TINDAL, Dr. MATTHEW, a notable deistical writer, was the son of a clergyman at Beer-ferris, in Devonshire, where he was born about 1657. He was educated at Lincoln: and Exeter colleges, Oxford; took the degree of B.A. in 1676; and shortly after was elected fellow of All Souls' college. In 1685 he became a doctor of law; and, after a brief lapse into Romanism during the reign of James II., reverted to Protestantism, or rather, as events showed, into rationalism. His first work was entitled An Essay con cerning Obedience to the Supreme Powers, etc. (Lund. 1693); followed in the course of a few months byAn Essay concerning the Laws of Nations and the Rights of Sovereigns; but it was not till 1706 that he attracted any particular notice, when the publication of his treatise on the Rights of the Christian Church asserted against the Romish and all other Priests who claim an independent power over it; with a Preface concerning the Govern ment of the Church of England, as by Law established, raised a storm of oppOsition, that may, perhaps, be considered to have fulfilled the prediction of the author, who told a friend that "he was writing a book which would make the clergy mad." A perfect torrent of replies and refutations poured from the press. Among those who signalized themselves as the adversaries of Tindal, the least obscure were Dr. G. Hickes and Conyers Place. Swift. it may be noticed in passing, also indulged in some "Remarks."
On the continent, Tindal's work was quite differently received. Le Clerc, in his Dibliotlague Choisie, praises it very highly, as one of the solidest defenses of Protest antism ever written, In 1730, when he had nearly reached the age of 73, he published his most celebrated treatise, entitled Christianity as old as the Creation, or the Gospel a Republication of the Religion of Nature, which effectually settled the question of his religious creed. The design of the work is to strip religion "of the additions which policy, mistake, and the circumstances of the time have made to it,"—in other words, to eliminate the miraculous element, and to prove that its morality, which is admitted to be worthy of an " infinitely wise and good God," is its true and only claim to the reverence of mankind. Tindal's purpose was rather constructive than destructive; and it was on this account that he called himself a " Christian Deist." He was answered, among others, by Dr. Waterland, Mr. Foster (an eminent dissenting minister), Dr. Conybeare (afterward bishop of Bristol.), and Dr. Leland (q.v.), with various degrees of ability and success. Tindal's book is ,Itritten in excellent English, and is unquestionably a very able performance, giving its author a distinguished place among the 18th c. deists. Tindal died Aug. 16, 1733.