Deism in Enlightenment England: Theology, politics, and Newtonian public science (Politics, Culture and Society in Early Modern Britain)

This is the first complete study of English deists as a group in several decades and it argues for a new interpretation of deism in the English Enlightenment. While there have been many recent studies of the deist John Toland, the writings of other contemporary deists have been forgotten. With extensive analysis of lesser known figures such as Anthony Collins, Matthew Tindal, Thomas Chub, and Thomas Morgan, in addition to unique insights into Toland, Deism in Enlightenment England offers a much broader assessment of what deism entailed in the eighteenth century. Readers will see how previous interpretations of English deists, which place these figures on an irreligious trajectory leading towards modernity, need to be revised. This book uses deists to address a number of topics and themes in English history and will be of particular interest to scholars of Enlightenment history, history of science, theology and politics, and the early modern era. This book explores at length the French and English Catholic literary revivals of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. These parallel but mostly independent movements include writers such as Charles Péguy, Paul Claudel, J. K. Huysmans, Gerard Manley Hopkins, G. K. Chesterton and Lionel Johnson. Rejecting critical approaches that tend to treat Catholic writings as exotic marginalia, the book makes extensive use of secularisation theory to confront these Catholic writings with the preoccupations of secularism and modernity. It compares individual and societal secularisation in France and England and examines how French and English Catholic writers understood and contested secular mores, ideologies and praxis, in the individual, societal and religious domains. The book also addresses the extent to which some Catholic writers succumbed to the seduction of secular instincts, even paradoxically in themes that are considered to be emblematic of Catholic literature. Its breadth will make it a useful guide for students wishing to become familiar with a wide range of such writings in France and England during this period This is the first complete study of English deists as a group in several decades and it argues for a new interpretation of deism in the English Enlightenment. While there have been many recent studies of the deist John Toland, the writings of other contemporary deists have been forgotten. With extensive analysis of lesser known figures such as Anthony Collins, Matthew Tindal, Thomas Chub, and Thomas Morgan, in addition to unique insights into Toland, Deism in Enlightenment England offers a much broader assessment of what deism entailed in the eighteenth century. Readers will see how previous interpretations of English deists, which place these figures on an irreligious trajectory leading towards modernity, need to be revised. This book uses deists to address a number of topics and themes and theme in English history and will be of particular interest to scholars of Enlightenment history, history of science, theology and politics, and the early modern era. This is the first complete study of English deists as a group in several decades and it argues for a new interpretation of deism in the English Enlightenment. While there have been many recent studies of the deist John Toland, the writings of other contemporary deists have been forgotten. With extensive analysis of lesser known figures such as Anthony Collins, Matthew Tindal, Thomas Chub, and Thomas Morgan, in addition to unique insights into Toland, __Deism in Enlightenment England__ offers a much broader assessment of what deism entailed in the eighteenth century. Readers will see how previous interpretations of English deists, which place these figures on an irreligious trajectory leading towards modernity, need to be revised. This book uses deists to address a number of topics and themes in English history and will be of particular interest to scholars of Enlightenment history, history of science, theology and politics, and the early modern era. Copyright Page 5 Contents 6 Acknowledgements 7 Abbreviations, dates, and quotations 10 Introduction: the importance of deist theology 12 Chapter 1: The meaning of 1689: politics and theology, 1694 –1700 25 Chapter 2: The issue of succession: politics and theology, 1701–09 55 Chapter 3: Matter, motion, and Newtonian public science, 1695–1714 82 Chapter 4: The spectre of High Church:politics and theology, 1709–19 120 Chapter 5: Matter, motion, and Newtonian public science, 1720–41 153 Chapter 6: The age of Walpole: politics and theology, 1720–41 178 Conclusion: radical no more 215 Bibliography 220 Index 244 This Complete Study Of English Deists As A Group Argues For A New Interpretation Of Deism In The English Enlightenment. With Extensive Analysis Of Less Known Figures Such As Anthony Collins, Matthew Tindal, Thomas Chubb, And Thomas Morgan, It Offers A Broader Assessment Of What Deism Entitled In The 18th Century. Jeffrey R. Wigelsworth. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 209-231) And Index.