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"I look upon the discovery of any thing which is true as a valuable acquisition to society; which cannot possibly hurt or obstruct the good effect of any other truth whatsoever: for they all partake of one common essence, and necessarily coincide with each other; and like drops of rain which fall separately into the river, mix themselves at once with the stream and strengthen the general current." Thomas Middleton

Thomas Turton (1780-1864) is better known in his role as the Bishop of Ely than as the ninth holder of the Lucasian Chair, for he was far more interested in religion than mathematics. His publications include neither works on science nor mathematics, but he published several works concerning religious viewpoints in controversial areas. He was ordained as a deacon at Norwich in 1813 and as a priest six months later.¹ He was appointed the Bishop of Ely in 1845.

Turton came to Cambridge as a pensioner at Queens' College, Cambridge in 1801 and transferred to Catherine Hall in 1804. He managed to graduate as senior wrangler in 1805 and tied for the Smith's prize. He was elected a fellow of Catherine Hall in 1806 and his M.A. was awarded in 1808. He also earned a bachelor's degree in theology (BD) in 1816 and a DD (per Lit. Reg.) in 1828.² He was the Lucasian Professor from 1822 to 1827, resigning to become the Regius Professor of Divinity, a chair he held until 1842.³ He held the office of dean at Peterborough from 1830 to 1842 and was dean of Westminster from 1842 to 1845.⁴ Turton was president of the University Philosophical Society during 1829.⁵

Turton's major work was in religious writings, sometimes publishing under the pseudonym Crito Cantabrigiensis in his early works. His first major work was A Vindication of the Literary Character of the late Professor Porson from the Animadversions of the Right Reverend Thomas Burgess, the Lord Bishop of Salisbury. ⁶ Porson was a scholar of the late 1700s who translated and interpreted old Greek and Latin manuscripts. After his death, Bishop Burgess attacked his work in print on several occasions. Turton felt that these attacks were unjustified and set out to prove this using a technical approach. He read the related works then pointed out the bishop's errors with references and explanations. The work is a 400 page, detailed work on very old Latin and Greek manuscripts.

Turton showed himself to be a serious scholar when he traveled to Paris to review manuscripts written in 1627 and 1698 to verify that the original Greek text contained particular words and phrases. The interpretation of these was critical to the argument.⁷ In his time, these documents were already about two hundred years old. Furthermore, there were other manuscripts purported to be "... a full 1000 years old."⁸ These men were serious religious scholars of their time. They looked carefully at whether or not a certain part of speech, such as an article or conjunction, was used consistently in order to verify authenticity. Porson had written on Augustine, Cassiodorus and other historical figures. Turton covers these writings and defends them as he did Porson's other work.

Turton used his pseudonym in publishing this book about Porson, giving three reasons in the preface. The first was the reasonable desire to avoid a public confrontation with an English bishop. The second was that since he had based his conclusions strictly on evidence and not interpretations of evidence, it did not matter who wrote the book. Lastly, since clearing the good name of Mr. Porson was the intention, and it was achieved, it did not matter who accomplished it. Clearly, the most important factor in deciding to use the pseudonym was the fear of the Bishop's reprisals, which could mean the loss of a job or exclusion from a later position.⁹

The Text of the English Bible as Now Printed by the Universities... ¹⁰ was Turton's contribution to a controversy over the choice of which Bible was to be designated the official version. In 1832 "... a Committee was formed, of some of the most eminent Dissenting Ministers resident in London and its environs, `for the Restoration and Protection of the Authorized Version of the Bible.' ...."¹¹ A subcommittee published a report selecting a King James' Bible printed in 1611. Turton took exception to this choice and in his The Text... detailed his reasons for his position. Demonstrating his familiarity with the Latin, ancient Greek and Hebrew languages, he also showed his understanding of Biblical history. His real objection to the use of the 1611 King James version was that it italicized words inaccurately. He documented the mistake in great detail, listing the parts of speech involved, the words themselves and the sentences expressed. He then compares the text with the original languages, pointing to the original use of italics, which was to highlight words that were implied in original languages but not actually used. The 1611 version, in Turton's view, used italics in arbitrary fashion. In this sense, the book is quite technical. There are, naturally, overtones of politics concerning the dissenting ministers, and Turton even offers his own view on Dissenters. "The grand principle on which Dissent is founded consists in the rejections of all human authority in matters of Religion."¹² With this statement and more criticism of the committee, Turton summarizes his belief that he has proven that the 1611 version is the wrong standard, and that the current version printed by the universities is proper.

In another publication, Natural Theology Considered with reference to Lord Brougham's Discourse on that subject , Turton uses his objections to Brougham's writings as a platform to expound his own system of Natural Theology.¹³ The book is organized into seven sections, the first three discussing the three branches of Natural Theology: Physical, Psychological, and Ethical, and the next three covering the Advantages (of the study of Natural Theology), the A Priori Argument (for the existence of God), and the Opinions of the Ancient Philosophers. He devotes the last section to Bishop Warburton.¹⁴ Turton opens the book by drawing the distinction between Natural Theology and Natural Religion, which Lord Brougham had not done to his satisfaction. Turton also borrows much from William Paley in dealing with Brougham's arguments.¹⁵

Turton was well known for composing church music and for collecting art.¹⁶ He edited two authors, William Wilson and John Hey,¹⁷ the first Norrisian Professor of Divinity at Cambridge. Wilson's work was the Illustration of the Method of explaining the New Testament by the early opinions of the Jews and Christians concerning Christ. Turton edited Lectures on Divinity by Hey.¹⁸

While at Cambridge, Turton was involved in controversies over religious beliefs and the suitability of potential students, in addition to his scientific duties. He was strongly opposed to the abolition of the religious tests that students were required to undergo in order to be admitted to Cambridge.¹⁹ He did not use science and mathematics to justify religious beliefs or to prove the correctness of interpretations of Biblical events as did several of his predecessors in the Lucasian Chair, but he expressed his objections to the use of science in religion because it only made matters more difficult.²⁰

The doctrine of predestination provided Turton with plenty of fodder for public discussions and writings, especially with Edward Copelston, the Bishop of Llandaff, as did Roman Catholic practices and beliefs.²¹

Footnotes

1. J. A. Venn, Alumni Cantabrigiensis (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1951), 255.
2. Venn, 255.
3. Dictionary of National Biography.
4. Venn, 255.
5. Venn, 255.
6. Thomas Turton, A Vindication of the Literary Character of the late Professor Porson from the Animadversions of the Right Reverend Thomas Burgess, the Lord Bishop of Salisbury (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1827).
7. Turton, Vindication, 119.
8. Turton, Vindication, 220.
9. Turton, Vindication, preface.
10. Thomas Turton, The Text of the English Bible as Now Printed by the Universities with Reference to a Report by a sub-committee of Dissenting Ministers (London: Cambridge University Press, 1833).
11. Turton, English Bible, 1.
12. Turton, English Bible, 101.
13. Thomas Turton, Natural Theology Considered with reference to Lord Brougham's Discourse on that subject (London: John Parker, 1836).
14. William Warburton, Bishop of Gloucester (1698-1779).
15. William Paley (1743-1805).
16. Dictionary of National Biography. John Hey BA DD, 1734-1815.
17. Dictionary of National Biography.
18. Thomas Turton, Thoughts on the Admission of Persons without regard to their Religious Opinions to certain Degrees in the Universities of England (London: Cambridge University Press, 1834).
19. Turton, Natural Theology, 4.
20. Turton 1837.