born 1615, Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire, Eng.
died Sept. 22, 1662, London
Father of English Unitarianism .
He studied at the University of Oxford and became master of a free school in Gloucester. In 1644 he wrote Twelve Arguments Drawn Out of Scripture , denying the deity of the Holy Spirit . When the manuscript reached church authorities, he was arrested and imprisoned for two years. After its publication in 1647 he was again detained, and copies of the book were burned. His later writings attacked the doctrine of the Holy Trinity . Freed from a third imprisonment in 1652, he began to meet for worship with his adherents, who came to be called Unitarians. After Biddle published his Two-Fold Catechism (1654), Oliver Cromwell prevented his execution by exiling him to the Scilly Isles. He returned in 1658; in 1662 he was again put in prison, where he died.