Whichcote was born at Whichcote Hall in
Stoke upon Tern,
Shropshire. He entered
Emmanuel College, Cambridge in 1628, and became a
fellow in 1633. In 1637, he was
ordained a
deacon and
priest at the same time. In 1643, he married and took up priestly duties in a Cambridge-dispensed parish in
North Cadbury, Somerset. In 1644, he became 19th Provost of King's College due to
Parliamentary control of the universities. However, he was the only new head of house who did not subscribe to the
National Covenant. In 1650, during the
Interregnum, he was
vice-chancellor of the
University of Cambridge, and advised
Oliver Cromwell on the subject of toleration of the
Jews. After the
Restoration he was removed from his position at King's College, but reinstated when he accepted the
Act of Uniformity in 1662. From that time he was the Curate of
St. Anne's Church, Blackfriars, until it burnt down in 1666. In 1668, he was appointed Vicar of
St Lawrence Jewry. Whichcote was one of the leaders of the
Cambridge Platonists, and had liberal views. In 1650, he was involved in a controversy with his former teacher and friend
Anthony Tuckney. He was opposed to the doctrine of total depravity and adopted a
semi-Pelagian position, holding that man is the "child of reason", and therefore not, as the Puritans held, of a completely depraved nature. He argued that there are some questions beyond the ability of reasonable and religious people to solve, and he therefore called for religious toleration. He was accused at various times by various persons of being an
Arminian,
Socinian, and
Latitudinarian. He died in
Cambridge in May 1683 aged 74 and was buried in London at the church of St Lawrence Jewry. ==Works==