Perkins, William

(1558–1602)

   Theologian.

   Perkins was born in Warwickshire and was educated at the University of Cambridge. He was a fellow of Christ’s College until 1594 and subsequently became the St Andrew’s lecturer. He was well known as a determined Puritan and was a highly influential and much respected figure within the Church of England. Among his writings were A Golden Chain, An Exposition of the Lord’s Prayer, An Exposition of the Symbol or Creed of the Apostles and De Praedestinationis Modo et Ordine. This last elicited a response from Jacob arminius. In his theology, Perkins has been seen as a forerunner of seventeenthcentury Pietism.

   T.F. Merrill, William Perkins (1966);

   R.A. Sisson, ‘William Perkins, apologist for the Elizabethan Church’, Modern Language Review, xlvii (1952).