The English Church in the Eighteenth Century. John Henry Overton

'Christianity as old as the Creation' 86–7

       Conybeare's 'Defence of Revealed Religion' 87

       Tindal the chief exponent of Deism 88

       Morgan's 'Moral Philosopher' 89

       Chubbs's works 90–1

       'Christianity not founded on argument' 92–3

       Bolingbroke's 'Philosophical Works' 93–6

       Butler's 'Analogy' 96–7

       Warburton's 'Divine Legation of Moses' 97–8

       Berkeley's 'Alciphron, or the Minute Philosopher' 98–9

       Leland's 'View of the Deistical Writers' 100–1

       Pope's 'Essay on Man' 101–2

       John Locke's relation to Deism 102–5

       Effects of the Deistical controversy 106–8

       Collapse of Deism 108

       Want of sympathy with the Deists 110

       Their unpopularity 111

       CHAPTER IV.

      LATITUDINARIAN CHURCHMANSHIP.

      (1.) CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE OF ARCHBISHOP TILLOTSON'S THEOLOGY.

      (C.J. Abbey.)

       Use of the term 'Latitudinarian' 112

       In the eighteenth century 113

       Archbishop Tillotson:—His close relationship with the eighteenth century 115His immense repute as a writer and divine 115Vehemence of the attack upon his opinions 117His representative character 118His appeal to reason in all religious questions 119On spiritual influence 119On Christian evidences 119On involuntary error 120On private judgment, its rights and limitations 121Liberty of thought and 'Freethinking' in Tillotson's and the succeeding age 125Tillotson on 'mysteries' 127On the doctrine of the Trinity 129On Christ's redemption 130Theory of accommodation 131The future state 133Inadequate insistance on distinctive Christian doctrine 140Religion and ethics 141Goodness and happiness 142Prudential religion 143General type of Tillotson's latitudinarianism 145

       CHAPTER V.

      LATITUDINARIAN CHURCHMANSHIP.

      (2.) CHURCH COMPREHENSION AND CHURCH REFORMERS.

      (C.J. Abbey.)

       Comprehension in the English Church 147

       Attitude towards Rome in eighteenth century 148Strength of Protestant feeling 148Exceptional interest in the Gallican Church 149

       Archbishop Wake and the Sorbonne divines 149Alienation unmixed with interest in the middle of the eighteenth century 152The exiled French clergy 154

       The reformed churches abroad:—Relationship with them a practical question of great interest since James II.'s time 155Alternation of feeling on the subject since the Reformation 156The Protestant cause at the opening of the eighteenth century 158The English Liturgy and Prussian Lutherans 160Subsidence of interest in foreign Protestantism 163

       Nonconformists at home:—Strong feeling in favour of a national unity in Church matters 164Feeling at one time in favour of comprehension, both among Churchmen and Nonconformists 166General view of the Comprehension Bills 169The opportunity transitory 174Church comprehension in the early part of the eighteenth century confessedly hopeless 175Partial revival of the idea in the middle of the century 177

       Comprehension of Methodists 180

       Occasional conformity:—A simple question complicated by the Test Act 183The Occasional Conformity Bill 184Occasional conformity, apart from the test, a 'healing custom' 185But by some strongly condemned 186Important position it might have held in the system of the National Church 187

       Revision of Church formularies; subscription:—Distaste for any ecclesiastical changes 188The 'Free and Candid Disquisitions' 189Subscription to the Articles 190Arian subscription 193Proposed revision of Church formularies 195

       Isolation of the English Church at the end of the last century 195

       The period unfitted to entertain and carry out ideas of Church development 196

       CHAPTER VI.

      THE TRINITARIAN CONTROVERSY.

      (J.H. Overton.)

       Importance of the question at issue 197

       Four different views on the subject 198

       Bull's 'Defensio Fidei Nicænæ' 199

       Sherlock, Wallis, and South on the Trinity 200

       Charles Leslie on Socinianism 201–2

       William Whiston on the Trinity 202–4

       Samuel Clarke the reviver of modern Arianism 204

       Opponents of Clarke 205

       Waterland on the Trinity 205–13

       Excellences of Waterland's writings 213

       Convocation and Dr. Clarke 214

       Arianism among Dissenters 215

       Arianism lapses into Socinianism.—Faustus Socinus 215

       Modern Socinianism 216

       Isaac Watts on the Trinity 217–9

       Blackburne's 'Confessional' 219

       Jones of Nayland on the Trinity 219–20

       Priestley on the Trinity 220

       Horsley's replies to Priestley 220–4

       Unitarians and Trinitarians (nomenclature) 225

       Deism and Unitarianism 226