John Conybeare and his Defence of reveal'd religion

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to present a study of the writings of John Conybeare, who, in his day, was regarded as one of the ablest leaders of the church, and to assess his contribution to the theological controversy of the period. For two reasons, particular and extensive attention must be given to the book, A Defence of Reveal'd Religion against the Exceptions of a late writer, in his Book, Intituled, Christianity as Old as the Creation, &c. First, it was this book which made Conybeare famous and established for him the reputation of being one of the severest critics of the Deistical writers. And secondly, the best presentation of Conybeare's arguments in the Deistic controversy is to be found in this book. Therefore, its general pattern will largely be followed throughout the main body of this thesis. Nevertheless, other writings of the author will be introduced and examined, either by direct reference or in the foot-notes, in order that as comprehensive as possible a picture of the man and his works may be given in a new and clearer light.

With this in mind, let us present the closely reasoned and sometimes repetitious arguments which are to be found in Conybeare's writings, and, at the same time, offer a critical exposition of his teachings. It is unnecessary to emphasise at this point that Conybeare's works are stilted and trying to read. They have not the force of style or weight of thought which could secure for them a permanent place in literature. Indeed, it is no exaggeration to say that his books have become heavy reading for the present day reader. The arrangement is frequently confused in places and there is considerable repetition. His writings are neither original nor lively and his arguments are nothing more than a restatement of the prevailing commonplaces of his day - all of which combine to make them quite lifeless to the modern reader.

It is further to be noted that I have carefully examined all his sermons and have found only a few of them to be specially helpful. For the most part, they do not contribute anything new to the main purpose of this thesis. Substantially, however, they deal with ordinary topics which were common to all pulpits in the eighteenth century and have long since passed into complete oblivion.

Every effort will be made to be as objective as possible by allowing Conybeare to speak, as it were, for himself. The reader may feel, as I have, that in places throughout this presentation, the leading characters i:q. the controversy are playing with words. In one sense this may be justified inasmuch as it was a fairly common practice for eighteenth century controversialists to muster the most formidable arguments on their own side and to present the weakest ideas of their adversaries. Thus, the prompt refutation of their opponents 1 views gave the impression that a great intellectual victory had been won. However, a more likely explanation is that many of the issues which proved to be so vexatious at the time, have since been resolved, or, if under discussion today, are approached by theologians in a less dogmatic manner.

It should be noted that I was unable to obtain the particular edition of Christianity as Old as the Creation which Conybeare used and from which he quoted. However, those quotations which have been incorporated into this work, have been checked, then recorded in the foot-notes. The pages refer to the third edition of Tindal's book (which was available to me) - and not to the pages of the unknown edition possessed by Conybeare.

Finally, in the closing section of the thesis, an attempt will be made to appraise Conybeare's work from the standpoint of his contemporaries and to suggest its significance to later theological writers.