Cambridge Platonist SpiritualityCharles Taliaferro, Alison J. Teply This volume in the distinguished Classics of Western Spirituality series presents a collection of essays, poetry, and treatises by Cambridge Platonists, a movement in philosophical theology that flourished around Cambridge University in the 17th century and left a profound impact on the shape of subsequent religious life in the English speaking world. This school of thought emphasized the great goodness of God, the accord between reason and faith, an integrated life of virtue, and the deep joy of living in concord with God. In an important introduction, the editors situate the Cambridge Platonist movement in its historical and religious setting: the decades of turbulence and political crises surrounding the English Civil War. They then offer brief biographical portraits of the principal members of the movement: Benjamin Whichcote; Henry More; Ralph Cudworth; John Smith; Peter Sterry; Nathaniel Culverwell; and Anne Conway. Following the introduction is a representative sample of Cambridge Platonist writings. Scholars and students of 17th-century England, Christian spirituality of the early modern era, intellectual history, and faith and reason will appreciate this treatment of the spiritual life and work of an often overlooked, but significant, movement. + |
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Page 2
... nature and essence of God ... is altogether unchangeable . " And Henry More takes as his subject an apophatic acknowledgment of divine transcendence in this couplet about the soul and its way of knowing God : If it go down to utmost ...
... nature and essence of God ... is altogether unchangeable . " And Henry More takes as his subject an apophatic acknowledgment of divine transcendence in this couplet about the soul and its way of knowing God : If it go down to utmost ...
Page 3
... nature . " What Origen , the Cappadocian fathers , and especially Maximus the Confessor describe as metousia , " participation , " is not merely intellectual but existential , transforming the very being of those whom Christ came to ...
... nature . " What Origen , the Cappadocian fathers , and especially Maximus the Confessor describe as metousia , " participation , " is not merely intellectual but existential , transforming the very being of those whom Christ came to ...
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... it is impossible for human nature to attain to perfect knowledge of God and even that ... it is impossible for anyone to attain to much more than the masses have of him .... God will be found by 6 CAMBRIDGE PLATONIST SPIRITUALITY.
... it is impossible for human nature to attain to perfect knowledge of God and even that ... it is impossible for anyone to attain to much more than the masses have of him .... God will be found by 6 CAMBRIDGE PLATONIST SPIRITUALITY.
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... nature is not akin to the object , for this knowledge never takes root in an alien nature ; so that no man who is not naturally inclined and akin to justice and all other forms of excellence , even though he may be quick at learning and ...
... nature is not akin to the object , for this knowledge never takes root in an alien nature ; so that no man who is not naturally inclined and akin to justice and all other forms of excellence , even though he may be quick at learning and ...
Page 10
... nature of love , one must do so lovingly . It will not do to seek justice ruthlessly or to seek the nature of love in a malicious way . By contrast , an extrinsic search does not need to be shaped or animated by the object of the search ...
... nature of love , one must do so lovingly . It will not do to seek justice ruthlessly or to seek the nature of love in a malicious way . By contrast , an extrinsic search does not need to be shaped or animated by the object of the search ...
Contents
5 | |
A Sermon Preached before the Honorable House | 55 |
The Joy Which the Righteous Have in | 95 |
The Moral Part of Religion Reinforced | 105 |
That Those Who Are Truly Religious | 115 |
Our Conversation Is in Heaven | 126 |
Aphorisms | 135 |
The Excellency and Nobleness of True Religion | 150 |
The True Way or Method of Attaining to Divine | 157 |
Charitie and Humilitie | 165 |
An Explanation of the Divine Mystery of Godliness | 174 |
The Principles of the Most Ancient and Modern | 187 |
Notes | 193 |
Bibliography | 220 |
Index | 229 |
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Common terms and phrases
Anne Conway Arminianism atheism beauty believe Benjamin Whichcote body Cabbala Calvinist Cambridge Platonism Cambridge Platonists Cambridge University Press candle Christ's College Christ's commandments Christian church claimed converse Conway Letters Conway's corruption creatures Culverwell darkness death Descartes divine truth Emmanuel College England eternity evil excellent faith flesh glory God's godly gospel grace happiness hearts heaven heavenly hell Helmont Henry History of Ideas holiness human Ibid influence Jesus John Smith know Christ knowledge liberty light live London Lord Brooke lusts Marjorie Hope Nicolson millenarian mind moral More's mysteries mystical Nathaniel Culverwell nature ness never notion ourselves Parliament perfect person Peter Sterry philosophy Plotinus principle Puritan Quakers Ralph Cudworth rational reason religion religious reveal righteousness Rump Parliament Sarah Hutton Savior scripture Select Discourses SELECTED WRITINGS sense sermon Seventeenth-Century shine soul speaks spirit Sterry's teaching Theology things thought tion True Intellectual System understanding word