Literature and Natural Theology in Early Modern England

Katherine Calloway explores the relationship between science and religion through a wide-ranging selection of early modern English poets.

Katherine Calloway (Author)

9781009415262, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 19 October 2023

254 pages
23.5 x 15.8 x 1.9 cm, 0.51 kg

'From Bacon to the Boyle lectures, from the metaphysicals to Milton, Bunyan, Hutchinson, and Cavendish, this book provides a ground-breaking guide to the evolving conversation between early modern science and “creative” or literary theology throughout the seventeenth century. Examining how Protestant poets and prose writers diversely applied new understandings of nature to both traditional and Reformed views of scripture, Calloway's deeply-informed conclusions rest on a broad range of authorial sources and current literary criticism. A must-read for any scholar seriously concerned with these themes and authors.' Catherine Gimelli Martin, Professor emerità, English Literature, University of Memphis

Guiding readers through the diverse forms of natural theology expressed in seventeenth-century English literature, Katherine Calloway reveals how, in ways that have not yet been fully recognized, authors such as Donne, Herbert, Vaughan, Cavendish, Hutchinson, Milton, Marvell, and Bunyan describe, promote, challenge, and even practice natural theology in their poetic works. She simultaneously improves our understanding of an important and still-influential intellectual movement and deepens our appreciation of multiple major literary works. “Natural theology,” as it was popularly understood, changed dramatically in England over the seventeenth century, from the application of natural light to divine things to a newer, more brittle, understanding of the enterprise as the exclusive use of reason and observation to prove theological conclusions outside of any context of faith. These poets profoundly complicate the story, collectively demonstrating that some forms of natural theology lend themselves to poetry or imaginative literature rather than prose.

Introduction
Part I. Metaphysical Poets: 1. A 'Metaphorical God' and the Book of Nature: John Donne on Natural theology
2. 'I Summon'd Nature': George Herbert and Henry Vaughan on science and nature
3. 'Mutters of Assent' or 'Lectures for the Eye': Natural theology in the devotional lyrics of Herbert and Vaughan
Part II. Imagined Worlds: 4. 'Architect of Wonders': Creation in Cavendish, Sylvester, Hutchinson, Denham and Marvell
5. 'His Footstep Trace': the natural theology of Paradise Lost
6. The misunderstood spider: John Bunyan reads the Book of Nature
Epilogue: Literature and natural theology at the dawn of the Boyle Lectures.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: general [DSB]