Life
Willis was born in Ribbesford, Worcestershire, where his father was a tanner. He was educated at Bewdley Grammar School and Wadham College, Oxford, where he matriculated in 1684 and graduated BA in 1688. He became a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford.
Willis became a curate at Cheshunt and then, in 1692, lecturer at St Clement, Strand, where he acquired a reputation as a preacher. In 1694 he was chaplain to King William III on a journey to the Netherlands.
In 1701 Willis was appointed Dean of Lincoln and in 1714 Bishop of Gloucester. In 1721 he became Bishop of Salisbury and in 1723 Bishop of Winchester. There is a memorial to him in Winchester Cathedral. Willis was Lord High Almoner from 1718 to 1723.
He was one of the principal founders of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK). He gave in 1702 the first of the annual sermons on behalf of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (SPG). It proposed an influential set of theories about evangelical missionary work in connection with the Anglican church settlement, commercial life and colonization.
He accused John Locke of “Hobbism” citing a parallel with Leviathan. He attacked deism in general, and John Toland and William Stephens in particular.
He gave a thanksgiving sermon 23 August 1705, for victories of the Duke of Marlborough in the War of the Spanish Succession. Given in St Paul's Cathedral, it was an elaborate effort for a full state occasion, and was published. It attracted also attracted controversy, with John Hughes writing A review of the case of Ephraim and Judah, and its application to the case of the church of England and the dissenters, and Joseph Williamson replying. He was also attacked by the Unitarian Thomas Emlyn.
He was a Whig in politics.
Read more about this topic: Richard Willis (bishop)
Famous quotes containing the word life:
“We find it easy to set limits when the issue is safety.... But 99 percent of the time there isn’t imminent danger; most of life takes place on more ambiguous ground, and children are experts at detecting ambivalence.”
—Cathy Rindner Tempelsman (20th century)
“I have been trying all my life to like Scotchmen, and am obliged to desist from the experiment in despair.”
—Charles Lamb (1775–1834)
“When you realize how hard it is to know the truth about yourself, you understand that even the most exhaustive and well-meaning autobiography, determined to tell the truth, represents, at best, a guess. There have been times in my life when I felt incredibly happy. Life was full. I seemed productive. Then I thought,”Am I really happy or am I merely masking a deep depression with frantic activity?” If I don’t know such basic things about myself, who does?”
—Phyllis Rose (b. 1942)