Alexander Knox (1757-1831)
Encyclopedia
Alexander Knox was an Irish
theological writer.
As a boy and young man, Alexander Knox befriended and corresponded with John Wesley
, and - though he later asserted his theological independence from Methodism - he later published defences of Wesley against John Walker and Robert Southey
.
In the 1790s Knox entered political life, briefly (in 1798) becoming private secretary to Lord Castlereagh
and publishing Essays on the political circumstances of Ireland (1799) before retiring from politics in 1799.
Knox lived in or near Dublin for the final three decades of his life, becoming known as the 'sage of Bellevue'. Together with his friend John Jebb, bishop of Limerick
, Knox developed a distinctive style of high-churchmanship (evidenced in his theology of sacraments) which also respected strains in evangelicalism, Methodism and seventeenth-century latitudinarianism. Knox wrote in defence of Catholic emancipation.
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
theological writer.
As a boy and young man, Alexander Knox befriended and corresponded with John Wesley
John Wesley
John Wesley was a Church of England cleric and Christian theologian. Wesley is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, as founding the Methodist movement which began when he took to open-air preaching in a similar manner to George Whitefield...
, and - though he later asserted his theological independence from Methodism - he later published defences of Wesley against John Walker and Robert Southey
Robert Southey
Robert Southey was an English poet of the Romantic school, one of the so-called "Lake Poets", and Poet Laureate for 30 years from 1813 to his death in 1843...
.
In the 1790s Knox entered political life, briefly (in 1798) becoming private secretary to Lord Castlereagh
Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh
Robert Stewart, 2nd Marquess of Londonderry, KG, GCH, PC, PC , usually known as Lord CastlereaghThe name Castlereagh derives from the baronies of Castlereagh and Ards, in which the manors of Newtownards and Comber were located...
and publishing Essays on the political circumstances of Ireland (1799) before retiring from politics in 1799.
Knox lived in or near Dublin for the final three decades of his life, becoming known as the 'sage of Bellevue'. Together with his friend John Jebb, bishop of Limerick
Bishop of Limerick
The Bishop of Limerick is an episcopal title which takes its name after the city of Limerick in the Province of Munster, Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it still continues as a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with other bishoprics.-History:The diocese of...
, Knox developed a distinctive style of high-churchmanship (evidenced in his theology of sacraments) which also respected strains in evangelicalism, Methodism and seventeenth-century latitudinarianism. Knox wrote in defence of Catholic emancipation.
Works
- Essays on the political circumstances of Ireland during the administration of Lord Camden; with an appendix containing thoughts on the will of the people (1799)
- An Answer to the Rt Hon. P. Duigenan's Two Great Arguments Against the Full Enfranchisement of the Irish Roman Catholics (1810)
- On the Doctrine Respecting Baptism Held by the Church of England (1820)
- An Enquiry on Grounds of Scripture and Reason into the Use and Import of the Eucharistic Symbols (1824)
- Letters on the Re-Union of the Churches of England and Rome (1824)
External links
- Peter B. Nockles, ‘Knox, Alexander (1757–1831)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, September 2004; online edn, October 2005, accessed 1 June 2007
- John Wesley and the Anglo-Catholic Revival by G.W. Taylor
- Wesley's Letters: Volume Six Events
- Eclectic Ethereal Encyclopedia
- Trinity College, Toronto
- Literature.org