THOMAS, was born in London, in 1574, and educated at St John's College, Cambridge. From the year 1601 till 1611 he held the appointment of preacher to the Society of Lincoln's Inn, who resigned on obtaining the rectory of Rotherhithe. In 1619 he published a curious treatise, historical and theological, On the Nature and Use of Lots, which gave rise to much controversy. Gataker, in order to allow the storm to subside, went on a tour to the Netherlands, where he confuted some of the English Papists in Flanders. In 1642 he had the honour of being appointed one of the Assembly of Divines who met at Westminster, having obtained much celebrity from his Opera Critica, and other remarkably able works, chiefly on sacred literature. The part of the Assembly's Annotations upon the Bible executed by him are those on Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the Lamentations, which have considerable merit. At Westminster he disapproved of the introduction of the Covenant, and declared himself in favour of episcopacy. He zealously opposed the trial of Charles I.; and from ill-health declined the mastership of Trinity College, Cambridge. He died in 1654. The best edition of his works is that published at Utrecht in 1668, folio. Echard says he was the most celebrated among the divines assembled at Westminster, being highly esteemed by Salmansus and other foreigners. He was alike remarkable for exemplary piety, charity, humility, and modesty; while his acquaintance with polite literature greatly increased his standing as a scholar.