Thomas Ridgley

Born in 1667, he became a prominent English Independent minister and theologian. He served in London and built a reputation as a careful expositor of Reformed doctrine.

Ridgley is best known for A Body of Divinity, published in 1731, an extended treatment of the Westminster Shorter Catechism. The work was influential enough to earn him a Doctor of Divinity degree from the University of Aberdeen, and it remained an important text for later readers interested in Protestant theology.

He died on March 27, 1734. Today he is chiefly remembered for clear, methodical religious writing that tried to explain demanding theological ideas in an organized and practical way.