Claim: Catcott, who had been corresponding since 1733 with John Hutchinson, preached a sermon in St Mark's Church on April 16, 1735, which provoked "the first serious debate about Hutchinsonianism and the scientific evidence contained in the Old Testament".
Evidence: Catcott had been corresponding since 1733 with John Hutchinson, who saw the Old Testament as a repository of scientific as well as divine knowledge. Catcott preached a sermon in St Mark's Church (also called "Mayor's chapel") on 16 April 1735 (The Supreme and Inferior Elahim, published London, 1736); this sermon, preached before Chief Justice Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke, provoked "the first serious debate about Hutchinsonianism and the scientific evidence contained in the Old Testament".