John Goodwin

1594-1665. Puritan divine. Educated at Queens' College, Cambridge, he became a fellow there. He was rector of East Rainham, Norfolk (1625-33), then moved to London as vicar of St. Stephens, Coleman Street. Though nominated as a member of the Westminster Assembly, he did not attend. He was an ardent supporter of Parliament against the king in the Civil War, and became known as a leading republican thinker and defender of religious liberty. In the 1640s he attacked the Presbyterians as a persecuting party. He formed a gathered church in his parish (c.1644) and for a brief period was removed from his vicarage. Goodwin was one of the few Puritans who were also Arminian. This fact involved him in much controversy. He opposed Cromwell's National Church, and printed his opinions about the Triers in Basaoistai, or The Triers (Or Tormenters) Tried (1657). He was one of those exempted from the Act of General Pardon of Charles II in 1660, but he was not executed.