Thomas Gisborne

Thomas Gisborne
detail from Joseph Wright painting
Born	31 October 1758 Bridge Gate, Derbyshire
Died	24 March 1846(1846-03-24) (aged 87)
Education	Harrow and entered St John's College
Occupation	divine
Spouse	Elizabeth
Children	eight
Parents	John and Ann Gisborne

Thomas Gisborne (31 October 1758 – 24 March 1846) was an Anglican divine, priest and poet. He was a member of the Clapham Sect, who fought for the abolition of the slave trade in England.

Life

Gisborne was born at Bridge Gate, Derbyshire, the son of John Gisborne of Yoxhall Lodge in Needwood Forest, Staffordshire and his wife Anne Bateman. He was educated at Harrow and entered St John's College, Cambridge in 1776, where he established life-long friendships with William Wilberforce and Thomas Babington. At Cambridge, he became the first Chancellor's medallist in 1780.

In 1783 he became curate of Barton-under-Needwood, and later that year inherited Yoxall Lodge, Staffordshire, which was 3 miles from the church. The next year he married Mary Babington (b. 1760). They had six sons and two daughters. The eldest son, Thomas Gisborne (1794–1852), became a member of parliament, and the fourth son, James, a clergyman, succeeded his father as perpetual curate of Barton in 1820.

Gisbourne was a central figure in the Clapham Sect, an abolitionist group which included William Wilberforce and Gisbourne's brother-in-law Thomas Babington. Yoxall Lodge acted as a major focus of the group, and Wilberforce was a frequent visitor there.

Gisborne was appointed prebendary of Durham Cathedral in 1823. He died at Yoxall Lodge on 24 March 1846 at the age of eighty-seven. Gisborne left money for an annual scholarship at the University of Durham, which is referred to as the Gisborne Scholarship.

Writing

Thomas and Mary Gisborne in a 1786 painting by Joseph Wright of Derby.

Gisbourne's Principles of Moral Philosophy (1789) was a forceful evangelical attack on William Paley's Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy (1785), an influential work studied at both Cambridge and Oxford Universities, arguing morality as a categorical imperative against Paley's utilitarian standpoint. Gisborne also wrote Enquiry into the Duties of Men (1795) and Enquiry into the Duties of the Female Sex (1797) stressing subordination to the divinely imposed social hierarchy. His Walks in a Forest (1794) was a book of poems describing the scenery of Needwood Forest, which bordered his estate at Yoxall.

Scriptural geologist

A scriptural geologist, Gisborne wrote two books which criticized the trend of geology away from a basis in the Bible: Testimony of Natural Theology to Christianity (1818) and Considerations on Modern Theories of Geology (1837). Though a clergyman and not a geologist, Gisborne was not totally ignorant in natural history and geology due to his extensive reading and his own observations in his rural parish.

Attitude toward Geology

He was not opposed to geological study or facts. What he sought to do was to evaluate the logic of the inferences drawn from the geological facts. Though he acknowledged geological facts he argued against certain theoretical interpretations. Gisborne viewed geology as a worthy subject of study and potentially of great benefit to the Christain faith, not least as a witness to the existence and nature of God. Nor was he opposed to science in general. The leading geologists at the time were saying that their geological theories only appeared to contradict Genesis.

In his criticisms of these old-earth geologic arguments he did not resort to ad hominem attacks against the leading geologists. He frequently expressed his respect for their scientific and intellectual attainments. In particular, he described William Buckland as a "deservedly celebrated" and "eminent" writer. He expressed appreciation for Buckland's "luminous development" of the proofs of natural theology in his Bridgewater Treatise saying that Buckland "has not only given to the world a lasting memorial of his industry, knowledge, and discernment, but has rendered permanent aid to the interests of religion, whatever may be the ultimate opinion of men respecting the geological theory which he advocates.”

Of Georges Cuvier he said that his "unequalled skill and acuteness as a comparative anatomist will contribute far more to the enduring establishment of his fame than his hypotheses as a geological theorist." And though he rejected the interpretations of leading geologists, he was emphatic that he was not in any way calling into question their professed belief in Christianity.

Relationship between faith and science

Gisborne believed that the Christian geologist had a duty not to forget his faith when doing geological study and interpretation. He was free to interpret all he wanted, but must continually bring those interpretations to the Scriptural record to see "whether that record can be shown to be capable of a fair and reasonable interpretation consistent with his theory. If the theory cannot be reconciled to such an interpretation, then the Christian geologist "must ultimately relinquish his theory or his Bible. He will not doubt where the error lies."

However, Gisborne reasoned that superficial treatment of the Scriptural passages related to creation and the Flood were in opposition to Scripture and undermined its authority and reliability, irrespective of the motives and intentions of the authors of those geological interpretations. He was not convinced by old-earth geological arguments that he should abandon what to him was the clear teaching of Scripture: a recent (cir. 6000 years) six 24-hour day creation and a global catastrophic Noachian Deluge, which by its nature would have produced most of the strata of the Earth's crust.

Gisborne proceeded to show how three major geological facts were consistent with Genesis. Those three fracts were: 1) the absence of organic rmains in the primitive rocks of the earth, which were formed under water, 2) the presence of such fossils (many of now unknown creatures ) in the transition, secondary and tertiary strata, and 3) the absence of human fossils in those strata.

Published works

• Principles of Moral Philosophy (1789)
• Remarks Respecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade (1792)
• Walks in a Forest (1794)
• An Enquiry Into the Duties of Men in the Higher and Middle Classes of Society" in Great Britain (1794)
• An Enquiry into the Duties of the Female Sex (1797)
• Poems Sacred and Moral (1798)
• A Selection of Psalms and Hymns for Public and Private Use, with Jonathan Stubbs (1805)
• Sermons Volume 1 (1809)
• A Familiar Survey of the Christian Religion and of History (1810)
• Testimony of Natural Theology to Christianity (1818)
• Essays on Recollection of Friends in a Future State (1822)
• Considerations on Modern Theories of Geology (1837)

Hymns

• A Soldier’s Course from Battles Won
• Hark! ’Tis the Bell with Solemn Toll
• O Father, Glorify Thy Name
• Saviour, When Night Involves the Skies
• Thy Humblest Works with Full Accord
• When Groves by Moonlight Silence Keep

References

• Mortenson, T. J. (1996) (PhD Thesis). British Scriptural Geologists in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century,. Oxford: Coventry University/Wycliff Hall. p. 202.