Physico-theology: Or, a demonstration of the being and attributes of God, from His works of creation

About this book

Physico‑theology is a work of natural theology in which William Derham, a canon of Windsor and Fellow of the Royal Society, assembles sixteen sermons originally delivered at St Mary‑le‑Bow and under the patronage of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The opening pages present a formal dedication to the Archbishop, an explanation of the book’s purpose, to demonstrate God’s being and attributes through the “works of creation”, and a candid preface in which Derham acknowledges the uneven spelling of the eighteenth‑century printing, his reliance on the lectures of Robert Boyle, and his intent to improve on earlier attempts by authors such as Mersenne, Ray and Hook. The text proceeds with a mixture of theological argument, scientific observation, and extensive footnotes that aim to reconcile natural philosophy with Christian doctrine.

The voice is that of an erudite clergyman writing in the ornate, occasionally digressive style of early‑modern English sermons. Its language reflects the period’s conventions, including hyphenated compounds, Latin quotations, and frequent asides to contemporary scholars. Readers who enjoy the intellectual climate of the Enlightenment, particularly those interested in the intersection of science, scripture, and the history of natural theology, will find Derham’s meticulous notes and his effort to marshal empirical evidence in service of faith both illuminating and characteristic of the era.

Opening lines

=Transcriber’s Note:= Due to the age of this book, spelling, grammar, hyphenation, capitalization etc do not conform to modern standards, and in many cases are not even consistent within the text itself. Text has been retained as printed. Exceptions were made for a few extremely obvious printer’s errors (such as RAEDER for READER in the heading TO THE READER, and confusion between similar-looking Hebrew letters). …

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