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. + |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 89
Page 2
... soul and its way of knowing God : If it go down to utmost nought It shall return with that it sought . 6 The repeated polemic against the notion that true religion is " nothing but a little book - craft , a mere paper skill , " is an ...
... soul and its way of knowing God : If it go down to utmost nought It shall return with that it sought . 6 The repeated polemic against the notion that true religion is " nothing but a little book - craft , a mere paper skill , " is an ...
Page 7
... souls . While some Christian Platonists have held that the soul pre- exists the body , this is shy of Plato's more ... soul . Regrettably , a disdain for the body did make its way through Plotinus ( 205-70 ) into some strands of ...
... souls . While some Christian Platonists have held that the soul pre- exists the body , this is shy of Plato's more ... soul . Regrettably , a disdain for the body did make its way through Plotinus ( 205-70 ) into some strands of ...
Page 10
... soul of man behold God ... unless it is Godlike , has God formed in it , and is made a partaker of the divine nature " ( pp . 157-58 ) . Thus the intellectual and affective search for God can be a transfiguring form of worship ...
... soul of man behold God ... unless it is Godlike , has God formed in it , and is made a partaker of the divine nature " ( pp . 157-58 ) . Thus the intellectual and affective search for God can be a transfiguring form of worship ...
Page 11
... soul is " pas- sionately " present and embodied . Their understanding of human embodiment , as with their understanding of nonhuman animals and nature as a whole , was governed by their faith in God's good- ness . Cambridge Platonist ...
... soul is " pas- sionately " present and embodied . Their understanding of human embodiment , as with their understanding of nonhuman animals and nature as a whole , was governed by their faith in God's good- ness . Cambridge Platonist ...
Page 12
... soul , God's transcendence and immanence , morality and grace , the inner life and external political obligations . A comprehensive defense of their spiritual philosophy is impossible to undertake here . " At the least , however , we ...
... soul , God's transcendence and immanence , morality and grace , the inner life and external political obligations . A comprehensive defense of their spiritual philosophy is impossible to undertake here . " At the least , however , we ...
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