WILBUR, JOHN: A noted minister of the So ciety of Friends; b. at Hopkinton, R. I., July 17, 1774; d. there May 1, 1856. He came into prom inence in 1838, by opposing Joseph J. Gurney (q.v.), an English minister, who, he claimed, wax exalting the letter of the Bible as against the inward light. His own Meeting sustained him, but the New Eng land Yearly Meeting was opposed to him and, to depose him from the ministry, joined his Monthly Meeting to another which had a majority against him. In this manner he was disowned by Friends; but a considerable number of his sympathizers sep arated from the main body and formed a separate Yearly Meeting which still exists. A number of Meetings in different parts of the United States which held similar views became separated from the larger bodies of Friends about the same time, and have been designated by the name "Wilburite" (see Friends, Society of, I., § 7). John Wilbur published certain polemical pamphlets during his life, and his Journal and Correspondence appeared after his death (Providence, 1859).

Bibliography: F. S. Turner, The Quakers, pp. 247, 300, 302, London, 1889; American Church History Series, xii. 264-272, New York, 1894.

WILDEBOER, vil'de-bor, GERRIT: Dutch Protestant, Old-Testament scholar; b. at Amster dam Sept. 9, 1855; d. at Leyden Sept. 4, 1911. He was educated at the University of Leyden (D. D., 1880); was pastor of the Dutch Reformed Church at Heiloo, near Alkmaar (1881-84); be came professor of Old-Testament exegesis, litera ture, and religion at the University of Groningen (1884), where he was rector (1897-98); went to Leyden in a similar capacity (1907). In theology he was "historico-critical, believing in God's par ticular revelation given to Israel." He wrote De waarde der syrische Evangelien vests- Cureton (Leyden, 1880); De profeet Micha en zijne beteekenis voor het verstand der profetie onder Israel (1884); De profetie onder Israel in hare grondbeteekenis voor christendom en theologie (1884); Het ontstaan van den kanon des Ouden Verbonds (Groningen, 1889; 4th ed., 1908; Eng. transl. by B. W. Bacon, The Origin of the Canon of the Old Testament, London, 1895); De letterkunde des Ouden Verbonds naar de tijdsorde van hair ontstaan (1893, 3d. ed., 1903); Karakter en beginselen van het historisch-kritisch onderzoek des Ouden Verbonds (Utrecht, 1897); the volumes on Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Esther in K. Marti's Kurzer Handkommentar zum Alten Testament (Frei burg, 1897-1908); and Jahvedienst en Volksreligie (Groningen, 1898).