By WILLIAM TWISSE, D.D.
THE year 1943 marked the tercentenary of the first sitting of the Westminster Assembly of Divines, Robert Baillie of Glasgow says of it; “The like of that Assembly I did never see; and as we hear say, the like was never in England, nor anywhere is shortly like to be.” A glance at the list of divines who took part in its deliberations reveals the names of many who truly were bright ornaments of the Church of Christ. Among them none could claim a higher place than William Twisse who acted for a period as Prolocutor of the Assembly.
Twisse was born near Newbury in Berkshire about the year 1576 and was of German extraction. He was educated at Winchester school and New College, Oxford, of which he became a fellow, and where he spent sixteen years. He became Master of Arts in 1604 and Doctor of Divinity ten years later. There is no record available, as far as we know, as to the time in which he became a new creature in Christ Jesus, or the means used, but during his college life he had a reputation for true and vital godliness which was manifested in his walk and conversation.
Although reputed for his great gifts and abilities which were all used in the service of his Master there was one incident which brought him into prominence as a preacher at the time he became Doctor of Divinity. A Jew, who taught Hebrew in Oxford, for very worldly reasons professed to have been converted to Christianity, and a day was set apart on which he was to be baptized. Dr. Twisse was to preach a sermon on the occasion, but the day before the baptism the Jew disappeared with a pretty heavy purse of money which he gathered as a fruit of his supposed conversion. He was, however, brought back and the worthy Doctor had to preach a sermon suitable to the unforseen circumstances which had now arisen. There was very little time to prepare but he acquitted himself in such a way that he was admired by all who heard him, if we except the poor Jew. Thus, in a strange way, he was brought to the notice of many who otherwise would not have heard of him, so that soon the fame of his sermons and lectures reached the court of King James I. The result was that he was appointed chaplain to Princess Elizabeth and was chosen to accompany her to Germany on the occasion of her marriage to the Elector Palatine.
In about two months he was recalled to England where he laboured for a considerable period in a small country village and applied himself diligent to study. After a while he became Vicar of Newbury in his native district where he spent the most of his life, and though it was a poor living he declined to leave it when chosen Warden of Winchester College, which was equal to the greatest ecclesiastical preferment in England from a financial point of view. Other ecclesiastical preferments were offered him, but “filthy lucre” could never draw him away from attending the flock of God at Newbury. When old age was creeping upon him the Earl of Warwick offered him a Rectory which he was disposed to accept because it was a smaller parish than Newbury, but only on condition that the Earl would be careful to send a faithful preacher to Newbury. In an interview with the Archbishop of Canterbury in connection with this matter he detected that this condition would not be observed, and so he returned to Newbury, resolving to labour there as long as his Lord would enable him.
Such a man would call no man “Master” but Christ, and he proved this when King James issued his Book of Sports. Dr. Twisse refused to read the king’s proclamation in connection with it, and faithfully warned his people against the profanation of the Sabbath, by sports, May-games, dancings, and following carnal worldly pleasures. He had to continue this fight for the Sabbath for the most of his life, for King Charles I. renewed his father’s proclamation in favour of the Book of Sports. These renewed attacks on the Sabbath brought Dr. Twisse to the front again and again as the champion of the sanctity of the Lord’s Day. He spared neither king nor parliament, and discomfited them with their own weapons, for he made free use of an existing Act of Parliament in favour of the Sabbath. It was in connection with these efforts in defence of the Lord’s Day that he issued his book, The Morality of the Fourth Commandment. That he escaped the wrath of royalty in this connection is strange when many godly ministers who did not take such a prominent part in these matters were severely punished. It is thought by some that his fame throughout the Protestant Churches of Europe saved him, for to punish him would redound to the disgrace of those who did it. That his labours were not in vain in defence of the Sabbath is clear from the fact that in 1643, Parliament, among other reforming measures, ordered the Book of Sports to be burned by the common hang-man.
This was the man who was appointed by both Houses of Parliament as Prolocutor, or Moderator, of the Assembly of Divines which was called together at Westminster in 1643, which position he occupied until his death. At the first meeting of the Assembly Dr. Twisse preached to a vast congregation in the Abbey Church, Westminster, from the words, “I will not leave you comfortless, I will come unto you” (John xiv. 18). As Prolocutor, he spoke very little at the Assembly, and that was made an occasion of reflecting very unfavourably on him. Robert Baillie, one of the Scottish Commissioners to the Assembly, says of him, “The man, as all the world knows, is very learned in all the questions he has studied, and very good, beloved of all, and highly esteemed; but merely bookish, not much, as it seems, acquainted with conceived prayer, and among the unfitness of all the company for any action; so after the prayer he sits mute.” It is well-known that Dr. Twisse had a natural aversion to verbal debate, and this along with the fact that, as Prolocutor of the Assembly, it was not his place to give speeches, may be reasons for Baillie’s hardly just criticism of him. It is as a writer that his abilities and true character are to be seen.
In theology he was a supralapsarian, which is contrary to the common view held by the Reformed Churches, and known as infralapsarianism. This latter view also is that which the Westminster Confession of Faith holds forth. According to Dr. A. A. Hodge, in the infralapsarian view the order of the decree is as follows:—“(1) The decree to create man. (2) To permit him to fall. (3) The decree to elect certain men, out of the mass of the fallen and justly condemned race, to eternal life, and to pass others by, leaving them to the just consequences of their sins. (4) The decree to provide salvation for the elect.” The order of the decrees in the supralapsarian view is as follows:—“(1) Of all possible men, God first decreed the salvation of some and the damnation of others, for the end of His own glory. (2) He decreed, as a means to that end, to create those already elected or reprobated. (3) He decreed to permit them to fall. (4) He decreed to provide salvation for the elect” Outlines of Theology, pages 231-232. Dr. Twisse also held the view that God by His absolute power could forgive sin without an atonement. Dr. Owen, in his able work, A Dissertation on Divine Justice refutes the arguments of Dr. Twisse and Mr. Samuel Rutherford on this matter. Owen’s Works Vol. x.
In 1645, Dr. Twisse began to show very visible signs that the earthly house of this tabernacle was being dissolved. His mind was not clouded and his zeal was unabated, but the body was not equal to the task which it used to accomplish. During public worship in his own church he fell in the pulpit and had to be carried home, where he lingered for about a year in a weak state which he bore with Christian patience and resignation, till his death on 20th July, 1646. During his last illness a deputation of the Assembly of Divines visited him, and found him poor as regards this world’s goods, but rich in faith. He who could have the richest ecclesiastical preferment in England, if he had cared for it at the expense of his conscience, died in poverty, but rich in having an eternal inheritance. Almost his last words were, “Now, at length, I shall have leisure to follow my studies to all eternity.” He was buried in St. Peter’s Church, Westminster, but at the Restoration of King Charles II. his bones were dug up along with the bones of several others and thrown into a hole in the Margaret’s Churchyard.
His opposition to Arminians and Jesuits was very marked, and he used his abilities to counteract their craft. Dr. Owen, in spite of the fact that he differed from him in certain matters, as we have already noticed, says of him, “It is well known what sphere this learned author moved in; how far elevated above any possibility of my reaching the least esteem of him or his labours. . . . I doubt not but that it will appear to the reader that he hath dealt with the adversaries of the truth, in their chiefest holds, advantages, and strengths, putting them to shame in the calumnies and lies which they make their refuge.” He was a voluminous writer and some of his largest works were written in Latin, but it is very seldom one comes across his writings to-day except in the larger public libraries. J. C.