author
Thomas Woolston
1670–1733
A bold and troublesome voice in early 18th-century religious debate, this English theologian became famous for reading biblical miracles as allegory rather than literal history. His writings stirred fierce controversy, drew a blasphemy prosecution, and made him a memorable figure in the age of reason.
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About the author
Born in Northampton and educated at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, he studied theology, took holy orders, and became a fellow of his college. Though often labeled a deist, some later scholars have described him more narrowly as an Anglican with highly unorthodox views.
He was deeply influenced by the early Christian writer Origen, and from that influence developed an allegorical approach to Scripture. That approach brought him into conflict with religious and political authorities, especially in his writings on the miracles of Jesus, where he argued against reading them as straightforward literal events.
His most famous controversy came at the end of the 1720s, when he was prosecuted for blasphemous libel after publishing a series of works on Christ’s miracles. Whatever label is attached to him today, he stands out as a sharp, provocative participant in the religious arguments of Enlightenment-era England.