In 1696 John Toland publishes Christianity Not Mysterious, arguing that the gospel contains nothing contrary to reason and nothing above it, and that mystery in religion is a priestly invention. The book is burned by the Irish parliament and its author flees; the deist controversy in Britain begins in earnest.
Tagged: Deism
The Event
- Date
- 1696 (exact)
- Era
- English Beginnings; Standard periodization of deist history
- Location
- London; today London, England
- Traditions
- Deism
- Streams
- Deism
- Key figures
- John Toland
- Key texts
- Christianity Not Mysterious
Connections
Primary Sources
- Toland, John. Christianity Not Mysterious. London, 1696.
Secondary Sources
- Barnett, S. J. The Enlightenment and Religion: The Myths of Modernity. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2003.
- Byrne, Peter. Natural Religion and the Nature of Religion: The Legacy of Deism. London: Routledge, 1989.
- Walters, Kerry S. The American Deists: Voices of Reason and Dissent in the Early Republic. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1992.
Provenance: HIST-1360; confidence 0.95; accessed 2026-10-30.
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World View
Deism
Deism holds that reason and nature reveal one Creator who made the world and its laws, then left it to run without miracles or special revelation.