David Gregory (mathematician)

"It was also during my being chaplain to bishop More, that I published my first work, intitled, A New Theory of the Earth, from its Original to the Consummation of all Things, wherein the Creation of the World in Six Days, the Universal Deluge, and the General Conflagration, as laid down in the Holy Scriptures, are Shewn to be perfectly agreeable to Reason and Phylosophy. ...In the New Theory, fifth edition... Lem. xxxii. Schol. instead of its latter part, read, as Sir Isaac Newton also did in his latter writing of this nature, I mean the Theory of the Moon, publimed by Dr. Gregory, and has suppofed the sun's parallax, 10″; and from this hypothesis I made these and the following calculations. Which therefore cannot be far from truth..."

"I will add another thing which I also had from Dr. Bentley himself. Mr. Halley was then thought of for successor, to be in a mathematick professorship at Oxford; and bishop Stillingfleet was desired to recommend him at court; but hearing that he was a sceptick, and a banterer of religion, he scrupled to be concern'd; 'till his chaplain, Mr. Bentley, should talk with him about it; which he did. But Mr. Halley was so sincere in his infidelity, that he would not so much as pretend to believe the christian religion, tho' he thereby was likely to lose a professorship; which he did accordingly; and it was then given to Dr. Gregory: Yet was Mr. Halley afterwards chosen into the like professorship there, without any pretence to the belief of christianity. Nor was there any enquiry made about my successor Mr. Sandersons christianity, even when the university of Cambridge had just banished me for believing and examining it so throughly, that I hazarded all I had in the world for it."