CONTENTS.
| PAGE | |
| Editor’s Introduction | [5] |
| ” Preface | [19] |
| ” Conspectus | [21] |
| Author’s Advertisement | [66] |
| ” Introduction | [67] |
| PART I. OF NATURAL RELIGION. | |
| Chap. I.—A Future Life | [77] |
| Chap. II.—The Government of God by Rewards and Punishments | [95] |
| Chap. III.—The Moral Government of God | [105] |
| Chap. IV.—Probation, as implying Trial, Difficulties, and Danger | [128] |
| Chap. V.—Probation, as intended for Moral Discipline and Improvement | [136] |
| Chap. VI.—The Opinion of Necessity, considered as influencing Practice | [157] |
| Chap. VII.—The Government of God, considered as a Scheme or Constitution, imperfectly comprehended | [171] |
| Conclusion | [180] |
| PART II. OF REVEALED RELIGION. | |
| Chap. I.—The Importance of Christianity | [186] |
| Chap. II.—The supposed Presumption against a Revelation, considered as miraculous | [202] |
| Chap. III.—Our Incapacity of judging, what were to be expected in a Revelation; and the Credibility, from Analogy, that it must contain things appearing liable to Objections | [209] |
| Chap. IV.—Christianity, considered as a Scheme or Constitution, imperfectly comprehended | [223] |
| Chap. V.—The Particular System of Christianity; the Appointment of a Mediator, and the Redemption of the World by him | [230] |
| Chap. VI.—Want of Universality in Revelation; and of the supposed Deficiency in the Proof of it | [247] |
| Chap. VII.—The Particular Evidence for Christianity | [263] |
| Chap. VIII.—Objections against arguing from the Analogy of Nature to Religion | [296] |
| Conclusion | [306] |
| DISSERTATIONS. | |
| Dissertation I.—Personal Identity | [317] |
| Dissertation II.—The Nature of Virtue | [324] |
| Index to Part I | [333] |
| Index to Part II | [343] |
Editor’s Introduction
Joseph Butler was born at Wantage, England, May 18th, 1692, the youngest of eight children. The biographies of that day were few and meagre; and in few cases is this so much to be regretted as in Butler’s. It would have been both interesting and profitable to trace the development and occupations of one of the mightiest of human minds. But no cotemporary gathered up the incidents of his life, and now all efforts to elicit them have been without success.
His father was a prosperous dry-goods merchant, who, at the time of his son’s birth, had retired from business with a competency, and resided in a suburban mansion called “The Priory,” still in existence.
Being a non-conformist, he educated Joseph at a “dissenting” academy at Gloucester, under Samuel Jones, a gentleman of great ability, and a skilful instructor, who raised up some of the greatest men of their day.[1]
It was while a member of this academy, and about the age of twenty-one, that Butler disclosed to the world his wonderful power of abstract reasoning, in his famous correspondence with Samuel Clarke, in relation to that eminent author’s “Demonstration of the Being and Attributes of God.” This correspondence is now generally inserted at the end of that work.