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Guiding readers through the diverse forms of natural theology expressed in seventeenth-century English literature, Katherine Calloway reveals how, in ways that have not yet been fully recognized, authors such as Donne, Herbert, Vaughan, Cavendish, Hutchinson, Milton, Marvell, and Bunyan describe, promote, challenge, and even practice natural theology in their poetic works. She simultaneously improves our understanding of an important and still-influential intellectual movement and deepens our appreciation of multiple major literary works. "Natural theology," as it was popularly understood, changed dramatically in England over the seventeenth century, from the application of natural light to divine things to a newer, more brittle, understanding of the enterprise as the exclusive use of reason and observation to prove theological conclusions outside of any context of faith. These poets profoundly complicate the story, collectively demonstrating that some forms of natural theology lend themselves to poetry or imaginative literature rather than prose.
List of contents
Introduction; Part I. Metaphysical Poets: 1. A 'Metaphorical God' and the Book of Nature: John Donne on Natural theology; 2. 'I Summon'd Nature': George Herbert and Henry Vaughan on science and nature; 3. 'Mutters of Assent' or 'Lectures for the Eye': Natural theology in the devotional lyrics of Herbert and Vaughan; Part II. Imagined Worlds: 4. 'Architect of Wonders': Creation in Cavendish, Sylvester, Hutchinson, Denham and Marvell; 5. 'His Footstep Trace': the natural theology of Paradise Lost; 6. The misunderstood spider: John Bunyan reads the Book of Nature; Epilogue: Literature and natural theology at the dawn of the Boyle Lectures.
About the author
Katherine Calloway is Assistant Professor of English at Baylor University. She has written extensively on early modern English literature as it intersects with science and theology. Her first book, Natural Theology in the Scientific Revolution, was published in 2014.
Summary
Exploring the diverse forms of natural theology expressed in seventeenth-century English literature, Katherine Calloway reveals how, in ways only partially recognized until now, authors such as Donne, Herbert, Vaughan, Cavendish, Hutchinson, Milton, Marvell, and Bunyan describe, challenge, and even practice natural theology in their poetry.
Foreword
Katherine Calloway explores the relationship between science and religion through a wide-ranging selection of early modern English poets.
