Book chapter
Bishop Butler
The Oxford Handbook of English Literature and Theology
Oxford Handbooks in Religion and Theology, Oxford University Press
03/12/2009
DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199544486.003.0035
Abstract
One of the great ironies of the history of theological writing in England is that Bishop Joseph Butler (1692–1752) viewed his intellectual projects – scientific in spirit, clouded only by the careful qualifications of his claims – as eminently practical extensions of his pastoral duties as a clergyman. This article suggests that in the rise and fall of Butler's influence, one can see the way in which religion in modernity has tended to become rationalized and secularized into a morality that has no need of faith. In the apologetic quest for rational arguments in favour of Christianity, Butler came to affirm the element of uncertainty in religious belief to an extent so disturbing in the Age of Reason. Butler's gradual recognition of the subtle ways in which people shape their propensity to believe led to an interest in church ritual and self-construction.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Bishop Butler
- Creators
- Lori Branch - University of Iowa
- Contributors
- Andrew Hass (Editor) - University of StirlingDavid Jasper (Editor) - University of GlasgowElisabeth Jay (Editor) - Oxford Brookes University
- Resource Type
- Book chapter
- Publication Details
- The Oxford Handbook of English Literature and Theology
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press
- Series
- Oxford Handbooks in Religion and Theology
- DOI
- 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199544486.003.0035
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 03/12/2009
- Academic Unit
- English
- Record Identifier
- 9984398058102771
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