Early life

William Burt Pope was born at Horton, Nova Scotia, on 19 February 1822.^[1] He was the younger son^[2] of John Pope (1791–1863), Wesleyan missionary and Catherine, born Uglow, who was originally of Stratton, Cornwall.^[1] He was the younger brother of George Uglow Pope.^[1] After education at a village school at Hooe and at a secondary school at Saltash, near Plymouth, William spent a year in boyhood (1837-8) at Bedeque, Prince Edward Island, assisting an uncle, a shipbuilder and general merchant.^[2]

In 1845, he married Ann Ehza Lethbridge, daughter of a yeoman farmer of Modbury, near Plymouth.^[2] By her he had six sons, two of whom died in early life, and four daughters.^[2]

Career

Pope was accepted, in 1840, by the Methodist synod of Cornwall as a candidate for the ministry, and entered the Methodist Theological Institution at Hoxton.^[2] Ordained in 1842, he began his active ministry at Kingsbridge, Devonshire.^[2] He served for short periods at Liskeard, Jersey, Sandhurst, Dover and Halifax.^[2] He served also for longer periods at City Road, London, Hull, Manchester, Leeds, and Southport.^[2]

In 1846, he became a successful linguist and translator of German anti-rationalist critics.^[3]

In 1860, he became editor, having as his co-editor (1883-6) James Harrison Rigg, of the London Quarterly Review' to which he was already a contributor.^[2]

In 1867, he succeeded Dr. John Hannah the elder as tutor of systematic theology at Didsbury.^[2] He received the degree of D.D. from the Wesleyan University, U.S.A., in 1865 and from the University of Edinburgh in 1877.^[2] In 1876, he visited America with Dr. Rigg as delegate to the general conference of the methodist episcopal church at Baltimore.^[2]

In 1877, he was President of the Methodist Conference at Bristol.^[2]

From 1867 to 1886, he taught at Didsbury Wesleyan College in Manchester, England.^[2]

Theological contribution

Pope made notable contributions to theological literature which were deemed authoritative by his own church.^[2] His greatest work, a systematic theology, Compendium of Christian Theology (1875-1876), set forth influential arguments for the "holiness doctrine of all Methodist systematic theology" and defended Methodist doctrine against its critics.^[4] Wayne Grudem writes that, "This work […] is one of the greatest systematic theologies written from a Wesleyan or Arminian perspective."^[5] He had Arminian soteriological views.^[6]

Death

Pope died on 5 July 1903, and was buried in Abney Park Cemetery, London.^[2]

Books as author

• Pope, William Burt (1855). The Abiding Word. London: Wesleyan Conference Office.
• Pope, William Burt (1856). The Rest Of Our Time. London: John Mason.
• Pope, William Burt (1862). The Love Of The Commandment. London: John Mason.
• Pope, William Burt (1866). The Great National Fast. London: [publisher not identified].
• Pope, William Burt (1866). The Presence Of Christ In His Church. [publisher not identified].
• Pope, William Burt (1867). An inaugural address delivered in the college chapel. [publisher not identified].
• Pope, William Burt (1869). Discourses on the kingdom and reign of Christ. London: Simpkin, Marshall.
• Pope, William Burt (1871). The Person of Christ. London: Wesleyan Conference Office.
• Pope, William Burt (1872). The Law Of Perfect Service. London: Wesleyan Conference Office.
• Pope, William Burt (1873). The Peculiarities Of Methodist Doctrine. London: Wesleyan Conference Office.
• Pope, William Burt (1874). A Memoir of John Fernley. London: Wesleyan Conference Office.
• Pope, William Burt (1875). The Person Of Christ. London: Wesleyan Conference Office.
• Pope, William Burt (1876). The Prayers Of St. Paul. London: Wesleyan Conference Office.
• Pope, William Burt (1876). A Memoir of the Late James Heald of Parrs Wood. London: Wesleyan Conference Office.
• Pope, William Burt (1877). A Compendium of Christian Theology. Vol. 1. London: Wesleyan Conference Office.
• Pope, William Burt (1877). A Compendium of Christian Theology. Vol. 2. London: Wesleyan Conference Office.
• Pope, William Burt (1877). A Compendium of Christian Theology. Vol. 3. London: Wesleyan Conference Office.
• Pope, William Burt (1883). A Higher Catechism of Theology. London: T. Woolmer.
• Pope, William Burt (1885). The Inward Witness and Other Discourses. London: T. Woolmer.

Books as translator

• Stier, Rudolf (1855). The Words of the Lord Jesus. Vol. 1. London: J. Gladding.
• Stier, Rudolf (1855). The Words of the Lord Jesus. Vol. 2. London: J. Gladding.
• Stier, Rudolf (1855). The Words of the Lord Jesus. Vol. 3. London: J. Gladding.
• Stier, Rudolf (1855). The Words of the Lord Jesus. Vol. 4. London: J. Gladding.
• Stier, Rudolf (1855). The Words of the Lord Jesus. Vol. 5. London: J. Gladding.
• Stier, Rudolf (1855). The Words of the Lord Jesus. Vol. 6. London: J. Gladding.
• Stier, Rudolf (1855). The Words of the Lord Jesus. Vol. 7. London: J. Gladding.
• Stier, Rudolf (1855). The Words of the Lord Jesus. Vol. 8. London: J. Gladding.
• Stier, Rudolf (1859). The Words of the Risen Savior and Commentary on the Epistle of St James. London: Hamilton, Adam and Co.
• Ebrard, Johann Heinrich August (1860). Commentary on the Epistles of St. John. London: Hamilton, Adam and Co.
• Peter, Johann (1861). Theological and Homiletical Commentary on the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Mark. Vol. 1. London: Hamilton, Adam and Co.
• Peter, Johann (1861). Theological and Homiletical Commentary on the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Mark. Vol. 2. London: Hamilton, Adam and Co.
• Wilhelm, Ernst (1865). Commentary on the Gospel of St. John. Vol. 1. London: Hamilton, Adam and Co.
• Wilhelm, Ernst (1865). Commentary on the Gospel of St. John. Vol. 2. London: Hamilton, Adam and Co.
• Wilhelm, Ernst (1871). History of the Kingdom of God. Vol. 1. London: Hamilton, Adam and Co.
• Wilhelm, Ernst (1871). History of the Kingdom of God. Vol. 2. London: Hamilton, Adam and Co.
• Benedikt, Georg (1873). A Comparative View on the Doctrines and Confessions of the Various Communities of Christendom. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark.
• Haupt, Erich (1879). The First Epistle of St. John: A Contribution to Biblical Theology. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark.

Chapters

• Pope, William Burt (1878). "Epistles of St. John". Philip Schaff's Popular Commentary on the NT. New York: Charles Scribner's sons.

Citations

Sources

• Grudem, Wayne (1994). Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine. Leicester, England & Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press & Zondervan.
• Irwin, Clarke Huston (1912). "Pope, William Burt". Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement. Vol. 3. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 127.
• Lees, C. H.; Wellings, Martin (2004). "Pope, William Burt (1822–1903)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/35574. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
• Olson, Roger E. (2010). "Arminian teaching regarding original sin". Roger E. Olson: My evangelical, Arminian theological musings. Patheos. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
• Stevenson, George John (1885). "William Burt Pope, D.D.". Methodist Worthies : Characteristic Sketches of Methodist Preachers (PDF). Vol. 3. London: Thomas C; Jack.