Pilgrim Library Christian Classics
The Analogy of Religion

The Analogy of Religion

by Joseph Butler

Joseph Butler (1692–1752) was an English Anglican bishop, theologian, and moral philosopher, serving as bishop of Bristol and then of Durham. Preaching at the Rolls Chapel in London, he produced the Fifteen Sermons (1726), famous for their teaching on conscience and human nature. His Analogy of Religion (1736), also in our library, answered the deists by arguing that revealed religion matches the pattern of God's government seen in nature.

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First published
1736
Category
Theology
Length
106k words · about 7 hours
Chapters
26
Narration
🎧 Volunteer Readers

About this book

Joseph Butler's celebrated work of apologetics, published in 1736. Butler argues by analogy: the difficulties raised against revealed religion appear also in the natural order and in God's ordinary government of the world, so they cannot fairly be treated as objections to Christianity alone. Patient and closely reasoned, it became one of the most respected defenses of the faith in its century.

Contents

  1. Preface
  2. Editor’s Introduction
  3. Editor’s Preface
  4. Conspectus of the Author’s Introduction · I. What is probable evidence?
  5. Conspectus of the Analogy · Part I
  6. Advertisement prefixed to the First Edition
  7. Introduction 🔒
  8. PART I. Natural Religion · CHAPTER I. A FUTURE LIFE. 🔒
  9. PART I. Natural Religion · CHAPTER II. THE GOVERNMENT OF GOD BY REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS. 🔒
  10. PART I. Natural Religion · CHAPTER III. THE MORAL GOVERNMENT OF GOD. 🔒
  11. PART I. Natural Religion · CHAPTER IV. PROBATION, AS IMPLYING TRIAL, DIFFICULTIES, AND DANGER. 🔒
  12. PART I. Natural Religion · CHAPTER V. PROBATION, AS INTENDED FOR MORAL DISCIPLINE AND IMPROVEMENT. 🔒
  13. PART I. Natural Religion · CHAPTER VI. THE OPINION OF NECESSITY, CONSIDERED AS INFLUENCING PRACTICE. 🔒
  14. PART I. Natural Religion · CHAPTER VII. THE GOVERNMENT OF GOD, CONSIDERED AS A SCHEME OR CONSTITUTION, IMPERFECTLY COMPREHENDED. 🔒
  15. PART I. Natural Religion · CONCLUSION. 🔒
  16. PART II. Revealed Religion · Chapter I. the Importance of Christianity · Part 1 🔒
  17. PART II. Revealed Religion · Chapter I. the Importance of Christianity · Part 2 🔒
  18. PART II. Revealed Religion · Chapter I. the Importance of Christianity · Part 3 🔒
  19. PART II. Revealed Religion · Chapter I. the Importance of Christianity · Part 4 🔒
  20. PART II. Revealed Religion · Chapter I. the Importance of Christianity · Part 5 🔒
  21. PART II. Revealed Religion · Chapter I. the Importance of Christianity · Part 6 🔒
  22. PART II. Revealed Religion · Chapter I. the Importance of Christianity · Part 7 🔒
  23. PART II. Revealed Religion · Chapter I. the Importance of Christianity · Part 8 🔒
  24. PART II. Revealed Religion · Chapter I. the Importance of Christianity · Part 9 🔒
  25. PART II. Revealed Religion · Chapter I. the Importance of Christianity · Part 10 🔒
  26. Dissertations 🔒

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