Benjamin Hoadly, Bishop successively of Bangor, Hereford, Salisburyand Winchester, was the most controversial English churchman of the eighteenthcentury, and he has unjustly gained the reputation of a negligent and politicalbishop. His sermon on the nature of Christ''s kingdom sparked the Bangoriancontroversy, which raged from 1717 to 1720 and generated hundreds of books,tracts and sermons, while his commitment to the Whigs and the cause oftoleration for Dissenters earned him the antagonism of many contemporary andlater churchmen.
In this powerfully revisionist study, Hoadly emerges as a dedi
