Bishop Thomas Ken: a Case of Theological and Political Integrity

on March 24, 2014

Last Friday was the commemoration of Bishop Thomas Ken, a prominent figure for the Church of England and beyond. Born at Herfordshire in 1637, Ken would endure one of the most tumultuous centuries in English political and ecclesiastical history. He attended the venerable Winchester College and later Oxford University (both Hart Hall and New College). He was ordained to the priesthood in 1662, and—after serving in three parishes—returned to Winchester in 1672 to serve as a prebendary of the cathedral, a chaplain to the bishop, and a fellow of Winchester College.

It was during this time that Thomas Ken compiled a manual for prayers as well as composed hymnody. Here, he showed great skill and adeptness to hymn-writing in the English style: frank, yet comely and lofty. It is in this arena that Christianity across the world has been deeply affected by Ken. During his time at Winchester, he wrote a small doxology to append to morning and evening hymns. To this day, it is still sung weekly to the tune of  “Old 100th” from the Genevan Psalter, often as an offertory:

Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

For many Christians—especially of a Protestant stripe—Sunday worship would almost be unimaginable without this memorable doxology.

But Ken would not only be occupied with the important vocation of music; he would be drawn into the theo-political maelstrom of his times. In 1679, he was appointed by King Charles II to be the chaplain to then Princess Mary who resided at the Hague in the Netherlands, but Ken fell out with her husband William III of Orange, Stadtholder of Holland. According to the clergyman, William was mistreating his wife. Ken returned to England to be a chaplain to King Charles himself and once again took residence in Winchester.

In 1683, Charles II was to visit the town with his retinue. The court harbinger chose the good Reverend Ken’s home to lodge Nell Gwynne, the notorious official mistress to the king. Ken sharply refused and forced the courtesan to find housing elsewhere in the city. About a year later, the see of Bath and Wells suffered an episcopal vacancy. According to a common telling, King Charles himself—ever profligate yet penitent—inquired, “Where is the good little man who refused his lodging to poor Nell?” Desiring that a man of upright moral fiber and sound theological conviction take the post, the king made sure that Thomas Ken was consecrated as bishop at Lambeth on 25 January 1685. Soon after, when Charles II was lying on his deathbed, he requested Bishop Ken to remain at to offer absolution and to prepare the king for his mortal end.

James II, successor and brother, ascended the throne and quickly flew his Roman Catholic colors. In 1688, he issued the Declaration of Indulgence, which granted liberty of worship to all subjects throughout the realm of England, effectively eradicating one of the most important mechanisms of the magisterial Elizabethan Settlement as well as superseding the Church of England’s liberty and authority. In terms of politics, this was James II’s attempt to galvanize dissenters (especially Presbyterians) and Roman Catholics against Anglicans.  The king commanded his Declaration of Indulgence to be read in all parishes. Ken was one of the seven bishops who refused to obey this demand. Another was the Archbishop of Canterbury himself, William Sancroft.

Defying kings is a dangerous business. For their defiance, the Seven Bishops were briefly imprisoned in the Tower of London and tried in Westminster on a charge of seditious libel. All were acquitted with a verdict of “not guilty” on the second day of the trial. As one writer aptly analyzed, “The case marked the limits of Anglican obedience to a Roman Catholic king, and James never recovered his authority.”

The Trial of the Seven Bishops by John Rogers Herbert (Photo Credit: Wikipedia)
The Trial of the Seven Bishops by John Rogers Herbert (Photo Credit: Wikipedia)

James, having upset Parliament and the English people at large, was overthrown in the “Glorious Revolution” by Mary and her husband, William III of Orange. As part of the new rule of William and Mary, the Declaration of Indulgence was ended, but the royal couple assented to the 1689 Act of Toleration, which granted freedom of worship to non-conformist Protestants (but not Roman Catholics). No doubt King William found himself in an odd place: supreme governor of the Church of England (which, in the days of the Stuart dynasty, tended to be High Church) while at the same time raised in the Dutch Reformed tradition.

As part of William and Mary’s consolidation of power, they demanded oaths of allegiance from the clergy. Bishop Ken refused, believing himself still bound by oath to the exiled James, despite the Stuart heir’s dispossession, Roman Catholicism, and legal persecution of the clergy. Bishop Ken was thus  deposed from his see and lived the rest of his life in retirement. By this act, he joined the illustrious ranks of the Nonjurors. This was not a welcome development for “King Billy,” who perceived Nonjurors as the theological equivalent to Jacobites. Many nonjuring clergy and Jacobite statesmen were in Scotland; their refusal to cooperate with the new regime resulted in a Presbyterian takeover of the government and the Church of Scotland. William welcomed the newly re-organized Church of Scotland.

Meanwhile, the Nonjurors in that area were able to work out a compromise with the Crown and formed the Scottish Episcopal Church. Of course, this church body played a key role in the founding years of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. After the War for Independence, Anglican clergymen found themselves in a quandary, bound to make loyalty oaths to the king in their consecration vows. Nevertheless, the indomitable Samuel Seabury sought out an oath-free consecration at the hands of Scottish bishops, who retained historic episcopal continuity without monarchical demands. Bishop Seabury returned to the States with a charge to protect orthodox Christian teaching and with the Scottish Book of Common Prayer, which exercised immense influence on the American BCP from the 1789 to 1928 editions.

As for Bishop Ken, he experienced a rather uneventful retirement. After the death of James II, Queen Anne offered Ken his old see. Bishop Ken respectfully declined the offer, even if his oath had been dissolved with James’s passing. Having spent all his life in sacrifice to principles of integrity, a lively faith, and an ardent love of Christ and His Church, Bishop Ken would enjoy some peace on earth before his death. Nevertheless, the glow of his life causes us to long for ecclesiastical figures of such tremendous discernment and integrity as we enter an era no less confusing and fractious as the good bishop’s. May church leaders who interact with the government show such upright character, no matter the cost. As Bishop Ken proves, the price tag for ethical stands is rarely cheap.

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