An elegant and learned discourse of the light of nature / Nathaniel Culverwell ; edited by Robert A. Greene and Hugh MacCallum ; foreword by Robert A. Greene.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Culverwel, Nathanael, -1651?, author.

Contributor:

Greene, Robert A. (Robert Allan), 1931- editor.

MacCallum, Hugh, 1928- editor.

Series:

Natural Law Paper

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Religion--Philosophy.

Religion.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (279 p.)

Place of Publication:

Indianapolis, IN : Liberty Fund, [2001]

Summary:

"An Elegant and Learned Discourse of the Light of Nature" is a concerted effort at intellectual mediation in the deep religious dispute of the English civil war in the seventeenth century. On one side was the antinomian assertion of extreme Calvinists that the elect were redeemed by God's free grace and thereby free from ordinary moral obligations. Opposite to that was the Arminian rejection of predestination and assertion that Christ died for all, not just for the elect. Faced with the violence of these disputes, Nathaniel Culverwell attempted a moderate defense of reason and natural law, arguing, in the words of Robert Greene, that "reason and faith are distinct lights, yet they are not opposed; they are complementary and harmonious. Reason is the image of God in man, and to deny right reason is to deny our relation to God." Culverwell presented this understanding of the role of reason by expounding upon Proverbs 20:27, "The understanding of a man is the Candle of the Lord." This was a favorite text among the Cambridge Platonists (Whichcote, Cudworth, Smith, and More), to whom Culverwell was close. He had obviously absorbed much also from Bacon, Grotius, and Selden. However, the most profound influence on him was that of the Spanish Jesuit Francisco "Suarez's De Legibus, ac Deo Legislatore" (1612), which is also part of this series. "An Elegant and Learned Discourse" was delivered as a series of sermon-like lectures at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, in 1645/46 and published posthumously in 1652. Nathaniel Culverwell (1619-1651) was a fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Robert A. Greene is Professor of English at the University of Massachusetts at Boston. Hugh MacCallum was Professor Emeritus of English at the University of Toronto. Knud Haakonssen is Professor of Intellectual History and Director of the Centre for Intellectual History at the University of Sussex, England.

Contents:

""Nathaniel Culverwell, An Elegant and Learned Discourse of the Light of Nature ""; ""Front Matter ""; ""Title Page ""; ""Copyright Details ""; ""Contents ""; ""Preface, p. ix ""; ""Foreword, p. xi ""; ""An Elegant and Learned Discourse of the Light of Nature ""; ""The Epistle Dedicatory to the Reverend and Learned Anthony Tuckney, p. 1 ""; ""To the Reader, p. 3 ""; ""Courteous Reader, p. 5 ""; ""Table of Contents, p. 9 ""; ""Chapter 1. The Porch, or Introduction, p. 10 ""; ""Chapter 2. The Explication of the Words, p. 17 ""; ""Chapter 3. What Nature Is, p. 21 ""

""Chapter 4. Of the Nature of a Law in General, p. 27 """"Chapter 5. Of the Eternal Law, p. 35 ""; ""Chapter 6. Of the Law of Nature in General, Its Subject and Nature, p. 40 ""; ""Chapter 7. The Extent of the Law of Nature, p. 58 ""; ""Chapter 8. How the Law of Nature Is Discovered? Not by Tradition, p. 65 ""; ""Chapter 9. The Light of Reason, p. 71 ""; ""Chapter 10. Of the Consent of Nations, p. 79 ""; ""Chapter 11. The Light of Reason Is a Derivative Light, p. 88 ""; ""Chapter 12. The Light of Reason Is a Diminutive Light, p. 118 ""

""Chapter 13. The Light of Reason Discovers Present, Not Future Things, p. 126 """"Chapter 14. The Light of Reason Is a Certain Light, p. 136 ""; ""Chapter 15. The Light of Reason Is Directive, p. 147 ""; ""Chapter 16. The Light of Reason Is Calme and Peaceable, p. 157 ""; ""Chapter 17. The Light of Reason Is a Pleasant Light, p. 170 ""; ""Chapter 18. The Light of Reason Is an Ascendent Light, p. 184 ""; ""Notes, p. 199 ""; ""Textual Notes, p. 245 ""; ""Index, p. 249 ""

Notes:

Originally published: Toronto : University of Toronto Press, 1971. (Studies and texts / University of Toronto. Dept. of English).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-61487-790-4

OCLC:

62320069