Elizabeth Bathurst
Born1655
Died1685
Notable workTruth's Vindication (1679)
Theological work
Tradition or movementQuakerism

Elizabeth Bathurst (1655-1685)[1] was an English Quaker preacher and theologian, and the author of one of the few early systematic accounts of Quaker beliefs.

Life

Bathurst was born in London, the eldest child of Charles Bathurst.[2] She and her siblings became Quakers in 1678. Soon after her conversion to Quakerism, she interrupted worship at Samuel Annesley's Presbyterian chapel in London, speaking against the doctrine of reprobation.[3] Later, she undertook several preaching tours, and was imprisoned at least once in the Marshalsea prison.

Bathurst was recognised during her lifetime by the Quaker community as a gifted preacher.[1] George Whitehead, who discussed her major work with her before its publication, commented on her "excellent gift, both of understanding, life and utterance".[4] She has been described by historian Sarah Apetrei as "by far the most theologically sophisticated" of the numerous women leaders among early Quakers.[3]

According to her father's account of her life, Bathurst suffered "great weakness of body" from infancy.[4]

Writings

Bathurst's major work was Truth's Vindication: Or, A Gentle Stroke to Wipe Off The Foul Aspersions, False Accusations and Misrepresentations, Cast Upon the People of God, call'd Quakers (first published 1679).[4] It explains and defends the distinctive Quaker account of salvation, focusing in particular on the universal offer of salvation and the infallible guidance of the Holy Spirit.[5] Truth's Vindication was reprinted six times by Quaker publishers[6] - notably in a posthumous (1691) edition by Tace Sowle, as her first project after she took over her father's publishing firm.[2]

She also wrote The Sayings of Women... in several places of the Scriptures, presenting a theological defence of women's authority to preach and teach.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 Van Vleck Garman, Mary (2015). Angell, Stephen W.; Dandelion, Pink (eds.). Early Quakers and their Theological Thought 1647-1723. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 224–238.
  2. 1 2 "Elizabeth Bathurst: Overview". Orlando: Women's Writing in the British Isles from the Beginnings to the Present.
  3. 1 2 Apetrei, Sarah (2009). "The Universal Principle of Grace: Feminism and Anti-Calvinism in Two Seventeenth-Century Women Writers". Gender & History. 21: 130–146. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0424.2009.01538.x. S2CID 144139379.
  4. 1 2 3 Bathurst, Elizabeth (1691). Truth Vindicated... London: Sowle Press.
  5. ↑ Nakano, Yasuharo (2008). "Elizabeth Bathurst's Soteriology and a List of Corrections in Several Editions of her Works". Quaker Studies. 13: 89–102. doi:10.3828/quaker.13.1.89.
  6. ↑ Mack, Phyllis (1992). Visionary Women: Ecstatic Prophecy in Seventeenth-Century England. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 312.
  7. ↑ Bathurst, Elizabeth (1680). The sayings of women, which were spoken upon sundry occasions, in several places of the Scriptures. Sowle Press.
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