where he died in 1686, at the age of about sixty-six. Tradition says that he was found dead on his knees in his study, in the act of prayer. His life shows the effect of a pastor who lost his pulpit but kept his convictions. His book remains a standard of sound teaching.