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Works by John Dryden | ||
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| Author | John Dryden |
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| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Religious poem |
| Publisher | Jacob Tonson |
Publication date | 1682 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
Religio Laici, Or A Layman's Faith (1682) is a poem written in heroic couplets by John Dryden. It was written in response to the publication of an English translation of the Histoire critique due vieux testament by the French cleric Father Richard Simon. Simon's book applied detailed criticism to the textual history of the Bible and argued that, given the compromised nature of much of the Bible, Christians would do better to base their faith on the history and traditions of the Roman Catholic Church.
The tendency of Simon's book was to undermine Protestantism, which prioritises the authority of the Bible over the traditions and rituals of the Catholic Church, and so Dryden set out in Religio Laici to address the issues raised by Simon's book, along with other religious issues of his times such as Deism, in order to assert the validity of the teachings of the Church of England.
Religio Laici consists of 462 lines of consecutive rhyming couplets. Although it is not divided by breaks or headings into parts or sections, Dryden added notes in the margins to indicate the topics and issues addressed in each section of the poem. These are (in the original spelling):
Dryden concludes the poem with a plea for moderation in all things including religious debate. On this subject, more than all others, it behoves each citizen to 'curb' their 'private Reason' (or opinions) rather than disturb 'the publick Peace'. It is notable that the climax of this long series of complex religious arguments is social rather than religious: 'Common quiet is Mankind's concern'.
And after hearing what our Church can say,
If still our Reason runs another way,
That private Reason ’tis more Just to curb,
Than by Disputes the publick Peace disturb.
For points obscure are of small use to learn:
But Common quiet is Mankind’s concern.— John Dryden, Religio Laici, lines 445-450
Five years after publishing Religio Laici Dryden drastically changed his position and converted to Roman Catholicism. He published a long and complex allegorical poem in three parts, The Hind and the Panther (1687) to explain his conversion. The fact that he converted a few years into the rule of the Catholic king, James II, prompted much scorn and derision from contemporaries.
Works by John Dryden | ||
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| Essays |
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| Translations |
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| Operas |
| |
| Poetry |
| |
| Plays |
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| Related | ||
| | This article related to a poem from the UK or its predecessor states is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
Deism is the philosophical position and rationalistic theology that generally rejects revelation as a source of divine knowledge, and asserts that empirical reason and observation of the natural world are exclusively logical, reliable, and sufficient to determine the existence of a Supreme Being as the creator of the universe. Or more simply stated, Deism is the belief in the existence of God solely based on rational thought without any reliance on revealed religions or religious authority. Deism emphasizes the concept of natural theology.
The Age of Reason; Being an Investigation of True and Fabulous Theology is a work by English and American political activist Thomas Paine, arguing for the philosophical position of deism. It follows in the tradition of 18th-century British deism, and challenges institutionalized religion and the legitimacy of the Bible. It was published in three parts in 1794, 1795, and 1807.
Sola scriptura, meaning by scripture alone, is a Christian theological doctrine held by some Protestant Christian denominations, in particular the Lutheran and Reformed traditions of Protestantism, that posits the Bible as the sole infallible source of authority for Christian faith and practice.
John Dryden was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who was appointed England's first Poet Laureate in 1668.
Richard Simon CO, was a French priest, a member of the Oratorians, who was an influential biblical critic, orientalist and controversialist.
Religio Medici by Sir Thomas Browne is a spiritual testament and early psychological self-portrait. Published in 1643 after an unauthorized version was distributed the previous year, it became a European best-seller which brought its author fame at home and abroad.
Apologetics is the religious discipline of defending religious doctrines through systematic argumentation and discourse. Early Christian writers who defended their beliefs against critics and recommended their faith to outsiders were called Christian apologists. In 21st-century usage, apologetics is often identified with debates over religion and theology.
Fideism is an epistemological theory which maintains that faith is independent of reason, or that reason and faith are hostile to each other and faith is superior at arriving at particular truths. The word fideism comes from fides, the Latin word for faith, and literally means "faith-ism". Philosophers have identified a number of different forms of fideism. Fideism is historically associated with some forms of Protestantism, but is rejected by the Catholic Church as heretical.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Christian theology:
Imitation of God is the religious precept of Man finding salvation by attempting to realize his concept of supreme being. It is found in ancient Greek philosophy and several world religions. In some branches of Christianity, however, it plays a key role.
Liberal Christianity, also known as liberal theology, is a movement that interprets Christian teaching by taking into consideration modern knowledge, science and ethics. It emphasizes the importance of reason and experience over doctrinal authority. Liberal Christians view their theology as an alternative to both atheistic rationalism and theologies based on traditional interpretations of external authority.
Sacred tradition is a theological term used in Christian theology. According to the theology of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Assyrian churches, sacred tradition is the foundation of the doctrinal and spiritual authority of Christianity and of the Bible. Thus, the Bible must be interpreted within the context of sacred tradition and within the community of the church. The Anglican and Methodist churches regard tradition, reason, and experience as sources of authority but as subordinate to scripture – a position known as prima scriptura. That is in contrast to the Lutheran and Reformed traditions, which teach that the Bible alone is a sufficient basis for all Christian teaching – a position known as sola scriptura.
Criticism of Christianity has a long history which stretches back to the initial formation of the religion during the Roman Empire. Critics have challenged Christian beliefs and teachings as well as Christian actions, from the Crusades to modern terrorism. The intellectual arguments against Christianity include the suppositions that it is a faith of violence, corruption, superstition, polytheism, homophobia, bigotry, pontification, abuses of women's rights and sectarianism.
Charles Blount was an English deist and philosopher who published several anonymous essays critical of the existing English order.
Samuel Heinrich Froehlich (1803–1857) was an evangelist responsible for organizing the Evangelical Baptist Church in Western Europe, which eventually spread to become known as the Nazarenes of Eastern Europe and the Apostolic Christian Church in the United States of America, Mexico, Argentina and Canada. Froehlich, a young seminary student in Switzerland, experienced a dramatic conversion, causing him to come into conflict with the state-church. He was excommunicated in the aftermath of his refusal to submit to an order that required the Heidelberg Catechism to be replaced by a new rationalistic catechism. He had sympathies with the Mennonite faith, but soon became convinced they were in a lukewarm state. Some of the Reformed and Mennonite persuasions followed Froehlich and were soon known as "Neu-Taufer". They later adopted the official name of Evangelical Baptist Church.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Christianity:
The Hind and the Panther: A Poem, in Three Parts (1687) is an allegory in heroic couplets by John Dryden. At some 2600 lines it is much the longest of Dryden's poems, translations excepted, and perhaps the most controversial. The critic Margaret Doody has called it "the great, the undeniable, sui generis poem of the Restoration era…It is its own kind of poem, it cannot be repeated ."
A biblical canon is a set of texts which a particular Jewish or Christian religious community regards as part of the Bible.
"A Satyr Against Reason and Mankind" is a satirical poem by the English Restoration poet John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester.
Catholicism and Deism are two theologies that have opposed each other in matters of the role of God in the world. Deism is the philosophical belief which posits that although God exists as the uncaused First Cause, responsible for the creation of the universe, God does not interact directly with that subsequently created world. As deism is not organized, its adherents differ widely in important matters of belief, but all are in agreement in denying the significance of revelation in Catholic Scripture and Tradition. Deists argue against Catholicism by either, only considering Scripture to be a helpful moral tool, or denying: its divine character, the infallibility of the Church and Traditions, and the validity of its evidence as a complete manifestation of the will of God. Deism is first considered to have manifested itself in England towards the latter end of the seventeenth century.