Natural Religion and Criticism on Relevation in Matthew Tindal’s Philosophy

Tomasz Stefaniuk

Abstract


The article focuses on criticism on revelation which is present among British deists, such as Herbert of Cherbury, William Wollaston, Thomas Chubb, John Toland and Anthony Collins. Particular attention is devoted to the views of Matthew Tindal, who is remembered primarily as the author of Christianity as Old as the Creation. Tindal, like the other deists, assumes that enlightened – i.e. freed from all the restraining bonds, especially from superstition – human mind is the final arbiter on all issues, including those related to religion. He distinguishes external revelation, i.e. the books considered to be revealed by God, as well as internal revelation – which means Nature revealing itself to human rational mind.

 

Summarised by Tomasz Stefaniuk

 


Keywords


Matthew Tindal; deism; natural religion; rationalism; Revelation; criticism on religion

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References


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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17951/kw.2015.15.67
Date of publication: 2015-12-15 02:20:19
Date of submission: 2015-07-02 14:22:21


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