Title Atheists and atheism before the Enlightenment : the English and Scottish experience / Michael Hunter

Published Cambridge ; New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 2023 ©2023

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Description 1 online resource (vii, 223 pages) Contents 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 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 Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index Notes Description based on online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on July 12, 2023) Subject Atheism -- England -- History Atheism -- Scotland -- History Atheists -- England Atheists -- Scotland Atheism Atheists Religion SUBJECT Great Britain -- History -- 1066-1687. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85056742 Great Britain -- Religion. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85056932 Subject England Great Britain Scotland Genre/Form History Form Electronic book LC no. 2023008158 ISBN 9781009268790 1009268791

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