This study offers students of religion and philosophy introductory chapters concerning the concept of natural religion. It holds that we can't engage in useful discussion about the present concept of religion without a knowledge of the philosophical history that has shaped that concept. This is discussed with reference to the notion of natural religion to illustrate certain aspects of deism and its legacy. Originally published in 1989.

Excerpt from A Discourse Concerning the Being and Attributes of God, the Obligations of Natural Religion, and the Truth and Certainty of the Christian Revelation: In Answer to Mr. Hobbs, Spinoza, the Author of the Oracles of Reason, and Other Deniers of Natural and Revealed Religion; Being Sixteen Sermons, Preach'd in the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, in the Years 1704, and 1705 H E R E hoing already pnhli aed me n} and good Books, to prove the Being and Attributes of God 5 I have chofien to control? What we: renni/ite for me to for] upon this tjeft', into 4: nar row 4 Compnfrs and to expre r what I had to o ler, in or few hvords, no I could with Tor. Fpionitfiy. For which Renfan I have nlfo can fined my feif to One only Method or continu ed Thread of Arguing; which I have ended. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."

Wollaston attempts to determine what rules for the conduct of life (that is, what religion) a conscientious and penetrating observer might derive simply from reasoning about the facts of the world around him, without benefit of divine revelation. He concludes that truth, reason, and morality coincide, and that the key to human happiness and ethical behavior is this: “let us by no act deny anything to be true which is true; that is: let us act according to reason.” This book was important to the intellectual foundations of the American Revolution (for example, the phrase “the pursuit of happiness” originates here). It also anticipates Kant’s theory of the categorical imperative and the modern libertarian non-aggression principle. This edition improves on its predecessors by, for the first time, providing both translations and sources for the over 650 footnotes that, in Wollaston’s original, are cryptically-attributed Greek, Hebrew, and Latin. This book is part of the Standard Ebooks project, which produces free public domain ebooks.