Overview

This book demonstrates that the common belief that humanity is naturally disposed to religion did not disappear with the emergence of the Enlightenment. Going beyond a narrow focus on John Locke’s empiricism, this vivid analysis reconstructs the vociferous, multivocal debate over the natural origins of religious belief in England and Scotland between c. 1650 and c. 1750. It enriches our understanding through examining hundreds of discussions of the relationship between human nature and religion, from a variety of genres and contexts. It shows that belief in religious innatism was a ubiquitous and enduring claim about human nature across the continuum of Christian thought in early modern Britain, and one deployed for a variety of reasons. While the doctrine of innate religious ideas did fall out of use, the belief that human nature was framed for religion continued in new forms into the eighteenth century.

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9783030843229

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Reviews

“One of the several good questions asked by Robin Mills in this short but rich book concerns the explanation of change in the intellectual climate of a particular time and place. … Mills's preferred way of accounting for intellectual change is to read more or less everything … . Each of the four main chapters of his book is followed by a bibliography, listing dozens of primary texts … .” (James A. Harris, Intellectual History Review, September 11, 2023)

Author Information

R. J. W. Mills is an independent scholar based in London, UK. He was a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at Queen Mary University of London and previously held Teaching Fellowships at King’s College London and University College London.

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