Edward Stillingfleet

1635-1699. Bishop of Worcester. Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge, he gained rapid advancement through his great learning. He was preacher at Rolls Chapel and reader at the Temple Church, becoming a prebendary of St. Paul's in 1667 and dean in 1678. He wrote on the authority of Scripture and was an early advocate of the possibility of “comprehension” between Anglicans and Presbyterians. He also wrote antiquarian works, including Origines Britannicae in 1685 on the commencement of the British Church. He strongly defended the right of bishops to sit in the House of Lords, and was concerned with the reform of procedure of the consistory court. Frequently consulted by the bishops of his day, he was a close adviser of Archbishop Tillotson* on such controversial matters as the erroneous doctrines of Roman Catholics and Socinians. As one of the early Latitudinarians, he was appointed bishop of Worcester after the Revolution in 1689, where he proved himself an energetic and active pastor.