Gale, John

Gale, John a Baptist divine and learned controvertist, was born at London in 1680. He studied at the University of Leyden, and at the age of nineteen graduated M.A. and doctor of philosophy. He studied also at Amsterdam under Limborch, and was intimate with Le Clerc. The University of Leyden in 1703 offered him the degree of doctor of divinity if he would assent to the articles of the Synod of Dort. He became, in 1718, minister of the chapel in St. Paul's Alley, Barbican. But his ministry was of short duration. He died in 1721, at the age of 41. In 1711 he published his Reflections on Wall's Defence of Infant Baptism, and in 1719 held a dispute with the author. He was also the author of Sermons on several Occasions (2d ed. 1726,4 volumes). He was an able preacher, highly appreciated by the respectable congregation to which he ministered, and brought to the discussion of matters in controversy large, exact, and well-digested learning, with no small dialectical skill. (L.E.S.).