Thomas Gataker

Biography

Of St John's College Cambridge, then preacher at Lincoln's Inn (1601-1611) before becoming rector of Rotherhithe in 1611 — a London parish he held for forty-three years until his death. Gataker was one of the most learned divines of his generation in Europe: his Marci Antonini Imperatoris De Rebus Suis (1652), the great folio edition of Marcus Aurelius's Meditations with Latin translation and notes, was used in classical scholarship into the nineteenth century; Dissertatio de Stylo Novi Instrumenti (1648) defended the literary quality of NT Greek against the Latinizing critics. At the Assembly he contributed substantially to the Westminster Annotations on the Bible (1645-47) and was the principal drafter of the chapter on lawful oaths and vows (WCF XXII). His Vindication of the Annotations (1653) against William Lilly's astrological attacks was one of the era's sharpest critiques of judicial astrology. Died at Rotherhithe in July 1654.

Principal works

• Marci Antonini Imperatoris De Rebus Suis (1652)
• Dissertatio de Stylo Novi Instrumenti (1648)
• Vindication of the Annotations (1653)