John Heylyn was an Anglican divine, who had a major influence on religious thought in eighteenth century England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. Because of his interest in mysticism

Christian mysticism

Christian mysticism refers to the development of mystical practices and theory within Christianity. It has often been connected to mystical theology, especially in the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions...

 he was known as the Mystic Doctor.

Heylyn was the son of John Heylyn, a saddler of London, and his wife Susanna Sherman. The Heylyn family originally came from North Wales

North Wales

North Wales is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales. It is bordered to the south by the counties of Ceredigion and Powys in Mid Wales and to the east by the counties of Shropshire in the West Midlands and Cheshire in North West England...

. He was born in Westminster

Westminster

Westminster is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross...

 and educated at Westminster School

Westminster School

The Royal College of St. Peter in Westminster, almost always known as Westminster School, is one of Britain's leading independent schools, with the highest Oxford and Cambridge acceptance rate of any secondary school or college in Britain...

 and Trinity College, Cambridge

Trinity College, Cambridge

Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...

. In 1724 after serving at Haslingfield

Haslingfield

Haslingfield is a village and civil parish in South Cambridgeshire, England. The village is about six miles south-west of Cambridge, between Harston, Barton and Barrington. The population in the 2001 census was 1,550 people living in 621 households. The main streets in the village are called High...

 near Cambridge

Cambridge

The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...

 and various parishes in London, he became the first rector of the rebuilt St Mary-le-Strand

St Mary-le-Strand

St. Mary le Strand is a Church of England church at the eastern end of the Strand in the City of Westminster, London. It lies within the Deanery of Westminster within the Diocese of London. The church stands on what is now a traffic island to the north of Somerset House, King's College London's...

, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. He gained a Doctor of Divinity

Doctor of Divinity

Doctor of Divinity is an advanced academic degree in divinity. Historically, it identified one who had been licensed by a university to teach Christian theology or related religious subjects....

 in 1728. Heylyn was also rector of Sunbury-on-Thames

Sunbury-on-Thames

Sunbury-on-Thames, also known as Sunbury, is a town in the Surrey borough of Spelthorne, England, and part of the London commuter belt. It is located 16 miles southwest of central London and bordered by Feltham and Hampton, flanked on the south by the River Thames.-History:The earliest evidence of...

 Middlesex

Middlesex

Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...

, a prebendary of St Pauls Cathedral and a chaplain in ordinary to George II

George II of Great Britain

George II was King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Archtreasurer and Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 11 June 1727 until his death.George was the last British monarch born outside Great Britain. He was born and brought up in Northern Germany...

. In 1729 he was chosen Lecturer of All Hallows Lombard Street

All Hallows Lombard Street

Coordinates: All Hallows Lombard Street was a City church in Langbourn Ward on the corner of Lombard Street and Gracechurch Street, London. Its tower, bells and complete interior fittings are now part of All Hallows Twickenham.-History:...

. He published a large amount of Theological work and from his indulgence in mysticism was known as the Mystic Doctor.

Heylyn was an influence on John Wesley

John Wesley

John Wesley was a Church of England cleric and Christian theologian. Wesley is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, as founding the Methodist movement which began when he took to open-air preaching in a similar manner to George Whitefield...

 as early as the Oxford Methodist days. According to Wesley’s diaries, on May 19, 1738 (Whitsunday) Wesley heard Heylyn "preach a truly Christian sermon on 'They were all filled with the Holy Ghost'--and so, said he, may all of you be." In 1739 Wesley heard Heylyn give a sermon on feigned and hypocritical repentance, and as a result, declared that he (Wesley) had been a hypocrite for twenty years. Heylyn’s “Theological Lectures” was used as a source in Wesley's compilation of the Explanatory Notes on the New Testament. In 1743 Heylyn was installed prebendary of Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey

The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...

 where he was buried in 1759.

Heylyn was married twice and his only surviving son John followed in the footsteps of Edward Heylyn

Edward Heylyn

Edward Heylyn was a merchant and entrepreneur who was one of the founders of the Bow porcelain factory.The Heylyn family originally came from North Wales. Heylyn was the third son of John Heylyn, a saddler of London who is said to have made a fortune supplying saddles for the Duke of Marlborough’s...

, brother of the above, as a merchant of Bristol

Bristol

Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

and London.

Works

• Theological lectures at Westminster-Abbey. With an interpretation of the New Testament. Part 1. Containing, the four Gospels (1749)
• An interpretation of the New Testament. Part 2. Containing the Acts of the Apostles and the several Epistles. (1761).

External links