Latitudinarians , or latitude men , were initially a group of 17th-century English theologians – clerics and academics – from the University of Cambridge who were moderate Anglicans (members of the Church of England ). In particular, they believed that adhering to very specific doctrines, liturgical practices, and church organizational forms, as did the Puritans , was not necessary and could be harmful: "The sense that one had special instructions from God made individuals less amenable to moderation and compromise, or to reason itself." Thus, the latitudinarians supported a broad-based ( sensu lato , with "laxitude") Protestantism. They were later referred to as broad church (see also Inclusivism ).
24-902: Examples of the latitudinarian philosophy underlying the theology were found among the Cambridge Platonists and Sir Thomas Browne in his Religio Medici . Additionally, the term latitudinarian has been applied to ministers of the Scottish Episcopal Church who were educated at the Episcopal-sympathizing universities at Aberdeen and St Andrews , and who broadly subscribed to the beliefs of their moderate Anglican English counterparts. Today, latitudinarianism should not be confused with ecumenical movements, which seek to draw all Christian churches together, rather than seeking to de-emphasize practical doctrine. The term latitudinarian has taken on
48-636: A prisca theologia / philosophia perennis . Levitin notes that of the Cambridge Platonists, only More saw himself as a philosopher rather than a philologist or theologian and he faced criticism from others, including Cudworth, for his lack of attention to historical detail. Moreover, philosophers not traditionally deemed "Cambridge Platonists" took an historical and philosophical interest in Platonism and ideas of ancient science. Based on these conclusions Levitin rejects any categorization of
72-511: A close latitudinarian follower. Their understanding of reason was as "the candle of the Lord", an echo of the divine within the human soul and an imprint of God within man. They believed that reason could judge the private revelations of Puritan narrative, and investigate contested rituals and liturgy of the Church of England. For this approach they were called "latitudinarian". The dogmatism of
96-527: A concept of "Plastic Nature". Though coming later and not generally considered a Cambridge Platonist himself, Anthony Ashley Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury (1671–1713) was much influenced by the movement. Latitudinarians Latitudinarians , or latitude men , were initially a group of 17th-century English theologians – clerics and academics – from the University of Cambridge who were moderate Anglicans (members of
120-503: A more general meaning, indicating a personal philosophy that includes tolerance of other views, particularly, but not necessarily, on religious matters. In the Catholic Church , latitudinarianism was condemned in the 19th-century document Quanta cura . Pope Pius IX felt that, with its emphasis on religious liberty and the freedom to discard traditional Christian doctrines and dogmas, latitudinarianism threatened to undermine
144-439: A more general meaning, indicating a personal philosophy that includes tolerance of other views, particularly, but not necessarily, on religious matters. In the Catholic Church , latitudinarianism was condemned in the 19th-century document Quanta cura . Pope Pius IX felt that, with its emphasis on religious liberty and the freedom to discard traditional Christian doctrines and dogmas, latitudinarianism threatened to undermine
168-553: A number of other key figures, can be traced back at least to the 1730s in continental Europe, and still earlier in English texts." The Cambridge Platonists used the framework of the philosophia perennis of Agostino Steuco , and from it argued for moderation. They believed that reason is the proper judge of disagreements, and so they advocated dialogue between the Puritan and Laudian traditions. The orthodox English Calvinists of
192-462: A positive position, the latitudinarian view held that human reason, when combined with the Holy Spirit , is a sufficient guide for the determination of truth in doctrinal contests; therefore, legal and doctrinal rulings that constrain reason and the freedom of the believer were neither necessary nor beneficial. At the time, their position was referred to as an aspect of low church (in contrast to
216-403: A positive position, the latitudinarian view held that human reason, when combined with the Holy Spirit , is a sufficient guide for the determination of truth in doctrinal contests; therefore, legal and doctrinal rulings that constrain reason and the freedom of the believer were neither necessary nor beneficial. At the time, their position was referred to as an aspect of low church (in contrast to
240-606: The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , notes that the term "Cambridge Platonists" was given in the 19th century and can be misleading. There is no clear distinction between the group and latitudinarians in general. The categorization and interpretation of the Cambridge Platonists has changed over time. Frances Yates interpreted them as scholars who engaged with the Christian Kabbalah but rejected Hermeticism following Isaac Casaubon 's redating of
264-644: The Church of England ). In particular, they believed that adhering to very specific doctrines, liturgical practices, and church organizational forms, as did the Puritans , was not necessary and could be harmful: "The sense that one had special instructions from God made individuals less amenable to moderation and compromise, or to reason itself." Thus, the latitudinarians supported a broad-based ( sensu lato , with "laxitude") Protestantism. They were later referred to as broad church (see also Inclusivism ). Examples of
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#1732772237642288-680: The Convocation , there was very little internal Church power to either sanction or approve. Thus, with no Archbishop of Canterbury officially announcing it, nor Lords adopting it, latitudinarianism was the operative philosophy of the English church in the 18th century. For the 18th-century English church in the United States (which would become the Episcopal Church after the American Revolution ), some are of
312-421: The Convocation , there was very little internal Church power to either sanction or approve. Thus, with no Archbishop of Canterbury officially announcing it, nor Lords adopting it, latitudinarianism was the operative philosophy of the English church in the 18th century. For the 18th-century English church in the United States (which would become the Episcopal Church after the American Revolution ), some are of
336-614: The high church position). Later, the latitudinarian position was called broad church . While always officially opposed by the Anglican church, the latitudinarian philosophy was, nevertheless, dominant in 18th-century England. Because of the Hanoverian reluctance to act in church affairs, and the various groups of the religious debates being balanced against one another, the dioceses became tolerant of variation in local practice. Furthermore, after George I of Great Britain dismissed
360-497: The high church position). Later, the latitudinarian position was called broad church . While always officially opposed by the Anglican church, the latitudinarian philosophy was, nevertheless, dominant in 18th-century England. Because of the Hanoverian reluctance to act in church affairs, and the various groups of the religious debates being balanced against one another, the dioceses became tolerant of variation in local practice. Furthermore, after George I of Great Britain dismissed
384-617: The Cambridge Platonists as a cohesive group in terms of philosophical views as historically unfounded. More recently, David Leech has argued that while Levitin makes some important points "it would be a mistake to assume that the category of Cambridge Platonism is a retroprojection of nineteenth century historiography. This is because earlier practices of referring to a group of primarily Cambridge-based 'Platonists', invariably including Ralph Cudworth (1617–1688) and Henry More (1614–1687), usually Benjamin Whichcote (1609–1683), and (more variably)
408-419: The Cambridge Platonists, religion and reason were in harmony, and reality was known not by physical sensation alone, but by intuition of the intelligible forms that exist behind the material world of everyday perception. Universal, ideal forms inform matter, and the physical senses are unreliable guides to their reality. In response to the mechanical philosophy , More proposed a "Hylarchic Principle", and Cudworth
432-675: The Hermetic corpus. She argues that Cudworth and More perpetuate certain Renaissance Neoplatonic ideas , including a broad syncretism of early forms of Hermeticism, in a new scholarly context. Dmitri Levitin has challenged any categorization of the Cambridge Platonists as a cohesive philosophical group. While he admits that the group "existed as a loose set of acquaintances linked by tutorial relationships ," he argues that they were not exclusive in their interest in Platonism, nor did most of them believe in any syncretism or
456-516: The Puritan divines, with their anti-rationalist demands, was, they felt, incorrect. They also felt that the Calvinist insistence on individual revelation left God uninvolved with the majority of mankind. At the same time, they were reacting against the reductive materialist writings of Thomas Hobbes. They felt that the latter, while rationalist, were denying the idealistic part of the universe. To
480-544: The church. (See Syllabus of Errors ) The latitudinarian Anglicans of the 17th century built on Richard Hooker 's position in Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity . Hooker (1554–1600) argues that what God cares about is the moral state of the individual soul. Aspects such as church leadership are " things indifferent ". However, the latitudinarians took a position far beyond Hooker's own and extended it to doctrinal matters. As
504-447: The church. (See Syllabus of Errors ) The latitudinarian Anglicans of the 17th century built on Richard Hooker 's position in Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity . Hooker (1554–1600) argues that what God cares about is the moral state of the individual soul. Aspects such as church leadership are " things indifferent ". However, the latitudinarians took a position far beyond Hooker's own and extended it to doctrinal matters. As
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#1732772237642528-667: The latitudinarian philosophy underlying the theology were found among the Cambridge Platonists and Sir Thomas Browne in his Religio Medici . Additionally, the term latitudinarian has been applied to ministers of the Scottish Episcopal Church who were educated at the Episcopal-sympathizing universities at Aberdeen and St Andrews , and who broadly subscribed to the beliefs of their moderate Anglican English counterparts. Today, latitudinarianism should not be confused with ecumenical movements, which seek to draw all Christian churches together, rather than seeking to de-emphasize practical doctrine. The term latitudinarian has taken on
552-467: The opinion that latitudinarianism was the only practical course because the nation had official pluralism, diversity of opinion, and diffusion of clerical power. Cambridge Platonists The Cambridge Platonists were an influential group of Platonist philosophers and Christian theologians at the University of Cambridge that existed during the 17th century. The leading figures were Ralph Cudworth and Henry More . Mark Goldie , writing in
576-405: The time found in their views an insidious attack, by-passing as it did the basic theological issues of atonement and justification by faith . Given the circle's Cambridge background in Puritan colleges such as Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge and Emmanuel College, Cambridge , the undermining was intellectually all the more effective. John Bunyan complained in those terms about Edward Fowler ,
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