Latitudinarianism in the Seventeenth-Century Church of England

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Annotated by Richard H. Popkin. Edited by Lila Freedman. The Latitudinarians, a group of prominent clergymen in the late seventeenth-century Church of England, were articulate opponents of Anglicanism's intellectual foes. Against the challenges of Hobbism, Spinozism, Deism, scepticism, and Roman Catholicism, they presented a body of thought emphasizing reason in religion and practical morality over credal speculation. Their theology was designed to combat "practical atheism" and their sermons stressed that the chief design of Christianity was "to make men good." They advocated an alliance of religion and science, and were early participants in the Royal Society. In preaching, they developed a simpler sermon style influential for English prose. As an important part of the Anglican Church at the time of the Glorious Revolution, they helped in drafting the Revolution Settlement, the seedbed, in Macaulay's words, of subsequent personal liberties. This definition and analysis of Latitudinarianism was completed by the late Martin Griffin in 1962. A teacher and dean at Yale College, he was unable to complete its updating before his untimely death in 1988. That task has been undertaken by Richard H. Popkin. INTRODUCTION / Lila Freedman vii PART ONE — TOWARD A DEFINITION OF "LATITUDINARIAN" 1 I. THE WORD 3 II. THE LATITUDINARIANS 14 III. SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY LATITUDINARIANISM 33 IV. "LATITUDINARIANISM" DEFINED 43 PART TWO — FAITH AND REASON: A SYSTEM FOR THE TIMES 49 V. THE LATITUDINARIANS' CONCEPTION OF "REASON" 60 VI. THE REASONABLENESS OF CHRISTIANITY 72 VII. THE BACKGROUND OF THE LATITUDINARIAN SYSTEM 89 VIII. THE BEGINNINGS OF EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY LATITUDINARIANISM 105 PART THREE — "THE DESIGN OF CHRISTIANITY" 115 IX. "THE BUSINESS OF THE CHRISTIAN INSTITUTION" 116 X. CHARITY AND RUBRICS 139 XI. CONCLUSION 160 NOTES 163 BIBLIOGRAPHY 195 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY 195 ADDITIONAL REFERENCES 199 INDEX 205