Influence
Although relatively unknown, Perkins has had an influence that is felt by Christians all around the world. Perkins' views on double predestination made him a major target of Jacobus Arminius, the Dutch Reformed clergyman who opposed the doctrine of predestination.
In his lifetime, Perkins attained enormous popularity, with sales of his works eventually surpassing even Calvin's. When he died, his writings were selling more copies than those of many of the most famous of the Reformers combined.
From his position at Cambridge, Perkins was able to influence a whole generation of English churchmen. His pupils include:
- William Ames, Puritan who eventually left England to become professor of theology at Franeker
- John Robinson, the founder of congregationalism in Leiden and pastor of the group which went on to found the Plymouth Colony
- Thomas Goodwin
- Paul Baynes
- Samuel Ward, master of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge
- Phineas Fletcher, a poet
- Thomas Draxe
- Thomas Taylor
- James Ussher, Archbishop of Armagh
- James Montagu, master of Sidney Sussex and later bishop of Winchester
- Richard Sibbes
Read more about this topic: William Perkins (puritan)
Famous quotes containing the word influence:
“The talk shows are stuffed full of sufferers who have regained their health—congressmen who suffered through a serious spell of boozing and skirt-chasing, White House aides who were stricken cruelly with overweening ambition, movie stars and baseball players who came down with acute cases of wanting to trash hotel rooms while under the influence of recreational drugs. Most of them have found God, or at least a publisher.”
—Calvin Trillin (b. 1935)
“The example of America must be the example, not merely of peace because it will not fight, but of peace because it is the healing and elevating influence of the world, and strife is not. There is such a thing as a man being too proud to fight. There is such a thing as a nation being so right that it does not need to convince others by force that it is right.”
—Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924)
“What do women want with votes, when they hold the sceptre of influence with which they can control even votes, if they wield it aright?”
—Mrs. H. O. Ward (1824–1899)