Henry Ainsworth
Henry Ainsworth, (
1571-
1622) was an English Nonconformist clergyman and scholar, was born of a farming familiy of Swanton Morley,
Norfolk. He was educated at
Caius College, Cambridge, and, after associating
with the Puritan party in the Church, eventually joined the Separatists. Driven abroad about
1593, he found a home in "a blind lane at
Amsterdam", acting as "porter" to a bookseller, who, on discovering his knowledge of Hebrew, introduced him to other scholars.
When part of the London church, of which Francis Johnson (then in prison) was pastor, reassembled in Amsterdam, Ainsworth was chosen as their doctor or teacher. In
1596 he drew up a confession of their
faith, reissued in Latin in 1598 and dedicated to the various universities of Europe (including St Andrews,
Scotland). Johnson joined his flock in 1597, and in 1604 he and Ainsworth composed
An Apology or Defence of such true Christians as are commonly but unjustly called Brownists. Organizing the church was not easy and dissension was rife. Though often involved in controversy, Ainsworth was not arrogant, but was a steadfast and cultured champion of the principles represented by the early Congregationalists. Amid all the controversy, he steadily pursued his studies. The combination was so unique that some have mistaken him for two different individuals. Confusion has also been occasioned through his not unfriendly controversy with one John Ainsworth, who left the
Anglican for the
Roman Catholic church. In
1608 Ainsworth answered Richard Bernard's ''The
Separatist Schisme
. But his greatest minor work in this field was his reply to John Smyth (commonly called "the Se-Baptist"), entitled Defence of Holy Scripture, Worship and Ministry used in the Christian Churches separated from Antichrist, against the Challenges, Cavils and Contradictions of Mr Smyth'' (1609). In 1610 he was
forced reluctantly to withdraw, with a large part of their
church, from Johnson and those who adhered to him. A difference of principle as to the church's right to revise its officers' decisions had been growing between them, Ainsworth taking the more
Congregational view. In spirit he remained a man of peace. His scholarly works include his Annotations--on Genesis (1616); Exodus (1617); Leviticus (1618); Numbers (1619); Deuteronomy (1619); Psalms (including a metrical version, 1612); Song of Solomon (1623). These were collected in folio in
1627. From the outset the Annotations took a commanding place, especially among continental scholars, establishing a scholarly tradition for English nonconformity. He died in 1622, or early
in 1623, for in that year was published his ''Seasonable
Discourse
, or a Censure upon a Dialogue of the
Anabaptists'', in which the editor speaks of him as a departed worthy.
Edited text from 1911 encyclopedia