Abstract
In the early modern period, the study of Scripture and the study of nature were not considered two entirely separate fields of inquiry. Rather, theology and natural philosophy formed a sort of continuum. Focusing on the works of Robert Boyle (1627–1691) and William Whiston (1667–1752), I will show how early modern ‘scientist-theologians’ used natural philosophy to defend specific doctrines of revealed religion. More specifically, I will discuss Boyle’s attempt to explain the possibility of bodily resurrection on the basis of his corpuscularian theory of matter and Whiston’s astronomical interpretation of the Mosaic account of creation in six days. Both thinkers combined biblical exegesis with the study of nature to show that God’s revelations regarding the history and future of the world were confirmed by the findings of natural philosophy. They both relied on the idea that God is present everywhere in nature, acting through natural causes, but also, if needed, using his extraordinary, supernatural power to achieve his ends.
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Notes
- 1.
References to the standard edition of Boyle’s works cite volume number and page number.
- 2.
Newton’s view of God’s relationship with the created world is famously stated in the General Scholium published with the second edition of his Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (1st edition 1687, 2nd edition 1713; see Newton 2014: 109–114).
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Jakapi, R. (2020). Early Modern Natural Philosophy Allied with Revealed Religion: Boyle and Whiston. In: Fuller, M., Evers, D., Runehov, A., Sæther, KW., Michollet, B. (eds) Issues in Science and Theology: Nature – and Beyond. Issues in Science and Religion: Publications of the European Society for the Study of Science and Theology, vol 5. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31182-7_19
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