Theology Today - Vol 22, No. 1 - April 1965 - BOOK REVIEW - Reason and Authority In the Eighteenth Century

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Reason and Authority In the Eighteenth Century
By Gerald R. Cragg
349 pp. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1964. 42s.

This study of eighteenth century English thought by Professor Cragg of Andover Newton Theological School concentrates upon the concepts of reason and authority. It seeks to expound accurately and sympathetically the thought of the century without trying to "dictate what the various authors could or should have said."

The major problems of the period arose from the fact that by the end of the seventeenth century reason had displaced authorities which had previously been accepted, while the nature and extent of its own authority were yet to be decided. John Locke had set aside the authority of philosophers and theologians of the past and had turned to experience as the source of knowledge and to the Bible as the source of religious belief. Although he had accepted revelation, he had placed his reliance primarily on reason by making it the judge of the claims of revelation to truth and reducing Christian belief to acceptance of Jesus as the Messiah. The other great influence on eighteenth century thought was Isaac

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Newton. He found conclusive evidence in nature for the existence of God and for His wisdom and power, but his view of nature as a great machine tended to make God only a Great Mechanic, a First Cause. Moreover, because of the triumphs of physical science, men became increasingly interested in visible nature and began to lose their sense of the reality of the Transcendent and their awe in its presence. As a result, eighteenth century thought was characterized by clarity and precision rather than profundity, by moralism and religious formalism, by preoccupation with the nature and powers of man, and by an optimistic belief in progress.

Against this background the book analyzes different ways in which reason was exalted by different groups of thinkers. (1) The Latitudinarians from Tillotson to Paley accepted natural religion -which used the teleological argument from the order of nature as evidence of God's wisdom, power, and goodness. They held that man is pre-eminent in nature and despite his fallen state is essentially a free agent whose reason has been dimmed but not destroyed. They emphasized the advantages of morality as the way to happiness. But they were also convinced that revelation is necessary to restore man from the corruption due to his sin and offered prophecy and miracle as solid "evidences" of its truth. Thus, revelation supplements rather than conflicts with reason. The appeal of the Latitudinarians is to be found in their tolerance and their attempt to answer unbelief; but they minimized the power of evil and consequently put little stress upon the Incarnation and Atonement.

(2) Deism emphasized the authority of reason to the virtual exclusion of church, Bible, and tradition. John Toland argued that there is nothing mysterious and beyond the power of reason to grasp in Christianity. Matthew Tindal maintained that, since God must always have treated men in the same way, the Christian revelation added nothing new to natural religion but was only a "re-publication" of it. Thus, the deists asserted not only the primacy but the complete sufficiency of reason. Opposing the claims of revelation, they attacked the inconsistencies in the Bible and the use of prophecy and miracle as "evidences." They accepted an optimisitic view of man and made morality their paramount concern. The chief consequence of their doctrines was to increase religious skepticism and indifference, but their excessive claims for reason prepared the way for the reaction against it. (3) One of the most interesting chapters deals with the application of science to the nature of man. David Hartley became the founder of a new psychology by relating psychological states to physiological processes. Sensation is the source of ideas and complex ideas are developed from simple ones by association. Memory, imagination, and moral ideas are derived from

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these principles. On the foundation of this mechanistic view Hartley based a strict determinism and a utilitarian ethic. What is surprising is the fact that lie saw no inconsistency between his mechanism and an immaterial view of the soul or an acceptance of revelation. Joseph Priestley also combined scientific interest with moral seriousness and religious zeal, making Hartley's associationism and determinism the basis of an ardent defense of liberty and an optimistic belief in progress, William Godwin, like Priestley, was influenced by the outlook of the nonconformists of time but was in revolt against religious beliefs. He naively exaggerated the power of reason and the perfectibility of man and regarded government as at best a necessary evil.

In contrast, Professor Cragg shows how other and greater thinkers opposed in different ways the exaltation of reason. Without denying the importance of reason, Joseph Butler in his Analogy of Religion pointed out that there are difficulties in natural no less than in revealed religion and that they are not fatal in the latter case if men recognize the limitations of reason and see that "probability is the guide of life," David Hume's skepticism tended to undermine the authority of reason and his Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion subjected the teleological argument of natural religion to sharp criticism. John Wesley and the Anglican Evangelicals opposed to the authority of reason "the authority of a revitalized faith." Finally, Edmund Burke at the end of the century attacked the rationalism of reformers who were inspired by the French Revolution. His appeal to the authority of tradition was grounded in a deep appreciation of the complexity of society and its roots in history, of the basis of the state in a moral order, and of the spiritual value of religion expressed through the church.

It is clear from this book that thinkers such as Butler, Wesley, and Burke were superior both intellectually and spiritually to tile rationalists of the century. Although they regarded reason with respect, they also recognized the authority of revelation, experience, and tradition. The value of Professor Cragg's study lies in his clear and careful analysis of differences between them and thinkers such as the deists who exaggerated the authority of reason to such a degree as to provoke the conservative and romantic reaction which followed the Age of Reason.

George F. Thomas
Princeton University
Princeton, New Jersey