Richard Thomson (theologian)

Richard Thomson, sometimes spelled Thompson, was a

Commonly called "Dutch Thomson", he was born in Holland of English parents, and received his education at Clare Hall, where he graduated B.A. in 1587 and was elected fellow. He commenced M.A. in 1591, and was incorporated in that degree at Oxford on 1 July 1596. Bishop Lancelot Andrewes presented him to the rectory of Snailwell, Cambridgeshire.

He was selected as one of the translators of the Bible, being one of the company to which the task was allotted of translating the Old Testament from Genesis to the second book of Kings inclusive.

Henry Hickman styles him ‘the grand propagator of Arminianism,’ and Prynne describes him as ‘a debosh'd drunken English Dutchman, who seldom went one night to bed sober;’ but on the other hand Richard Montagu, who knew him well, says that he was ‘a most admirable philologer,’ and that ‘he was better known in Italy, France, and Germany than at home.’ He was buried at St Edward's, Cambridge, on 8 January 1613.

Works

His works are:

• Elenchus Refutationis Pro … Episcopo Eliense adversus Martinum Becanum Jesuitam, authore Richardo Thomsonio Cantabrigiensi, London, 1611, dedicated to
  allegiance oath controversy
  .
• Diatriba de Amissione et Intercisione Gratiæ et Justificationis, Leyden, 1616 and 1618. An ‘Animadversio brevis’ on this work was published in 1618 by Robert Abbot.

References

• "Thomson, Richard (d.1613)" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
• McClure, Alexander. (1858) The Translators Revived: A Biographical Memoir of the Authors of the English Version of the Holy Bible. Mobile, Alabama: R. E. Publications (republished by the Maranatha Bible Society, 1984 ASIN B0006YJPI8 )
• Nicolson, Adam. (2003) God's Secretaries: The Making of the King James Bible. New York: HarperCollins
  ISBN 0-06-095975-4

• The Correspondence of Richard Thomson in EMLO

Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Thomson, Richard (d.1613)". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.