History of English Thought in the Eighteenth Century

Stephen's History of English Thought in the Eighteenth Century offers a comprehensive examination of the period's theological and philosophical developments, tracing the gradual erosion of traditional Christian belief under pressure from rationalist critique. The work analyzes how English thinkers from the Restoration through the late Georgian era grappled with questions of divine revelation, natural religion, and the foundations of religious authority.

Stephen identifies deism as the century's dominant intellectual movement regarding divinity, documenting how figures like Toland, Tindal, and Collins challenged orthodox Christianity while maintaining belief in a creator God discoverable through reason. He examines the deist contention that natural religion suffices for moral guidance without supernatural revelation, analyzing their attacks on biblical miracles, prophecies, and clerical authority. The monograph traces how deistic thought evolved from cautious heterodoxy to increasingly bold criticism of Christian fundamentals.

The work devotes substantial attention to the orthodox response, particularly examining how Butler, Berkeley, and other defenders of Christianity attempted to meet rationalist objections on philosophical grounds. Stephen analyzes Butler's Analogy of Religion as the period's most sophisticated theological defense, while noting its ultimate failure to stem the tide of religious skepticism. He demonstrates how even orthodox thinkers increasingly adopted rationalist methods, thereby inadvertently strengthening the very framework that undermined traditional faith.

Stephen's analysis extends to the century's endpoint, where he identifies Hume as representing the logical culmination of empiricist critique of religion. The monograph examines how Hume's skepticism regarding miracles and natural theology effectively demolished both revealed and natural religion's philosophical foundations. Stephen traces the parallel development of utilitarian ethics, showing how thinkers like Bentham constructed moral systems independent of theological premises.

The monograph's significance lies in its systematic demonstration of how Enlightenment rationalism progressively undermined religious belief's intellectual credibility. Stephen employs a developmental approach, showing theological debate's evolution across decades while maintaining critical distance from his subjects. His work establishes the eighteenth century as the crucial period when educated English opinion shifted from assuming Christianity's truth to requiring its rational demonstration, a demand traditional theology proved unable to satisfy. The study remains influential for understanding how modern secularism emerged from within Protestant culture through applying reason to religious questions.