Cambridge Platonist Spirituality

Cambridge Platonist Spirituality PDF

Author: Charles Taliaferro

Publisher: Paulist Press

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 264

ISBN-13: 9780809105397

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This anthology collects essays, poetry and treatises by a group of English philosophers from the Age of Reason who were devoted to the goodness of God and the spiritual importance of rationalism. These philosophers, known as the Cambridge Platonists, produced a movement in philosophical theology that flourished around Cambridge University in the seventeenth century and influenced not only Great Britain, but the United States and beyond. Their school of thought emphasized the great goodness of God, the compatibility of reason and faith, an integrated life of virtue, and the deep joy of living in concord with God. This volume introduces and presents the key documents of the Cambridge Platonist movement while setting its thinkers in their historical and religious context: the decades of turbulence and political crises surrounding the English Civil War.

Cambridge Platonist Spirituality

Cambridge Platonist Spirituality PDF

Author: Charles Taliaferro

Publisher: Paulist Press

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 260

ISBN-13: 9780809140381

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This anthology collects essays, poetry and treatises by a group of English philosophers from the Age of Reason who were devoted to the goodness of God and the spiritual importance of rationalism. These philosophers, known as the Cambridge Platonists, produced a movement in philosophical theology that flourished around Cambridge University in the seventeenth century and influenced not only Great Britain, but the United States and beyond. Their school of thought emphasized the great goodness of God, the compatibility of reason and faith, an integrated life of virtue, and the deep joy of living in concord with God. This volume introduces and presents the key documents of the Cambridge Platonist movement while setting its thinkers in their historical and religious context: the decades of turbulence and political crises surrounding the English Civil War.

The Cambridge Platonists

The Cambridge Platonists PDF

Author: C. A. Patrides

Publisher: Hodder Education

Published: 1969

Total Pages: 392

ISBN-13:

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This volume contains the selected discourses of four seventeenth-century philosophers, carefully chosen to illustrate the tenets characteristic of the influential movement known as Cambridge Platonism. Fundamental to their beliefs is the statement most clearly voiced by Benjamin Whichcote, their leader by common consent, that the spiritual is not opposed to the rational, nor Grace to nature. Religion is based on reason, even in the presence of 'mystery'. Free will and Grace are not mutually exclusive. The editor's comprehensive introduction delineates the main principles of the Cambridge Platonists, in the light of their heritage. It compares their attitude to contemporary thought, stressing their mistrust both of institutionalised religion and of the rising tide of materialism. The sermons are reprinted from the original texts and fully annotated with comparisons and references to a wide range of works. The editor also includes a useful list for further reading, biographical notes and a comprehensive index.

Henry More, 1614-1687

Henry More, 1614-1687 PDF

Author: R. Crocker

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2003-11-30

Total Pages: 318

ISBN-13: 9781402015021

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Henry More (1614-1687), the Cambridge Platonist, is often presented as an elusive and contradictory figure. An early apologist for the new natural philosophy and its rational support for Christian doctrine, More also defended the existence of witchcraft and wrote extensively on the nature of the soul and the world of spirits. A vigorous and prolific controversialist against many varieties of contemporary `atheism' and `enthusiasm', More was himself a spiritual perfectionist and illuminist, believing that the goal of the religious life was a conscious union with God. Until now, most biographies of More have ignored these, his own, preoccupations, and have made of him a rather eccentric but important illustrative figure in one of several larger narratives dominated by canonical figures like Descartes, Boyle, Spinoza or Newton. This is the first modern biography to place his own religious and philosophical preoccupations centre-stage, and to provide a coherent interpretation of his work from a consideration of his own writings, their contexts and aims. It is also the first study of More to exploit the full range of his prolific writings and a number of unknown manuscripts relating to his life. In addition, it contains an annotated handlist of his extant correspondence.

The Cambridge Platonists

The Cambridge Platonists PDF

Author: Tod E. Jones

Publisher: University Press of America

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 180

ISBN-13: 9780761828747

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The Cambridge Platonists is written with students and novice theologians in mind. It provides context as well as description, while outlining the most representative ideas of the school with clarity and brevity. This introduction will meet the needs of many readers, but for those beginning a study of the works of the Cambridge Platonists, the Eight Letters of Dr. Antony Tuckney and Dr. Benjamin Whichcote not only provide a logical starting point, in that they present the most characteristic ideas of Whichcote--arguably, the Cambridge Platonists' founding member--but also help to clarify what sets this school of religious thought apart from contemporary Puritan theology, as represented by Tuckney. This is the first complete edition of the Eight Letters since their original publication in 1753, now rendered accessible to readers without knowledge of classical languages.

Platonic Mysticism

Platonic Mysticism PDF

Author: Arthur Versluis

Publisher: State University of New York Press

Published: 2017-08-16

Total Pages: 174

ISBN-13: 143846634X

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Restores the Platonic history and context of mysticism and shows how mysticism helps us understand more deeply the humanities as a whole, from philosophy and literature to art. In Platonic Mysticism, Arthur Versluis clearly and tautly argues that mysticism must be properly understood as belonging to the great tradition of Platonism. He demonstrates how mysticism was historically understood in Western philosophical and religious traditions and emphatically rejects externalist approaches to esoteric religion. Instead he develops a new theoretical-critical model for understanding mystical literature and the humanities as a whole, from philosophy and literature to art. A sequel to his Restoring Paradise, this is an audacious book that places Platonic mysticism in the context of contemporary cognitive and other approaches to the study of religion, and presents an emerging model for the new field of contemplative science. Arthur Versluis is Professor and Chair in the Department of Religious Studies at Michigan State University. He is the author of Restoring Paradise: Western Esotericism, Literature, Art, and Consciousness and Wisdom’s Children: A Christian Esoteric Tradition, both also published by SUNY Press.

The History of Religious Imagination in Christian Platonism

The History of Religious Imagination in Christian Platonism PDF

Author: Christian Hengstermann

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2021-03-25

Total Pages: 249

ISBN-13: 1350172987

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This collection provides the first in-depth introduction to the theory of the religious imagination put forward by renowned philosopher Douglas Hedley, from his earliest essays to his principal writings. Featuring Hedley's inaugural lecture delivered at Cambridge University in 2018, the book sheds light on his robust concept of religious imagination as the chief power of the soul's knowledge of the Divine and reveals its importance in contemporary metaphysics, ethics and politics. Chapters trace the development of the religious imagination in Christian Platonism from Late Antiquity to British Romanticism, drawing on Origen, Henry More and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, before providing a survey of alternative contemporary versions of the concept as outlined by Karl Rahner, René Girard and William P. Alston, as well as within Indian philosophy. By bringing Christian Platonist thought into dialogue with contemporary philosophy and theology, the volume systematically reveals the relevance of Hedley's work to current debates in religious epistemology and metaphysics. It offers a comprehensive appraisal of the historical contribution of imagination to religious understanding and, as such, will be of great interest to philosophers, theologians and historians alike.

An Anthology of the Cambridge Platonists

An Anthology of the Cambridge Platonists PDF

Author: Douglas Hedley

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2023-09-08

Total Pages: 480

ISBN-13: 1000851710

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Notwithstanding their neglect in many histories of ideas in the West, the Cambridge Platonists constitute the most significant and influential group of thinkers in the Platonic tradition between the Florentine Renaissance and the Romantic Age. This anthology offers readers a unique, thematically structured compendium of their key texts, along with an extensive introduction and a detailed account of their legacy. The volume draws upon a resurgence of interest in thinkers such as Benjamin Whichcote, 1609–1683; Ralph Cudworth, 1618–1688; Henry More, 1614–1687; John Smith, 1618–1652, and Anne Conway 1631–1679, and includes hitherto neglected extracts and some works of less familiar authors within the group, like George Rust 1627?–1670; Joseph Glanvill, 1636–1680, and John Norris 1657–1712. It also highlights the Cambridge Platonists’ important role in the history of philosophy and theology, influencing luminaries such as Shaftesbury, Berkeley, Leibniz, Joseph de Maistre, S.T. Coleridge, and W.R. Emerson. An Anthology of the Cambridge Platonists is an indispensable guide to the serious study of a pivotal group of Western metaphysicians and is of great value for both students and scholars of philosophy, literature, history, and theology. Key Features The only systematic anthology to the Cambridge Platonists available, facilitating quick comprehension of key themes and ideas Uses new translations of the Latin works, vastly improving upon faulty and misleading earlier translations Offers a wide range of new perspective on the Cambridge Platonists, showing the extent of their influence in early modern philosophy and beyond.

Evidence and Faith

Evidence and Faith PDF

Author: Charles Taliaferro

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2005-02-28

Total Pages: 482

ISBN-13: 9780521790277

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A narrative history of philosophical reflection on religion from the seventeenth century to the present.