The Cambridge Platonists and Early Modern Philosophy: Inventing the Philosophy of Religion (Cambridge Studies in Religion and Platonism)

Often neglected by historians today, the seventeenth-century philosophers known as the Cambridge Platonists were recognised in their time as some of the most influential and controversial philosophers in England. Whereas most studies of the Cambridge Platonists have discussed their later careers, this book focuses on their early, formative years at Cambridge during the English Civil Wars. Samuel M. Kaldas explores how the Cambridge Platonists addressed issues central to philosophy of religion as we know it today through their engagement with early seventeenth-century religious controversies about predestination, the character and nature of God, and the role of reason in religion. His study serves as an accessible introduction to both the Cambridge Platonists, and to English religious controversies that contributed to the birth of the modern philosophy of religion. At the same time, Kaldas provides context for and fresh insights into the Cambridge Platonists' intellectual development and the coherence of their thought. Cover Half-title page Series page Title page Copyright page Dedication Contents Acknowledgements Note on the Text List of Abbreviations Introduction: The Cambridge Platonists and Philosophy of Religion Part I The Origins of Cambridge Platonism 1 Learned and Ingenious Men The Lives and Times of the Cambridge Platonists Benjamin Whichcote (1609–1683) Ralph Cudworth (1617–1688) John Smith (c. 1618–1652) Henry More (c. 1614–1687) On the Idea (and Existence) of Cambridge Platonism The Evidence of the Eight Letters The Learned and Ingenious Men and Their Platonic ‘Veine of Doctrine’ 2 ‘Plato and His Scholars’: Early Cambridge Platonism What Is a Platonist? The ‘Public Profession of Platonism’ at Cambridge University and College Life Henry More Ralph Cudworth John Worthington John Smith John Sadler and Peter Sterry Laurence Sarson Early Cambridge Platonism, c. 1635–1640 3 Puritanism and Predestination Puritanism and Reformed Theology, 1600–1640 The English Puritans Double Predestination The Rise of Anti-Calvinism: ‘Arminianism’ and ‘Laudianism’ ‘A Cataclysmic Showdown’ Puritans in Power Calvinism and Anti-Calvinism at Cambridge, c. 1626–1649 Emmanuel and Christ’s: Puritan Seminaries ‘The Godly Emmanuel Mafia’ Philosophy in the Puritan Colleges Pricking the Conscience Cambridge Anti-Calvinists 4 Cambridge Platonists versus Cambridge Calvinists: John Goodwin and the 1651 Whichcote–Tuckney Correspondence The Parliamentary Purges John Goodwin and Redemption Redeemed Charles Hotham and the ‘Goodwin Fan Club’ Umbra Comitiorum and the 1651 Commencement Conclusions Part II Rival Conceptions of God and Goodness: The Platonic Anti-Calvinism of the Cambridge Platonists 5 Goodness and the Will of God: Moral Realism versus Voluntarism Metaethical Voluntarism in Calvinist Theology Luther’s Bondage of the Will Calvin’s Appeal to Voluntarism Perkins and Preston: Voluntarism in the Cambridge Calvinists Ralph Cudworth’s Moral Realism The Commons Sermon: The Euthyphro Dilemma Dantur Rationes Boni et Mali Aeterni et Indispensabiles Henry More’s Moral Realism John Smith’s Moral Realism Benjamin Whichcote’s Moral Realism God ‘Under the Power of Goodness’ Later Whichcote on Moral Realism Conclusions 6 Is God an Arbitrary Tyrant? Platonic Participation versus the Decree of Reprobation The Problem of ‘Divine Tyranny’ Arbitrariness and Tyranny in Political Discourse, c. 1620–1650 Reprobation as Divine Tyranny More, Cudworth and Smith against Divine Tyranny Whichcote against Divine Tyranny What Glorifies God? Communication versus Reprobation Crypto-Realist Defences of Reprobation Divine Communicative Intent Reprobation and the Glory of God Divine and Human Goodness Conclusions 7 Righteousness Real and Imagined: Participation and Deification versus Imputed Righteousness Justification, Sanctification and Imputed Righteousness Justification in the Reformed Theological Tradition Imputed versus Inherent Righteousness Imputation and Voluntarism The ‘Platonique Faith’ of the Cambridge Platonists The ‘Prejudice of Imputed Righteousness’ A Platonic Theory of Justification ‘High-Flown Platonists’ The Cambridge Platonists’ Doctrine of Justification in Context Natural Virtue and Heaven-Bound Heathens Reformed Theology on the Natural Virtues of Non-Christians The Divine Heathens Conclusions Part III The Religious Epistemology of the Cambridge Platonists 8 Reason and the Mind of God: Platonic Religious Epistemology Knowing God through Reason Platonic Knowledge by Resemblance The Moral Dimension of Reason God-Likeness: A Good Mind and a Good Life ‘A Good Mind’: Cognitive God-Likeness ‘A Good Life’: Practical God-Likeness Conclusions 9 Deification as Spiritual Sensation: The Epistemology of Religious Experience Perceiving God Reason as Spiritual Sense Deification as Direct Acquaintance Misperceiving God Passions as Epistemic Distortions Animal Imagination Imagination and Divine Anthropomorphism Self-Will: Will Overruling Reason Self-Will as the Cause of Voluntarism Reason Bridging the Divine and the Human 10 Liberty, Violence and Practical Reason: Moral Obligation and the Law of Love Divine Reason and Divine Liberty Human Liberty Seeing with One’s Own Eyes Conclusions Conclusion: The Cambridge Platonists as Early Modern Christian Platonists The Platonism of the Cambridge Platonists Continuities and Discontinuities Christian Platonism and Modernity References Index