John Potter (bishop)

John Potter (c. 1674 in Wakefield, Yorkshire, † October 10, 1747 ) was from 1737 until his death in 1747 the Archbishop of Canterbury. Potter was married to Elizabeth Venner.

Life

He was the son of a white store owner from Wakefield (Yorkshire ). At fourteen, he joined the University College in Oxford. From 1694 he was a lecturer at Lincoln College, Oxford. In 1704 he was chaplain at Archbishop Thomas Tenison. Ten years later in 1715 he became Bishop of Oxford.

He published several theological works, including the 1707 "Discourse on the government of the Church" ( Discourse on Church Government), and he took a prominent role in the debate with Benjamin Hoadly, Bishop of Bangor, a. From 1708 to 1737 he was professor of theology at the Royal University of Oxford ( Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford), and had in that capacity in 1737 an interview with Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf. Potter was a supporter of the Whigs. He was appointed on February 9, 1737 to the Archbishop of Canterbury.