The first graph is based on a search for "natural theology" in books published between 1600 and 2000; the second adds "natural religion", a related term sometimes used interchangeably with natural theology, sometimes used for something quite different. "Physico-theology", another related term, didn't show up at all, since only phrases appearing in 40 or more books are included. The graphs are a bit small to see here, but there is a massive spike for natural theology (blue) around 1750. Natural religion (red) far outstrips natural theology, but by 2000, natural theology is slightly higher.
I can imagine that this could be quite interesting and perhaps useful for someone like me who is interested in the history of a concept (although I know nothing about statistical analysis). I've done searches in Early English Books Online and Eighteenth Century Collections Online to find all uses of these terms in published works, but it's also interesting to see the overall trends. I hope that Google Books will continue to add to the number of books included in the search results. I think I'm going to have a lot of fun with this!
3 comments:
Hi, I am from Melbourne.
What is natural?
And is "theology" about Real God.
This essay and site give a unique Understanding of the natural world.
www.fearnomorezoo.org
This set of references give a unique Understanding of Real God as Conscious Light.
www.adidam.org/teaching/aletheon/truthgod.aspx
www.adidam.org/teaching/gnosticon
Also Jesus meets Einstein at:
www.dabase.org/christmc2.htm
So what is the difference between natural theology and natural religion, when there is a difference? (I must admit that I'd been using the two interchangeably.)
I'm guessing you never took a sociology of science class with David Miller. He talks a bit about scientometrics, it's interesting. More recently, I've heard Yves Gingras talk on contemporary studies on the two occasions he's visited IU.
Hey Nick,
The difference between natural theology and natural religion, and if there is one, is variable. Some historians/religious scholars distinguish between the two: natural theology is attempts to prove the existence of God from reason and nature; natural religion is some kind of basic religious knowledge common to all mankind (presumably only religious mankind). I think that much of the time they're used interchangeably - certainly they were by many people in the 17th century.
The definition of each is also variable. There's a good article (David A. Pailin, 'The Confused and Confusing Story of Natural Religion', Religion 24 (1994): 199-212) that identifies 11 (if I remember correctly) different meanings of "natural religion" in use in the 17th and 18th centuries.
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