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The English deist movement 3 The English deist movement: a case study in the construction of a myth The essence of this chapter is that it is not possible to understand the development of the myth of the English deist movement without grasping the politico-religious context of late-seventeenth- and early-eighteenth-century England and the growing role of public opinion and opinion-makers within it. Some preliminary remarks on the major elements of the politico-religious configuration of late Tudor and Stuart England are therefore necessary. Post
This book offers a critical survey of religious change and its causes in eighteenth-century Europe, and constitutes a challenge to the accepted views in traditional Enlightenment studies. Focusing on Enlightenment Italy, France and England, it illustrates how the canonical view of eighteenth-century religious change has in reality been constructed upon scant evidence and assumption, in particular the idea that the thought of the enlightened led to modernity. For, despite a lack of evidence, one of the fundamental assumptions of Enlightenment studies has been the assertion that there was a vibrant Deist movement which formed the “intellectual solvent” of the eighteenth century. The central claim of this book is that the immense ideological appeal of the traditional birth-of-modernity myth has meant that the actual lack of Deists has been glossed over, and a quite misleading historical view has become entrenched.
9780719078729_4_000.qxd 11/26/08 10:32 Page 1 Introduction: the importance of deist theology ‘ W hen I wrote my treatise about our Systeme I had an eye upon such Principles as might work with considering men for the beliefe of a Deity & nothing can rejoyce me more then to find it usefull for that purpose’. Sir Isaac Newton wrote this assessment of his own work in 1692 to Richard Bentley, classical scholar, deliverer of the inaugural Boyle Lecture, and furture Master of Trinity College, Cambridge. That someone had found the apologetic purpose which was
Toland, Anthony Collins, Matthew Tindal, Thomas Chubb, and Thomas Morgan. These were the deists specifically named by William Whiston and Edmund Burke.2 While there were undoubtedly other persons in England whom we may call ‘deist’, that both Whiston and Burke identified the same men is a sign that the writings of these five were particularly important. What is more, they were active from the beginning of the deist controversy when Toland published Christianity not Mysterious in 1696 until Morgan published Physico-theology in 1741. At this point the perceived threat of
The myth of Enlightenment deism 1 The myth of Enlightenment deism The myth of the deist movement The first hint of deism in the historical record is to be found in sixteenth-century Lyon. In 1563 Pierre Viret, a close colleague of the Protestant reformer Calvin, wrote the Instruction Chrétienne, in which he described various freethinkers who needed to be combated. Amongst them Viret mentioned those ‘qui s’appelent déistes, d’un mot tout nouveau’ (‘who call themselves deists, a completely new word’) and his description of them heavily emphasized their lack of
Enlightenment England embraced Newtonian philosophy might not share this conception of the divine author of nature. He feared that seemingly irreligious thinkers might appropriate Newton’s work to support a universe in which Newton’s God had no place. Chief among those Whiston saw as capable of such an act were our deists, who he claimed had found support from ‘Sir Isaac Newton’s wonderful Discoveries’.2 The Tory nonjuror Roger North too was sceptical of the conclusions that might be drawn from Newton’s philosophy. Unlike Whiston, North faulted Newton because he believed that
sentiments after the Sacheverell affair secured Harley’s position until Anne’s last days in 1714. It was amid these events that our deists wrote and in some cases attempted to advance themselves. DEISM AND REACTION TO HENRY SACHEVERELL AND THE SERMON OF 1709 Without question the most important and dramatic event of 1709 for both politics and religion in England was the sermon that Dr Henry Sacheverell delivered on 5 November before the Lord Mayor and aldermen of London. The Perils of False Brethren, both in Church, and state was a venomous attack on Whigs and those who
, would be dead, and Walpole would stand alone at the helm of England’s government.1 Following the successful returns of the 1722 election, the Walpolean Whigs, styled the ‘Robinocracy’ by critics, turned England into a state dominated by a single party; for the next twenty years, they would rule the nation through bribery, patronage, and a certain amount of paranoia over Jacobitism. This chapter outlines the theological and political writings of our deists, which were conceived during a period of what J. H. Plumb famously described as political stability, broken only
provided John Toland with his best opportunity for political advancement.1 Our other deists too commented on and attempted to find a place within the fast-moving events of the day through their political writings. POLITICAL PARTIES AND SUCCESSION OF THE ENGLISH CROWN February 1701 saw yet another publication from Toland.2 The Art of Governing by Parties took up themes which had permeated his previous works, specifically the division in the political landscape caused by Whig and Tory allegiances. Such a perpetual separation of persons was, Toland asserted, the first step
allegiance to William and Mary, claiming that while James lived the oaths given to him could not be abrogated.1 These nonjurors, though relatively small in number, will appear frequently in this history of deism. Indeed, we will see that the popular view of deism is mostly a characterisation created by them. The fear of High Churchmen that too much religious tolerance posed both political and religious threats to England was seemingly confirmed in 1693 when a young John Toland sailed for England. It was against this backdrop of religious uncertainty that our deists wrote