A View of the Evidences of Christianity
In Three Parts

Written by William Paley in 1794, A View of the Evidences of Christianity is a classic intellectual defence of Christianity.

William Paley (Author)

9781108000949, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 20 July 2009

376 pages
21.6 x 14 x 2.1 cm, 0.48 kg

This two-volume book by the philosopher and theologian William Paley, published in 1794, was considered so important that it was required reading for Cambridge students (including Charles Darwin) well into the nineteenth century. This classic work of apologetics is divided into three parts in which Paley discusses the historical evidence for Christianity and the miracles of Jesus Christ. He begins volume 1 with the proposition that the original witnesses to Christ's miracles should be believed, because they spent their entire lives in constant danger for what they witnessed. Paley takes on Hume's argument that no miracle can be proved regardless of the amount of evidence with the observation that if one believes in God, then miracles should be expected. Paley's intellectual defence of Christianity was one of the most popular of the day, and his work is considered a direct forerunner of the contemporary theory of intelligent design.

Preparatory considerations
Part I. Of the direct historical evidence of Christianity, and wherein it is distinguished from the evidence alleged for other miracles.

Subject Areas: History of ideas [JFCX]