Anxiety about the threat of atheism was rampant in the early modern period, yet fully documented examples of openly expressed irreligious opinion are surprisingly rare. England and Scotland saw only a handful of such cases before 1750, and this book offers a detailed analysis of three of them. Thomas...

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Bibliographic Details

Main Author:	Hunter, Michael 1949- (Author)
Format:	Electronic eBook
Language:	English
Published:	Cambridge Cambridge University Press 2023
Subjects:	Atheism / England / History Atheism / Scotland / History Atheists / England Atheists / Scotland Great Britain / History / 1066-1687 Great Britain / Religion
Online Access:	BSB01 UBG01 Volltext
Summary:	Anxiety about the threat of atheism was rampant in the early modern period, yet fully documented examples of openly expressed irreligious opinion are surprisingly rare. England and Scotland saw only a handful of such cases before 1750, and this book offers a detailed analysis of three of them. Thomas Aikenhead was executed for his atheistic opinions at Edinburgh in 1697; Tinkler Ducket was convicted of atheism by the Vice-Chancellor's court at the University of Cambridge in 1739; whereas Archibald Pitcairne's overtly atheist tract, Pitcairneana, though evidently compiled very early in the eighteenth century, was first published only in 2016. Drawing on these, and on the better-known apostacy of Christopher Marlowe and the Earl of Rochester, Michael Hunter argues that such atheists showed real 'assurance' in publicly promoting their views. This contrasts with the private doubts of Christian believers, and this book demonstrates that the two phenomena are quite distinct, even though they have sometimes been wrongly conflated
Item Description:	Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 12 Jul 2023) The problem of "atheism" in early modern England -- Atheism among the godly : the covert history of religious doubt -- 'This degenerate age... so miserably over-run with skepticism and infidelity' : the culture of atheism after 1660 -- 'Aikenhead the atheist' : the context and consequences of articulate irreligion in the late seventeenth century -- An atheist text by Archibald Pitacirne : introduction to Pitcairneana -- The text of Pitcairneana : Houghton Library, Harvard, MS Eng 1114 -- The trial of Tinkler Ducket : atheism and libertinism in eighteenth-century England
Physical Description:	1 Online-Ressource (vii, 223 Seiten)
ISBN:	9781009268790
DOI:	10.1017/9781009268790