John Gill (1697–1771) was born in Kettering, Northamptonshire. He became a Baptist clergyman, a biblical scholar, and a staunch Calvinist. Gill was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Aberdeen in 1748. Gill pastored at Benjamin Keach’s former church, New Park Street Chapel. Later, he pastored what would become Charles Spurgeon’s Metropolitan Tabernacle for 51 years.
Gill is the first major Baptist theologian writer. His stance on Calvinism is somewhat a matter of debate. Some say Gill would not describe himself as hyper-Calvinist, while others contend that he indeed was.
Some of Gill’s most important academic works are The Doctrine of the Trinity Stated and Vindicated, The Cause of God and Truth, and A Body of Doctrinal Divinity, all of which appear in The Works of John Gill (19 vols.).