The Identities of Henry More’s Correspondents in His Letters on Self-Love

The editors of the modern edition of Ward's Life have, therefore, only tentatively concluded that these letters were 'written in the post-1660 period to a younger Latitudinarian perhaps already known to More'. 5 Although this inference about the religious leanings of More's correspondents was apt, there is decisive textual and contextual evidence that these three letters were written to two different clergymen-William Sherlock and John Scott-about two distinct works. 6re's correspondent in letters IV and V can be convincingly identified as Sherlock, the young rector of St George's, Botolph Lane, London, and later a prominent theologian.The subject of these letters was Sherlock's Discourse Concerning the Knowledge of Jesus Christ (1674).That Discourse was a powerful polemic against several important Calvinist ideas.Sherlock argued that the supernatural action of divine grace could be resisted and that free, moral obedience to Christ's commands is a condition, rather than a consequence, of justification for salvation.Sherlock also utilized these wider theological assumptions to challenge more mystical ideas of a selfless and self-denying love of God for His own intrinsic worth.He argued instead that humanity is reconciled to God through free obedience to His will for the sake of the rewards of Heaven.Accordingly, Sherlock contended that 'all the motives and arguments of the Gospel to perswade us to love, and fear, and obey God, are founded on self-love'. 7he Discourse elicited a fierce response from prominent nonconformists, such as John Owen and Henry Hickman, who accused Sherlock of abandoning the historic Reformed traditions of the Church of England. 8Sherlock also provoked a backlash from within the Restoration Church of England.On 26 September 1675, John Standish, a royal chaplain, preached a sermon before Charles II in which he critiqued anti-Calvinist ideas of reconciliation with Christ for denying the necessity of imputed righteousness and irresistible grace. 9