'Religion' and the Religions in the English Enlightenment

Peter Harrison author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Cambridge University Press

Published:30th Nov '90

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'Religion' and the Religions in the English Enlightenment cover

This book shows how the concept of 'religion' and 'the religions' arose out of controversies in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century England.

This study examines the changes which took place in the understanding of 'religion' and 'the religions' during the Enlightenment in England, the period when the decisive break with Patristic, Medieval and Renaissance notions of religion occurred. Dr Harrison's view is that the principles of the English Enlightenment not only made a special contribution to our modern understanding of what religion is, but they pioneered, in addition, the 'scientific', or non-religious approach, to religious phenomena. During this period a crisis of authority in the Church necessitated a rational enquiry into the various forms of Christianity, and in addition, into the claims of all religions. This led to a concept of 'religion' (based on 'natural' theology) which could link together the apparently disparate religious beliefs and practices found in the empirical religions.

"Professor Harrison has produced a meticulously documented, systematically organized, and challenging monograph. His use of the printed literature and sources of the period is exemplary. Although a demanding exercise in intellectual history, this book is profoundly significant for scholars concerned with English religious thought." Albion

ISBN: 9780521385305

Dimensions: 235mm x 160mm x 25mm

Weight: 565g

288 pages