Burnet

(Thomas), b. about 1635 at Croft, Yorkshire. Through the interest of a pupil, the Duke of Ormonde, he obtained the mastership of the Charter house, 1685. In 1681 the first part of his Telluris The or i a Sacra , or Sacred Theory of the Earth, appeared in Latin, and was translated and modified in 1684. In 1692 Burnet published, both in English and in Latin, his Archæologiæ Philosophicæ , or the Ancient Doctrine of the Origin of Things. He profe es in this to reconcile his theory with Genesis, which receives a figurative interpretation; and a ludicrous dialogue between Eve and the serpent gave great offence. In a popular ballad Burnet is represented as saying— That all the books of Moses Were nothing but supposes. He had to resign a position at court. In later life he wrote De Fide et Officiis Christ i a no rum (on Christian Faith and Duties), in which he regards historical religions as based on the religion of nature, and rejects original sin and the “magical” theory of sacraments; and De Statu Mortuorum et Resurgentium , on the State of the Dead and Resurrected, in which he opposed the doctrine of eternal punishment and shadowed forth a scheme of Deism. These books he kept to himself to avoid a prosecution for heresy, but had a few copies printed for private friends. He died in the Charter house 27 Sept. 1715. A tract entitled Hell Torments not Eternal was published in 1739.