Scripture, Skepticism and the Character of God: The Theology of Henry Mansel By Dane Neufeld A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Wycliffe College and the Theology Department of the Toronto School of Theology. In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Theology awarded by Wycliffe College and the University of Toronto. © Copyright By Dane Neufeld 2015 Digital copy downloaded from http://anglicanhistory.org Scripture, Skepticism and the Character of God: The Theology of Henry Mansel. ThD, Wycliffe College, 2015. Dane Neufeld. Abstract Henry Mansel’s Bampton Lectures The Limits of Religious Thought have primarily been remembered both for their defense of orthodox Christianity and their unintended incorporation into the Agnostic philosophy of Herbert Spencer. But Mansel’s theology belongs more securely in the tradition of Anglican theology that combines a skepticism toward speculative theology and an intense devotion to the centrality of Scripture in the Church’s common life. Critics argued that Mansel’s skepticism and theory of regulative truth separated the reality of God from the language and narrative of Scripture. However, it can be argued that Mansel’s skepticism provides a context in which the entire canon of Scripture can speak truthfully and coherently about the character of God’s action in the world. Mansel’s theological skepticism provides a method for examining theological and philosophical frameworks that seek to encompass or improve the language of Scripture in order to ensure that the Scriptures themselves form the context through which the Church apprehends God and interprets reality. ii Table of Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 1 Chapter One: Kant and Anglican Theology in the 19th Century ......................................... 14 1.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 15 1.2 Rationalism and Scripture in the 19th Century .............................................................. 16 1.2.1 Mansel and Rationalism ................................................................................................ 16 1.2.2 Kant in England ............................................................................................................. 21 1.2.3 Coleridge and Kant ........................................................................................................ 24 1.2.4 Carlyle and Kantian Agnosticism .................................................................................. 28 1.3 Metaphysics, Scripture and Morality .............................................................................. 31 1.3.1 Mansel and Mill ............................................................................................................. 31 1.3.2 Kant and Theology ......................................................................................................... 35 1.3.3 Contemporary Theological Critiques of Kant ............................................................... 39 1.4 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 41 Chapter Two: Anglican Apologetics and the Limits of Religious Thought ........................ 43 2.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 43 2.2 Skepticism in Context ........................................................................................................ 46 2.3 Deism and Anglican Apologetics ...................................................................................... 51 2.3.1 Toland and the Limits of Scripture ............................................................................... 52 2.3.2 Berkeley and Browne: A Divided Response .................................................................. 55 2.4 Butler and the Scheme of Salvation ................................................................................. 65 2.5 Coleridge, Idealism and Scripture .................................................................................... 76 2.6 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 85 Chapter Three: Mansel and the Theology of Skepticism .................................................... 89 3.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 89 3.2 Consciousness and the Limits of Religious Knowledge .................................................. 90 3.2.1 Skepticism ....................................................................................................................... 90 3.2.2 The Limits of Human Consciousness ........................................................................... 92 3.3 Regulative Truth and the Language of Scripture ......................................................... 100 3.3.1 Regulative Truth .......................................................................................................... 100 3.3.2 Anthropomorphic Language and the Attributes of God ............................................ 103 3.3.3 Scripture and Morality ................................................................................................. 115 3.4 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 121 Chapter Four: Mansel and the Theology of Scripture ....................................................... 127 4.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 127 4.2 Genealogies of Unbelief ................................................................................................... 132 4.3 The Humanity of Reason ................................................................................................. 140 iii 4.4 The Incarnation and the Presence of God ..................................................................... 151 4.5 Mansel’s Theology of Scripture ...................................................................................... 160 4.6 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 173 Chapter Five: Mansel Among the Idealists ......................................................................... 181 5.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 181 5.2 Mansel on Hegel ............................................................................................................... 184 5.3 British Idealism: Green and Bradley ............................................................................. 189 5.3.1 T. H. Green ................................................................................................................... 190 5.3.2 Dogma and Scripture ................................................................................................... 195 5.3.3 The Metaphysics of F.H. Bradley ................................................................................ 201 5.3.4 Bradley and Religious Faith ........................................................................................ 204 5.4 Lux Mundi ........................................................................................................................ 207 5.4.1. History and the Knowledge of God ............................................................................ 209 5.4.1.1. Brooke Foss Westcott ............................................................................................ 209 5.4.1.2 Development and Personality ................................................................................ 213 5.4.2 Scripture and Development ......................................................................................... 216 5.4.2.1. The Old Testament ................................................................................................ 217 5.4.3. Christ and the Atonement ........................................................................................... 221 5.4.3.1. Gore and the Incarnation ..................................................................................... 222 5.4.3.2. The Atonement ...................................................................................................... 228 5.5 Conclusion: Anglican Theology After the First World War ....................................... 232 Chapter Six: Mansel in the 20th Century ............................................................................. 243 6.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 243 6.2 Mansel and the Historians .............................................................................................. 246 6.2.1 Vernon Storr: A Century of English Theology ........................................................... 247 6.2.2 Clement Webb .............................................................................................................. 249 6.3 Mansel the Pragmatist ....................................................................................................