'Religion' and the religions in the English Enlightenment
This book shows how the concept of 'religion' and 'the religions' arose out of controversies in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century England. The birth of 'the religions', conceived to be sets of beliefs and practices, enabled the establishment of a new science of religion in which the various 'religions' were studied and impartially compared.
Print Book, English, 2002
1st pbk. ed View all formats and editions
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge [England], 2002
History
ix, 277 pages ; 23 cm
9780521892933, 9780521385305, 0521892937, 052138530X
52131444
Acknowledgements
Introduction
1. Antecedents
2. 'Religion', revelation, and the light of nature : Protestants and Platonists
3. The religious instinct and priestly corruptions : Lord Herbert and deism
4. Sacred history and religious diversity
5. From sacred history to natural history
Epilogue
Notes
References
Index