Literature and Natural Theology in Early Modern England

Guiding readers through the diverse forms of natural theology expressed in seventeenth-century English literature, Katherine Calloway reveals how, in ways that have not yet been fully recognized, authors such as Donne, Herbert, Vaughan, Cavendish, Hutchinson, Milton, Marvell, and Bunyan describe, promote, challenge, and even practice natural theology in their poetic works. She simultaneously improves our understanding of an important and still-influential intellectual movement and deepens our appreciation of multiple major literary works. “Natural theology,” as it was popularly understood, changed dramatically in England over the seventeenth century, from the application of natural light to divine things to a newer, more brittle, understanding of the enterprise as the exclusive use of reason and observation to prove theological conclusions outside of any context of faith. These poets profoundly complicate the story, collectively demonstrating that some forms of natural theology lend themselves to poetry or imaginative literature rather than prose. Cover Half-title Title page Imprints page Dedication Contents List of Figures Preface Acknowledgments Introduction Defining ''Literature'' and ''Natural Theology'' Natural Theology in the Scientific Revolution The Book of Nature in Historiography and Literary Criticism Literature and Natural Theology in Seventeenth-Century England Part I Metaphysical Poets Chapter 1 A ''Metaphorical God'' and the Book of Nature: John Donne on Natural Theology Natural Theology in Renaissance Europe Bacon on Natural Theology Body as Book: Apprehension of the Divine through the Sensible in Donne's Lyric Poems Donne on Natural Theology Donne and the Natural World Metaphorical Nature, Metaphorical God Chapter 2 ''I Summon'd Nature'': George Herbert and Henry Vaughan on Science and Nature Science Nature Chapter 3 ''Mutters of Assent'' or ''Lectures for the Eye'': Natural Theology in the Devotional Lyrics of Herbert and Vaughan Conclusion Part II Imagined Worlds Chapter 4 ''Architect of Wonders'': Creation in Cavendish, Du Bartas, Hutchinson, Denham, and Marvell Analogy of Being and Natural Theology Equivocal Metaphysics in Margaret Cavendish's The Blazing World Univocal and Analogical Metaphysics in Seventeenth-Century Biblical Epic Divine and Human Design in Local Poetry Conclusion Chapter 5 ''His Footstep Trace'': The Natural Theology of Paradise Lost Milton among the Natural Theologians Natural Theology and Paradise Lost Unfallen Natural Theology in Paradise Lost Fallen Reason and Natural Theology Chapter 6 The Misunderstood Spider: John Bunyan Reads the Book of Nature Bunyan, Puritans, and Natural Theology Robert Boyle and the Occasional Meditation The Book of Nature in The Pilgrim's Progress Conclusion: Bunyan's Book for Boys and Girls Epilogue: Literature and Natural Theology at the Dawn of the Boyle Lectures Works Cited Index