i Theology and Natural Philosophy in Late Seventeenth and Early Eighteenth-Century Britain. By Christopher Joseph Kenny —2— Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. The University of Leeds Department of Philosophy Division of the History and Philosophy of Science September 1996. The candidate confirms that the work submitted is his own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others. Ii Abstract A number of historians of science have claimed that the early Boyle Sermons provided a platform for the promotion of a moderate-Anglican social and political ideology underpinned by Newtonian natural philosophy. However, by examining in detail the texts of Richard Bentley, John Harris and Samuel Clarke, this thesis argues that their Sermons should not be characterised as 'Newtonian'. These texts were highly complex literary productions constructed with the intention of achieving victory over the enemies of Christianity. An examination of their rhetorical strategies focuses attention on the use to which various cognitive materials - including natural philosophy - were put. Thus the presence of Newtonian concepts in the texts is explained by the aims and overall scholarly programmes of the Lecturers. It will also be argued that the term 'Boyle Lectureship' is problematic and that the main elements of the Lectureship - Robert Boyle's bequest, the Trustees, the Lecturers, and the Sermons - cannot be conflated into a single historical unit. Therefore, throughout this study, emphasis is placed on the contingent and singular behaviour of individuals located within an ecclesiastical and scholarly community, where career promotion and the notion of scholarly credit were important. The brief in Boyle's last will and testament stipulated that the Lecturers must defend Christianity using the scholarly tools to hand. In this thesis it will be shown that the personnel of the Lectureship conformed to Boyle's brief and that they utilised all available methods and materials in the pursuance of their legal and institutional responsibilities. This approach removes the analysis of the Lectureship from an overarching sociological perspective; instead the Sermons are interpreted as exemplary texts in the rhetorical prosecution of the enemies of Christianity. This study, therefore, acknowledges the complex nature of theological texts in early modern England. Ill Table of Contents Abstract Table of Contents Abbreviations Acknowledgements vii Chapter One Introduction: Historiographical Issues Concerning the Boyle Sermons 1 1. 1. The Boyle Sermons Revisited. 1 1. 1. 1. The Emergence of an Historiographical Tradition. 3 1. 1. 2. The Jacob Thesis and its Continuing Presence: the Problem of 'Lumping' 6 1. 1. 3. Newtonianism. 9 1. 2. The Use of Materials in a Rhetorical Context 13 Chapter Two The Piety of a Christian Virtuoso: Robert Boyle's Will and Acts of Holy Living 24 2. 1. 'Holy-Life': A Representation of Boyle's Spirituality 24 2. 2. Acts of Charity and Boyle's Fears for Weak Christians. 36 2. 3. The Last Will and Testament of a Christian Virtuoso. 39 2. 4. 'Notorious Infidels' 48 2. 4. 1. Atheists 52 2. 4. 2. Theists 56 2. 4. 3. Pagans. 60 2. 4. 4. Jews. 62 2. 4. 5. Mahometans 69 iv Chapter Three The Trustees of the Boyle Lectureship 75 3. 1. Introduction: A Reassessment of Boyle's Appointments. 75 3. 2. Thomas Tenison (1636 - 1715). 82 3. 3. John Evelyn (1620 - 1706). 88 3. 4. Henry Ashurst (1645 - 1711) 100 3. 5. John Rotherham (1630 - 1696). 110 Chapter Four Richard Bentley: The Use of Natural Philosophy in Pulpit Oratory. 115 4. 1. Bentley's Early Career 115 4. 2. The Choice of Bentley as First Boyle Lecturer 124 4. 3. An Analysis of Bentley's Boyle Sermons. 128 4. 3. 1. Overview: Bentley's Use of Natural Philosophy 128 4. 3. 2. The Crime of Atheism. 137 4. 3. 3. The Impossibility of Thinking Matter 143 4. 3. 4. The Mechanical Philosophy and the 'noble Frame' of the Human Body 148 4. 4. Bentley and Newton. 158 Chapter Five John Harris and the Prosecution of Atheism 173 5 . 1. Introduction: The Early Scholarly Network of John Harris 173 5. 2. Harris's Position in the Anti-atheist Literature. 186 5. 3. THE SERMONS 196 5. 3. 1. The 'Person' of the Atheist 196 5. 3. 2. The 'Principles' of the Atheist. 203 5. 4. Harris no Newtonian? 210 V Chapter Six Samuel Clarke: Certainty and Method in the Interests of True Religion and Virtue. 222 6. 1. Introduction 222 6. 2. The Choice of Clarke as Boyle lecturer 229 6. 3. Clarke's Sermons and the 'Mathematical Way' 233 6. 4. Selected Themes in Clarke's Boyle Sermons 244 6. 4. Newton as a Resource for Clarke's 1704 Sermons 260 Chapter Seven Conclusion 268 Bibliography A. Primary Sources 278 B. Secondary Sources 284 vi Abbreviations Alum. Cant. J. and J. A. Venn, eds., Alumni Cantabrigiensis. A Biographical List of all Known Students, Graduates and Bishops of the University of Cambridge. From the Earliest Times to 1900 (4 vols., Cambridge, 1922 - 1927). BJHS British Journal for the History of Science. Birch, Works The Works of the Honourable Robert Boyle (2nd. ed., 6 vols., London, 1772) Bray John Evelyn, Diary and Correspondence, ed., William Bray (4 vols., London, 1850 - 2). CSPD Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, of the Reign of William and Mary. Cokayne G. E. Cokayne, ed., Complete Peerage (5 vols., Exeter, 1900 - 1906). de Beer The Diary ofJohn Evelyn: Now first printed in fill from the manuscripts belonging to Mr. John Evelyn, ed., E. S. de Beer (6 vols., Oxford, 1955). DNB Dictionary of National Biography DSB Dictionary of Scientific Biography, ed., C. C. Gillispie, (16 vols., New York, 1970 - 80). EWH Sir William Molesworth, The English Works of Thomas Hobbes ofMalmsbuty; Now First Collected and Edited (11 vols., London, 1839). HS History of Science. J. Hist. Ideas Journal of the History of Ideas. Letsome and Nicholl A Defence of Natural and Revealed Religion: Being a Collection of Sermons Preached at the Lecture Founded by the Honourable Robert Boyle Esq; (From the Year 1691 to the Year 1732). With the Additions and Amendments of the Several Authors, and General Indexes (3 vols., London, 1739). Maddison, Life, R. E. W. Madison, The Life of the Honourable Robert Boyle, F R. S. (London, 1969). NER Margaret C. Jacob, The Newtonians and the English vii Revolution 1689- 1720 (Sussex, 1976). NRRS Notes and Records of the Royal Society Phil. Writings. The Philosophical Writings of Descartes, eds., John Cottingham, Robert Stoothoff, and Dugald Murdoch (2 vols., Cambridge, 1985). S. Hist. Phil. Sci. Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science. Turnbull The Correspondence of Isaac Newton, eds., H. W. Turnbull, J. F. Scott, A. R. Hall and Laura Tilling (7 vols., Cambridge, 1959 - 77). Wood Anthony a Wood, Athenae Oxoniensis. An Exact History of all the Writers and Bishops who have had their Education in the University of Oxford. To which are Added The Fasti or Annals of the Said University (4 vols., New York/London, 1967). Acknowledgements I owe my greatest debt to Geoffrey Cantor for the seemingly endless patience, kindness and enthusiasm with which he supervised the writing of this thesis. I would also like to express my appreciation to the other members of the History and Philosophy of Science Division at Leeds University for their support, and in particular to Jonathan Hodge for kind words and encouragement when needed. Many thanks also to Mordechai Feingold who was always at the other end of the internet with help and materials; to Michael Hunter for his quick replies to all my queries, and to John Henry for a peep at unpublished work. I am also gratethl to the staff of the Brotherton Library, and especially those in Special Collections. It is difficult to adequately express my gratitude to Zoe, Nicholas and David. I owe them an enormous debt for putting up with me - especially towards completion. A special thanks to David for all the proof-reading, and the games of football which helped keep me sane. To John Melaugh who knows how much I have drawn on his erudition and friendship over the years - even though I know he will never admit to it. However, in spite of the efforts of all the above, the remaining errors and oversights in the thesis are my sole responsibility. Chapter One And indeed if we consider the Genius and Condition of the Athenians at that Time, how vitious and corrupt they were; how conceited of ther own Wit, and Science, and Politeness, as if they had invented Corn and Oil, and distributed them to the World; and had first taught civility, and Learning, and Religion, and Laws to the rest of mankind; how they were puffed up with the fulsome Flatteries of their Philosophers, and Sophists, and Poets of the Stage; we cannot much wonder, that they should so little regard an unknown Stranger, that preached unto them an unknown God. Richard Bentley. Introduction: Historiographical Issues Concerning the Boyle Sermons. 1. 1. The Boyle Sermons Revisited This thesis is a contribution to discussion of the relationship between theology and natural philosophy in the early modern English period.' Its main purpose is to examine the style and content of a selection of texts from the series now known collectively as the Boyle Sermons. Several studies already exist dealing with the Boyle Lectures as sites for the interaction between science and religion.' However, although the importance of the Lectureship has been adequately recognised, none of these studies offers a close reading of the Sermons. In the most widely accepted interpretation, Margaret Jacob portrays the Lectureship as a podium for a moderate- Anglican ideology of social engineering.