Religion

About this Collection

Liberty is an idea and an idealized state of being that can be traced through many of the religious traditions of the world. Across time periods, theological differences, and cultural contexts, many different religious thinkers have arrived at an understanding of the importance of liberty–coupled with some form of moral responsibility–in the organization and conduct of human affairs. We encourage you to explore the quotations in this collection to discover more about the connection between liberty and religion.

Key People

Titles & Essays

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A Proposition Critiqued: The Miller’s Tale

By: Nathaniel Birzer

An earlier post explored the rigorous ‘dialogue’ elicited by the Knight’s Tale between the other pilgrims. The Miller is the first to push back, using a two-pronged attack against the ideas of high philosophy and courtly romance in…
The Alchemy of Happiness

Al Ghazali (author)

Al Ghazali attempted to reconcile the Muslim faith with Aristotelian logic in this work on simple piety.

Ante-Nicene Fathers: The Writings of the Fathers down to A.D. 325, 10 vols

Arthur Cleveland Coxe (editor)

A 10 volume compilation of dozens of lesser known religious works from the early centuries of the Christian church.

Ante-Nicene Fathers: Volume 1: The Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus

Arthur Cleveland Coxe (editor)

Volume 1 of a 10 volume compilation of dozens of lesser known religious works from the early centuries of the Christian church.

Ante-Nicene Fathers. Volume 2: Fathers of the Second Century

Arthur Cleveland Coxe (editor)

Volume 2 of a 10 volume compilation of dozens of lesser known religious works from the early centuries of the Christian church.

Ante-Nicene Fathers. Volume 3: Latin Christianity

Arthur Cleveland Coxe (editor)

Volume 3 of a 10 volume compilation of dozens of lesser known religious works from the early centuries of the Christian church. Volume three contains works by Tertullian.

Ante-Nicene Fathers. Volume 4

Arthur Cleveland Coxe (editor)

Volume 4 of a 10 volume compilation of dozens of lesser known religious works from the early centuries of the Christian church.

Ante-Nicene Fathers. Volume 5: Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix

Arthur Cleveland Coxe (editor)

Volume 5 of a 10 volume compilation of dozens of lesser known religious works from the early centuries of the Christian church.

Ante-Nicene Fathers. Volume 6

Arthur Cleveland Coxe (editor)

Volume 6 of a 10 volume compilation of dozens of lesser known religious works from the early centuries of the Christian church.

Ante-Nicene Fathers. Volume 7

Arthur Cleveland Coxe (editor)

Volume 7 of a 10 volume compilation of dozens of lesser known religious works from the early centuries of the Christian church.

Ante-Nicene Fathers. Volume 8

Arthur Cleveland Coxe (editor)

Volume 8 of a 10 volume compilation of dozens of lesser known religious works from the early centuries of the Christian church.

Ante-Nicene Fathers. Volume 9

Origen (author)

Volume 9 of a 10 volume compilation of dozens of lesser known religious works from the early centuries of the Christian church.

Ante-Nicene Fathers. Volume 10: Biographical Synopsis and Indexes

Arthur Cleveland Coxe (editor)

Volume 10 of a 10 volume compilation of dozens of lesser known religious works from the early centuries of the Christian church. This volume contains indexes of the previous 9 volumes

Aquinas Ethicus: or, the Moral Teaching of St. Thomas, 2 vols.

St. Thomas Aquinas (author)

A translation of the principal portions of the second part of the Summa Theologica.

Aquinas Ethicus: or, the Moral Teaching of St. Thomas, vol. 1

St. Thomas Aquinas (author)

A translation of the principal portions of the second part of the Summa Theologica.

Aquinas Ethicus: or, the Moral Teaching of St. Thomas, vol. 2

St. Thomas Aquinas (author)

A translation of the principal portions of the second part of the Summa Theologica.

“Are Economists Basically Immoral?” and Other Essays on Economics, Ethics, and Religion

Paul Heyne (author)

Heyne’s writings are unique in that he takes the critics of the free market order seriously and addresses their arguments directly, showing how they are defective in their understanding of economics and in their ethical and…

Bach’s Chorals, 3 vols.

Johann Sebastian Bach (author)

A three volume work on Bach’s Chorals with detailed commentary, melodies, translations, and analysis of these great pieces of music. Vol. 1 contains The Hymns and Hymn Melodies of the “Passions” and Oratorios; vol. 2 contains The…

Bach’s Chorals, vol. 1 The Hymns and Hymn Melodies of the “Passions” and Oratorios

Johann Sebastian Bach (author)

Part of a three volume work on Bach’s Chorals with detailed commentary, melodies, translations, and analysis of these great pieces of music. Vol. 1 contains The Hymns and Hymn Melodies of the “Passions” and Oratorios; vol. 2 contains…

Bach’s Chorals, vol. 2 The Hymns and Hymn Melodies of the Cantatas and Motetts

Johann Sebastian Bach (author)

Part of a three volume work on Bach’s Chorals with detailed commentary, melodies, translations, and analysis of these great pieces of music. Vol. 1 contains The Hymns and Hymn Melodies of the “Passions” and Oratorios; vol. 2 contains…

Bach’s Chorals, vol. 3 The Hymns and Hymn Melodies of the Organ Works

Johann Sebastian Bach (author)

Part of a three volume work on Bach’s Chorals with detailed commentary, melodies, translations, and analysis of these great pieces of music. Vol. 1 contains The Hymns and Hymn Melodies of the “Passions” and Oratorios; vol. 2 contains…

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Bayle’s Dictionary: #1 Bestseller in the 18th Century

By: Walter Donway

“In matters of religion, it is very easy to deceive a man and very hard to undeceive him.” --Pierre Bayle
The Bhagvat-Geeta, or Dialogues of Kreeshna and Arjoon

Charles Wilkins (translator)

The Bhagavad Gita is perhaps the greatest and most beautiful of the Hindu scriptures. It is mainly in the form of a dialogue between the warrior Prince Arjuna and his friend Krishna (the earthly incarnation of the god Vishnu). The…

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Bishop Butler and the Virtue of Self-Love

By: Walter Donway

Most Enlightenment intellectuals united around themes such as passion for science and scientific method (inductive reasoning), human wellbeing as the goal of philosophy, and religious tolerance. But nothing proved more nearly…
The Black Book: An Exposition of Abuses in Church and State (1835)

John Wade (author)

An extraordinary document which details the corruption and financial abuses of the British government as well as the sinecures and privileges of the army, church, and other groups. It was drawn up by John Wade as part of the radical…

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Blaise Pascal Bets It All on God

By: Walter Donway

In some ways, Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) is a curious figure to include in this series on the Age of Enlightenment. He lived in the seventeenth century, the Age of Science, and so joins Rene Descartes, Francis Bacon, and Thomas…
Blake’s Illustrations of the Book of Job

William Blake (author)

The book contains a lengthy introduction to the life and work of Blake by Norton as well as full page black and white copies of the etchings which Blake made between 1823 and 1826 for his illustrated edition of the Book of Job.

BOLL 31: Samuel anoints Saul the First King of Israel (c. 1,000 B.C.)

Samuel (author)

This is part of “The Best of the Online Library of Liberty” which is a collection of some of the most important material in the OLL. A thematic list…

British Moralists vol. 2

Thomas Hobbes (author)

Vol. 2 contains works by Samuel Clarke, Balguy, Richard Price, Hobbes, Kames, Locke, Wollaston, and others.

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Character Description in the Prologue: Chaucer’s Challenge and Threat to England’s Religious

By: Nathaniel Birzer

That Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales has suffered periods of censorship and banning since its first publication should be of little surprise to anyone who has read any of it. Banned in the latter half of the 19th century in America…
The Chinese Classics: Vol. 2 The Life and Teachings of Mencius

Mencius (author)

This volume contains a long introduction on the life and works of Mencius, following by 7 books from his writings. The 2 indexes have not been reproduced in the HTML version of the file but can be viewed in the facsimile PDF version.…

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Christian Prudence in C Major

By: Henry T. Edmondson III

In recent months, financial services company Northwestern Mutual has used the chorus from a song by the Americana band “The Avett Brothers” in a commercial about managed wealth. The song, “Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise”…

Chronology of John Locke’s Life

Related Links

John Locke Goodrich Seminar Room:John Locke John Locke in theConcise Encyclopedia of Economicsat Econlib Biography: John Locke Collections: Religious Toleration

Source: John Locke, A Letter concerning Toleration…

The Church

Jan Huss (author)

Huss’s most famous work for which he was burnt at the stake for claiming that Christ was the founder of the Church not Peter.

The Collected Works of John Stuart Mill, Volume X - Essays on Ethics, Religion, and Society

John Stuart Mill (author)

Vol. 10 of the 33 vol. Collected Works contains a number of Mill’s essays on religion and moral philosophy as well as his works on Utilitarianism and Auguste Comte.

The Collected Works of Lysander Spooner (1834-1886), in one vol.

Lysander Spooner (author)

This a draft of the second edition of the collected works of the 19th century American legal theorist and abolitionist Lysander Spooner in chronological order of the year of publication. It is in a single large file in HTML…

A Collection of Tracts, 2 vols. (1751)

Thomas Gordon (author)

A two part collection of essays by Trenchard and Gordon which includes essays on standing armies, religion, British politics, and economics.

A Collection of Tracts, vol. I

Thomas Gordon (author)

Volume 1 of a two part collection of essays by Trenchard and Gordon which includes essays on standing armies, various sermons, on debt, taxation, and religion.

A Collection of Tracts, vol. 2

Thomas Gordon (author)

Volume 2 of a two part collection of essays by Trenchard and Gordon which includes essays on British politics, religion, the creed of an Independent Whig, and prefaces to Cato’s Letters.

Commentaries on the Epistles of Paul to the Galatians and the Ephesians

John Calvin (author)

Calvin’s detailed commentaries on imortant books of the New Testament.

Commentaries on the Epistles of Paul to the Romans

John Calvin (author)

One of Calvin’s very influential commentaries on books of the New Testament which had a decisive impact on the course of the Reformation.

Commentary on Filangieri’s Work

Benjamin Constant (author)

The Commentary is Constant’s most extensive treatment of economic matters. It is a response to a multi-volume work by the Italian jurist Gaetano Filangiero, The Science of Legislation (1780-88). Constant defends limited government…

The Complete Works of Venerable Bede, 8 vols.

Saint Bede (author)

An 8 volume collection of the works of Bede including his poetry, letters, Ecclesiastical history, historical and scientific tracts, homilies, and commentaries on the scriptures.

The Complete Works of Venerable Bede, 8 vols.

Saint Bede (author)

An 8 volume collection of the works of Bede including his poetry, letters, Ecclesiastical history, historical and scientific tracts, homilies, and commentaries on the scriptures. Vol. 1 includes a Life (in English), poems and letters…

The Complete Works of Venerable Bede, 8 vols.

Saint Bede (author)

An 8 volume collection of the works of Bede including his poetry, letters, Ecclesiastical history, historical and scientific tracts, homilies, and commentaries on the scriptures. Vol. 2 contain Ecclesiastical History Books I-III in…

The Complete Works of Venerable Bede, 8 vols.

Saint Bede (author)

An 8 volume collection of the works of Bede including his poetry, letters, Ecclesiastical history, historical and scientific tracts, homilies, and commentaries on the scriptures. Vol. 3 contain Ecclesiastical History Books IV-V in…

The Complete Works of Venerable Bede, 8 vols.

Saint Bede (author)

An 8 volume collection of the works of Bede including his poetry, letters, Ecclesiastical history, historical and scientific tracts, homilies, and commentaries on the scriptures. Vol. 4 contains several historical tracts in Latin and…

The Complete Works of Venerable Bede, 8 vols.

Saint Bede (author)

An 8 volume collection of the works of Bede including his poetry, letters, Ecclesiastical history, historical and scientific tracts, homilies, and commentaries on the scriptures. Vol. 5 contains numerous homilies in Latin.

The Complete Works of Venerable Bede, 8 vols.

Saint Bede (author)

An 8 volume collection of the works of Bede including his poetry, letters, Ecclesiastical history, historical and scientific tracts, homilies, and commentaries on the scriptures. Vol. 7 contains numerous commentaries on the…

The Complete Works of Venerable Bede, 8 vols.

Saint Bede (editor)

An 8 volume collection of the works of Bede including his poetry, letters, Ecclesiastical history, historical and scientific tracts, homilies, and commentaries on the scriptures. Vol. 8 contains numerous commentaries on the…

The Constitutional Documents of the Puritan Revolution, 1625-1660

Samuel Rawson Gardiner (editor)

A collection of constitutional documents from the English Revolution of the mid-17th century. They include parliamentary speeches, letters and declarations by the monarch, legal proceedings, and other documents. They are preceded by…

The Crisis of the Seventeenth Century

Hugh Trevor-Roper (author)

The Crisis of the Seventeenth Century collects nine essays by Trevor-Roper on the themes of religion, the Reformation, and social change. As Trevor-Roper explains in his preface, “the crisis in government, society, and ideas which…

Kant’s Critique of Practical Reason and Other Works on the Theory of Ethics

Immanuel Kant (author)

This is an 1889 edition which includes many of Kant’s most important works such as the Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Morals, the Critique of Practical Reason, the Introduction to the Metaphysic of Morals, and the…

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Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe “Gets Religion”

By: Walter Donway

After a frenetic and tirelessly productive career, including advocacy of religious liberty that landed him in prison, Daniel Defoe, age 59, began the writing that made him one of history’s unforgettable novelists--known to us all.

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Dante and the Symbolic Meaning of the Colors of Christmas

By: Alexander Schmid

Though the Christmas season is rapidly approaching, and Christmas trees, both artificial and natural, are adorning the homes of many individuals, it is far less likely that the denizens of those homes understand the origin of their…

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Dante at 700: What the Supreme Poet can teach us about work, love, art, and life

By: Daniel Ross Goodman

A Reading Room series on The Divine Comedy
Virgil, overhearing Dante’s doubts that he might be unworthy for this journey, chides Dante for his cowardice, and tries to reassure him that it will indeed be worthwhile for Dante to…

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Dante at 700: What the Supreme Poet can teach us about work, love, art, and life

By: Daniel Ross Goodman

A Reading Room SeriesThis year marks the 700th anniversary of Dante’s death. Numerous events have been planned throughout the world, especially in Dante’s native Italy, to celebrate the supreme poet’s legacy. But by far the best way…

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Dante at 700: What the Supreme Poet can teach us about work, love, art, and life : Inferno, Canto IV: Escaping Limbo

By: Daniel Ross Goodman

A Reading Room series on The Divine Comedy
Dante is awoken by a loud clap of thunder. He gets up to his feet, looks around, and tries to comprehend where he is. He is standing on the edge of a deep, dark, misty valley reverberating…

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Dante at 700: What the Supreme Poet can teach us about work, love, art, and life : Inferno, Canto V: Be Discerning in Love

By: Daniel Ross Goodman

A Reading Room series on The Divine Comedy
Dante and Virgil leave Limbo and make their way into the second circle of Hell. This circle is smaller in size than the first (Dante’s Hell is shaped like an upside-down cone, so that…

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Dante at 700: What the Supreme Poet can teach us about work, love, art, and life, Inferno: Canto I

By: Daniel Ross Goodman

A Reading Room series on The Divine ComedyLast week we saw how Dante wrote about his journey through hell, limbo, and paradise as if it were a real journey that he really undertook (beginning, in his recounting of it, on Good Friday…

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Dante at 700: What the Supreme Poet can teach us about work, love, art, and life, Introduction Part Two

By: Daniel Ross Goodman

A Reading Room blog series on The Divine ComedyLast week we began our introduction to Dante’s Divine Comedy with the first three of the seven overarching lessons that we can learn from the immortal Italian about work, art, love,…

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Dante at 700: What the Supreme Poet can teach us about work, love, art, and life: Canto One

By: Daniel Ross Goodman

A Reading Room series on The Divine Comedy
Last week we began our epic journey with Dante by accompanying him as he is lost in the woods, before meeting his literary idol Virgil and agreeing to set forth with Virgil upon another…

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Dante at 700: What the Supreme Poet can teach us about work, love, art, and life: Inferno Canto V Part 2: Be Discerning in Your Reading

By: Daniel Ross Goodman

A Reading Room series on The Divine Comedy
Dante makes out three individual “carnal malefactor” shades coming toward him, lamenting and being born along by the relentless hurricane. “Master,” he asks Virgil. “Who are these people,…

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Dante at 700: What the Supreme Poet can teach us about work, love, art, and life: Inferno, Canto I: The Importance of Imagination

By: Daniel Ross Goodman

A Reading Room blog series on The Divine Comedy
Last week we concluded our introduction to Dante’s Divine Comedy by presenting the seven cardinal lessons that the epic poem can teach us today. If you missed this introduction you…

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Dante at 700: What the Supreme Poet can teach us about work, love, art, and life: Inferno, Canto III, Part 2: The Fallacy of Neutrality e:

By: Daniel Ross Goodman

A Reading Room series on The Divine Comedy
As Dante and Virgil enter the antechamber of Hell, Virgil tells Dante that all the agonized wailing he’s hearing are the voices of those who “lived without infamy or praise”—those who…

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Dante at 700: What the Supreme Poet can teach us about work, love, art, and life: Inferno, Canto III: Dante Alighieri, Rhapsodist of Liberty

By: Daniel Ross Goodman

A Reading Room series on The Divine Comedy
Dante is at last ready to enter Hell—or so he thinks. As he reaches the entrance of Hell he reads an inscription on the gates which, he tells Virgil, makes him pause:

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Dante at 700: What the Supreme Poet can teach us about work, love, art, and life: Inferno, Canto IV, Part 2

By: Daniel Ross Goodman

A Reading Room seriesDante and Virgil continue onwards through a forest—a forest of “thick-crowded ghosts.” Not very far into this forest Dante sees a fire blazing in the darkness. Even though they are still somewhat distant from…

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Dante at 700: What the Supreme Poet can teach us about work, love, art, and life: Inferno, Canto VI, Part 2: How Far Do Our Civic Duties Extend?

By: Daniel Ross Goodman

A Reading Room series on the Divine Comedy
Continuing through the third circle of Hell, we pass with Dante and Virgil through countless shades of the souls of the dead that are lying in the filthy puddles, apparently able to tread…

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Dante at 700: What the Supreme Poet can teach us about work, love, art, and life: Inferno, Canto VI: Why is Gluttony a Sin?

By: Daniel Ross Goodman

A Reading Room SeriesWe are now in the third circle of Hell with Dante. Everywhere he looks he sees new torments. It is raining—a cold, heavy, non-ending rain, ever-renewing in strength and accursedness. Huge pellets of hail and…

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David Hume’s Great Work on Religion Is Banned, Along with All His Books

By: Walter Donway

The Christian religion not only was at first attended with miracles, but even at this day cannot be believed by any reasonable person without one.—David HumeThe life of man is of no greater importance to the universe than that of an…
The Divine Feudal Law: Or, Covenants with Mankind, Represented

Samuel von Pufendorf (author)

The Divine Feudal Law sets forth Pufendorf’s basis for the reunion of the Lutheran and Calvinist confessions. This attempt to seek a “conciliation” between the confessions complements the concept of toleration discussed in Of the…

The Early Christian Attitude to War

John Cecil Cadoux (author)

Published shortly after the First World War, this book is an examination of Christian ethics regarding war and peace which begins with the teachings of Jesus and continues through the first 2 centuries of the Christian era.

The Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation (and Lives of Saints and Bishops)

Saint Bede (author)

The Venerable Saint Bede was an important Anglo-Saxon theologian and historian. He is generally best remembered for his Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation, a work considered to be one of the best sources for early English…

An Elegant and Learned Discourse of the Light of Nature

Nathaniel Culverwell (author)

An Elegant and Learned Discourse of the Light of Nature is a concerted effort to find a middle way between the two extremes that dominated the religious dispute of the English civil war in the seventeenth century. Nathaniel…

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Enheduana: The New Oldest Author

By: Erik Rostad

In the 2300s B.C., Sargon the Great united a disparate collection of city states located in Sumer in the southern portion of modern-day Iraq. By doing so, he created the world’s first empire, the Akkadian Empire. Having solidified…
The Ethical Treatises, being the Treatises of the First Ennead

Plotinus (author)

Plotinus is primarily remembered for his teachings, which were collected by Porphyry into a volume called the Enneads. This work gives Plotinus’s accounts of the religions and cults of his age. He was interested in the occult but…

Psychic and Physical Treatises; comprising the Second and Third Enneads

Plotinus (author)

Plotinus is primarily remembered for his teachings, which were collected by Porphyry into a volume called the Enneads. This work gives Plotinus’s accounts of the religions and cults of his age. He was interested in the occult but…

Ethical Treatises; the Books of the Fourth Ennead

Plotinus (author)

Plotinus is primarily remembered for his teachings, which were collected by Porphyry into a volume called the Enneads. This work gives Plotinus’s accounts of the religions and cults of his age. He was interested in the occult but…

The Divine Mind; being the Treatises of the Fifth Ennead

Plotinus (author)

Plotinus is primarily remembered for his teachings, which were collected by Porphyry into a volume called the Enneads. This work gives Plotinus’s accounts of the religions and cults of his age. He was interested in the occult but…

On the One and Good; being the Treatises of the Sixth Ennead

Plotinus (author)

Plotinus is primarily remembered for his teachings, which were collected by Porphyry into a volume called the Enneads. This work gives Plotinus’s accounts of the religions and cults of his age. He was interested in the occult but…

The Epistles of St. Paul, vol. 0 (Jowett trans.)

Saint Paul (author)

St. Paul’s Epistles translated by the famous Victorian Greek scholar Benjamin Jowett. Also contains much commentary and analysis by Jowett.

The Epistles of St. Paul, vol. 1 (Jowett trans.)

Saint Paul (author)

St. Paul’s Epistles translated by the famous Victorian Greek scholar Benjamin Jowett. Also contains much commentary and analysis by Jowett.

Essays on The Epistles of St. Paul

Benjamin Jowett (author)

The companion volume to the great Victorian English Greek scholar Benajmin Jowett’s translation of Paul’s Epistles. It contains many essays on the interpretation of scripture, prophecy, natural religion, faith, sin, atonement, etc.

Essays Moral, Political, Literary (LF ed.)

David Hume (author)

This edition of Hume’s much neglected philosophical essays contains the thirty-nine essays included in Essays, Moral, and Literary, that made up Volume I of the 1777 posthumous Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects. It also…

Essays on Church, State, and Politics

Christian Thomasius (author)

The essays selected here for translation derive largely from Thomasius’s work on Staatskirchenrecht, or the political jurisprudence of church law. These works, originating as disputations, theses, and pamphlets, were direct…

Essays on the Principles of Morality and Natural Religion

Henry Home, Lord Kames (author)

The Essays is commonly considered Kames’s most important philosophical work. In the first part, he sets forth the principles and foundations of morality and justice, attacking Hume’s moral skepticism and addressing the controversial…

Essays: Scientific, Political and Speculative, 3 vols. (1891)

Herbert Spencer (author)

A three volume collection of Spencer’s essays which cover political philosophy, sociology, science, and current affairs.

Extraordinary Black Book: An Exposition of Abuses in Church and State (1832)

John Wade (author)

An extraordinary document which details the corruption and financial abuses of the British government ax well as the sinecures and privileges of the army, church, and other groups. It was drawn up by John Wade as part of the radical…

First Principles of the Reformation (1883)

Martin Luther (author)

This is an 1883 collection of Luther’s major works which helped begin the reformation in Europe: the “95 Theses”, his “Address to the Nobility of the German Nation”, “Concerning Christian Liberty”, and the “Babylonish Captivity of…

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From Hus to Luther: The Challenge to Orthodoxy

By: Gary McGath

In 1415, Jan Hus was burned alive for challenging the authority of the Catholic Church. In 1521, Martin Luther nearly met the same fate but lived to start a new church with new ways of thinking.

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G.K. Chesterton and Work in 20th Century America

By: Joy Buchanan

One hundred years ago, the British writer G.K. Chesterton traveled to the United States for a lecture tour. He published his observations of America in What I Saw in America (1922). In an essay titled “The American Businessman”,…

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God, Grotius, and Moral Truth: Part I

By: Eric Mack

My previous contributions to the Reading Room describe some striking, proto-liberal strands in Hugo Grotius’s early essay, The Free Sea (1609). This two-part entry begins a series of discussions of remarkable contentions about the…
The Gospel of Buddha

Buddha (author)

Carus was a tireless popularizer of Buddha’s thought and this is a good example of his work. It relates the life of Buddha, contains many examples of his parables, and is lavishly illustrated with numerous etchings by O. Kopetzky.

A Guide for the Perplexed

Moses Maimonides (author)

Maimonides was one of the foremost intellectuals of medieval Judaism. He became physician to Sultan Saladin, the famous Islamic military leader. While in Cairo he wrote many volumes on Jewish legal tradition and philosophy. He is…

History of European Morals from Augustus to Charlemagne, 2 vols.

William Edward Hartpole Lecky (author)

As Lecky stated, this work is an attempt to use the historical method to uderstand the merits of certain theological opionions from the beginning of the Roman Empire to the Middle Ages.

History of European Morals from Augustus to Charlemagne, vol. 1

William Edward Hartpole Lecky (author)

As Lecky stated, this work is an attempt to use the historical method to understand the merits of certain theological opinions from the beginning of the Roman Empire to the Middle Ages.

History of European Morals from Augustus to Charlemagne, vol. 2

William Edward Hartpole Lecky (author)

As Lecky stated, this work is an attempt to use the historical method to understand the merits of certain theological opinions from the beginning of the Roman Empire to the Middle Ages. Volume 2 has a lengthy chapter on the position…

History of the Rise and Influence of the Spirit of Rationalism in Europe, 2 vols.

William Edward Hartpole Lecky (author)

Lecky discusses the decline in the belief of magic and miracles, the rise of religious persecution, the gradual secularisation of politics, and the rise of toleration and rationalism.

History of the Rise and Influence of the Spirit of Rationalism in Europe, vol. 1

William Edward Hartpole Lecky (author)

Lecky discusses the decline in the belief of magic and miracles, the rise of religious persecution, the gradual secularisation of politics, and the rise of toleration and rationalism.

History of the Rise and Influence of the Spirit of Rationalism in Europe, vol. 2

William Edward Hartpole Lecky (author)

Lecky discusses the decline in the belief of magic and miracles, the rise of religious persecution, the gradual secularisation of politics, and the rise of toleration and rationalism.

The Holy Qur-an (Koran) (Arabic and English)

Muhammad (author)

Tradition holds that during the last decades of Muhammad’s life he received revelations from the angel Gabriel. Muhammad was instructed to repeat these revelations to his community as warnings or instructions from God. During his…

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Hooker’s Lawes of Ecclesiastical Polity: From the Liberty Fund Rare Book Room

By: Sarah Skwire

It is hard to overstate the importance of Richard Hooker's Lawes of Ecclesiastical Polity. The book set out to describe the ways in which the Church of England was distinctive--neither Catholic nor Calvinist--and wound up all but…

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How To Live Amid Falling Walls

By: Daniel Ross Goodman

During the past few weeks, as Jews in America, Europe, and Israel have been experiencing an upsurge an antisemitism unlike anything the world has seen since the Holocaust—an increase in Jew-hatred so alarming that it prompted Senate…
The Hymns of Martin Luther

Martin Luther (author)

A nice 1884 edition of Luther’s hymns with parallel German-English versions and musical scores of some 36 hymns.

The Independent Whig, 4 vols. (1720, 1743)

Thomas Gordon (author)

Trenchard and Gordon wrote articles for this weekly journal during the period 1720-21 just before they began work on their better known periodical Cato’s Letters which appeared 1720-23. In a total of 53 essays they criticized the…

The Independent Whig, vol. 1 (7th ed. 1743)

Thomas Gordon (author)

Trenchard and Gordon wrote articles for this weekly journal during the period 1720-21 just before they began work on their better known periodical Cato’s Letters which appeared 1720-23. In a total of 53 essays they criticized the…

The Independent Whig, vol. 2 (7th ed. 1743)

Thomas Gordon (author)

Trenchard and Gordon wrote articles for this weekly journal during the period 1720-21 just before they began work on their better known periodical Cato’s Letters which appeared 1720-23. In a total of 53 essays they criticized the…

The Independent Whig, vol. 3 (2nd ed. 1741)

Thomas Gordon (author)

Trenchard and Gordon wrote articles for this weekly journal during the period 1720-21 just before they began work on their better known periodical Cato’s Letters which appeared 1720-23. In a total of 53 essays they criticized the…

The Independent Whig, vol. 4 (1747)

Thomas Gordon (author)

The contents of vol. 4 are essays written by Gordon “during the Late Rebellion” meaning the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745. There are 32 essays.

Institutes of Divine Jurisprudence. With Selections from Foundations of the Law of Nature and Nations

Christian Thomasius (author)

First published in 1688, Thomasius’s Institutes attempted to draw a clear distinction between natural and revealed law and to emphasize that human reason was able to know the precepts of natural law without the aid of Scripture. His…

The Institutes of the Christian Religion

John Calvin (author)

in 1535 John Calvin published the initial version of the Institutes. The importance of the Institutes lies with its inclusive and systematic explication of Protestant doctrine. It forcefully presents the Protestants’ claim to teach…

The Intellectual Portrait Series: A Conversation with Ralph McInerny

Ralph McInerny (author)

Ralph McInerny talks about his work on Thomas Aquinas, catholic political and religious thought, and his best-selling Father Dowling mystery novels.

THE READING ROOM

Jane Austen and the Perks of Imperfection

By: Caroline Breashears

After Jane Austen died, her brother Henry penned a "Biographical Notice of the Author" verging on hagiography. The restrained author he depicts--"as she never deserved disapprobation . . . she never met reproof"--evokes a lady who…

THE READING ROOM

John Toland’s Tetradymus: From the Liberty Fund Rare Book Room

By: Sarah Skwire

One of the great joys of working at Liberty Fund, and of working with our websites, in particular, is the chance to learn about so many new things. Without Walter Donway's recent posts on the Irish Enlightenment--and about John…

THE READING ROOM

Joseph Priestley: “Enlightenment Man”

By: Walter Donway

If anyone does, Joseph Priestley (1733-1804) warrants the description “Renaissance man.” But, to avoid confusion, since Priestley lived a couple of centuries after the Renaissance, let me argue here that this “Enlightenment man,” as…

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Justice in Hell and Liberal Rationales of Punishment

By: John Alcorn

Dante plumbs the depths of the human condition by recounting his existential journey through hell, purgatory, and paradise; a journey punctuated by poignant encounters with myriad souls. His journey is impelled by a midlife crisis…

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Law and its Development in the Talmud

By: Steven Grosby

If one were to reduce the numerous works of the three thousand year-long, still developing Jewish tradition to those books constitutive of that tradition, there would, by general agreement, be three. The first is the Hebrew Bible,…
A Letter concerning Toleration and Other Writings

John Locke (author)

Part of the Thomas Hollis Library published by Liberty Fund. This volume contains A Letter Concerning Toleration, excerpts of the Third Letter, An Essay on Toleration, and various fragments.

The Letters of John Huss

Jan Huss (author)

A collection of Huss’ letters from 1408 to 1415.

Logic, Metaphysics, and the Natural Sociability of Mankind

Francis Hutcheson (author)

Until the publication of this Liberty Fund edition, all but one of the works contained in Logic, Metaphysics, and the Natural Sociability of Mankind were available only in Latin. In the words of the editors: “Hutcheson’s Latin texts…

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Loki, Marvel, and Snorre Sturlason: The Weirdness of the World

By: Sarah Skwire

With Marvel's Eternals out in the theaters, and Garth Bond's post this week on the Eternals and Euhemerism, I'm thinking a lot about Marvel's other recent releases, and getting ready to rewatch their Disney+ series Loki. When Loki…

Mahabharata

Source: Translator's Epilogue to the Maha-bharata, The Ramayana and the Mahabharata condensed into English Verse by Romesh C. Dutt (London: J.M. Dent, 1917).

TRANSLATOR’S EPILOGUE

ANCIENT India, like ancient Greece, boasts of…

The Manual of a Christian Knight

Desiderius Erasmus (author)

Erasmus’s very popular 16th century guide book on how to live a moral, Christian life while avoiding formal ritual and observances.

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Many Myths, One Hero, A Review of Spiderman: No Way Home

By: Nathaniel Birzer

As with the Ancient Greeks and their myths, so now with our modern superheroes there are many retellings of new and different and even contradicting stories about our present-day mythic heroes, some good, many mediocre, and several…

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Marvel’s Eternals and Miltonic Euhemerism: Making Gods

By: Garth Bond

The Eternals, the latest installment in the Marvel cinematic universe, premiered this weekend. While the Marvel universe has not been incorporated into the Online Library of Liberty—surely a temporary oversight—one of the film’s…
The Meditations of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (2008)

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (author)

This influential classical work offers a vision of a universe governed by a natural law that obliges us to love mankind and to govern our lives in accordance with the natural order of things. Editors Hutcheson and Moor contrasted the…

Mencius: A Life

Source: Mencius, The Chinese Classics: Translated into English with Preliminary Essays and Explanatory Notes by James Legge. Vol. 2 The Life and Teachings of Mencius. (London: N. Trübner, 1875). Chapter: SECTION I.: LIFE OF…

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Milton’s Poetry and Prose: From the Liberty Fund Rare Book Room

By: Sarah Skwire

Given that today is the birthday of one of the greatest writers of English prose and poetry, John Milton, I pulled a few of Milton's works from the shelves of Pierre Goodrich's collection in Liberty Fund's rare book room. The first…

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Miracles: From the Liberty Fund Rare Book Room

By: Sarah Skwire

The concurrence of Ramadan, Pesach, and Easter sent me to the Liberty Fund archives to see if I could find an appropriate book title to highlight this week. Goodrich's collection did not disappoint.
The Natural History of Religion

David Hume (author)

In The Natural History of Religion and in the Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion Hume provides a sustained philosophical and historical analysis of religion.

The Writings of Gershom Carmichael

Gershom Carmichael (author)

Carmichael was a Scottish jurist and philosopher who became the first Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Glasgow in 1727. His writings on natural rights theory, theology, and logic were very influential.

Of the Nature and Qualification of Religion, in Reference to Civil Society

Samuel von Pufendorf (author)

In this work Pufendorf argues for the separation of politics and religion. Written in response to the revocation of the Edict of Nantes by the French king, Louis XIV, Pufendorf contests the right of the sovereign to control the…

On the Nature of the Gods

Marcus Tullius Cicero (author)

Cicero’s detailed discussion of the Greeks’ theories of God and religion.

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Nefarious Letters: the Rhetoric of the Diabolic in “Nefarious”

By: Nathaniel Birzer

The comparison of the new movie “Nefarious” and the book it is based on, The Nefarious Plot, to C.S. Lewis’ TheScrewtape Letters is hardly original. It is, however, largely superficial, by which I mean that most reviews do not…
Observations on “The Two Sons of Oil” (LF ed.)

William Findley (author)

Observations on “The Two Sons of Oil” was written in 1811 in response to the Reverend Samuel B. Wylie’s work, The Two Sons of Oil, , Wylie pointed out what he considered to be deficiencies in the constitutions of both Pennsylvania…

Observations on “The Two Sons of Oil” (1812 ed.)

William Findley (author)

Observations on “The Two Sons of Oil” was written in 1811 in response to the Reverend Samuel B. Wylie’s work, The Two Sons of Oil, which was published in 1803. Wylie pointed out what he considered to be deficiencies in the…

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On Dante’s Paradiso: Venus, Predestination, and Art

By: Alexander Schmid

In the eighth canto of Dante’s Paradiso, now in the third sphere of Venus, one witnesses a discussion of how Nature, or the embodied Spirit or Will of God, does not actually distinguish between the individuality of people. It sees…

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On Geryon’s Spiral Flight: Fraud

By: Alexander Schmid

Behold the beast who bears the pointed tail,who crosses mountains, shatters weapons, walls!Behold the one whose stench fills all the world!
On the Mysteries and the Treatise on the Sacraments

Ambrose (author)

A volume with two of Ambrose’s most influential writings: On the Mysteries, which are addresses given by Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, to the newly-baptised in Easter week on the nature of the ceremonies and the doctrinal significance of…

On the Nature of Things

Titus Lucretius Carus (author)

Lucretius expounds the Epicurian view that the world can be explained by the operation of material forces and natural laws and thus one should not fear the gods or death. He had a considerable influence on writers such as Montaigne.

The Parallel Old Testament (KJV and Revised V)

A parallel version of the Old Testament with the King James Version in one column and the revised Version in another column.

The First Book of Moses, called Genesis (KJV)

Moses (author)

The first book of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible), also called The Law of Moses, which contains an account of the beginnings of the world, of the people of Israel and their religious faith, and the…

The Second Book of Moses, called Exodus (KJV)

Moses (author)

The second book of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible), also called The Law of Moses, which contains the story of Moses who is called by God to rescue his people from oppression in Egypt. After making a covenant…

The Fifth Book of Moses, called Deuteronomy (KJV)

Moses (author)

The fifth book of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible), also called The Law of Moses, which contains a speech given by Moses to the Israelites in Moab as they prepare to cross the Jordan river to take possession…

The Book of Joshua (KJV)

Old Testament (Various Authors) (author)

The King James only version from the Oxford parallel version of the Old and New Testaments with the King James Version in one column and the revised Version in another column.

The Book of Judges (KJV)

Old Testament (Various Authors) (author)

The King James only version from the Oxford parallel version of the Old and New Testaments with the King James Version in one column and the revised Version in another column.

The First Book of Samuel (KJV)

Old Testament (Various Authors) (author)

The two Books of Samuel deal with the close of the period of judges and the rise of the monarchy in Israel, especially Saul and David. The first book deals with the life of Samuel as a judge, different accounts of the origin of the…

The Second Book of Samuel (KJV)

Old Testament (Various Authors) (author)

The two Books of Samuel deal with the close of the period of judges and the rise of the monarchy in Israel, especially Saul and David. The first book deals with the life of Samuel as a judge, different accounts of the origin of the…

The First Book of Kings (KJV)

Old Testament (Various Authors) (author)

The King James only version from the Oxford parallel version of the Old and New Testaments with the King James Version in one column and the revised Version in another column.

The Book of Job (KJV)

Job (author)

Job is the central character in an ancient story written down as the Book of Job in either the fifth or sixth century B.C. This work is acclaimed as one of the great masterpieces of early literature and a fundamental commentary on…

The Book of Psalms (KJV)

King David (contributor)

A collection of 150 songs, prayers, and other compositions which make up the 19th book of the Old Testament. Traditionally ascribed to King David, the Psalms have played an important role for millennia in religious ceremonies in…

The Book of Proverbs (KJV)

Old Testament (Various Authors) (author)

Attributed to King Solomon, son of King David. The proverbs are made of a wise sayings or “wisdom literature” which were used in education.

The Book of the Prophet Isaiah (KJV)

Isaiah (author)

Isaiah was a contemporary of the prophet Amos. Like Amos, he prophesied that Israel was doomed because of the sins of her people. A distinct mark of Isaiah’s theology is the degree to which it emphasizes God’s dissatisfaction with…

The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah (KJV)

Jeremiah (author)

Much of the Book of Jeremiah refers directly to the sensitive political situation of Judah in the late seventh and early sixth centuries B.C. Like the other prophets, Jeremiah abhorred the sin and idolatry prevalent in the Judah of…

Hosea (KJV)

Hosea (author)

The main theme of Hosea is God’s power of forgiveness for the sins of Israel as witnessed in his redemption of Hosea. He argued that Israel would certainly feel the wrath of God for her sinful encounter with Canaanite idolatry but…

Amos (KJV)

Amos (author)

Amos was among the earliest of the Hebrew prophets to have a biblical book named after him. he taught that God’s justice extends to all men regardless of their nationality and that all men are expected to pursue justice. Amos…

Micah (KJV)

Micah (author)

Micah’s book warns that God will punish idolaters, those who are unjust to men of lesser station, and religious men who use their profession for financial gain. The latter half of the work, also called the “Promises,” seems to date…

The Gospel according to S. Matthew (KJV)

Saint Matthew (author)

The First Gospel of the New Testament. A parallel version with the King James Version in one column and the revised Version in another column. Unlike the apostle Paul, who focused his efforts on the Gentiles of the Greco-Roman world,…

The Gospel According to S. Mark (KJV)

Saint Mark (author)

The second Gospel in the New Testament. The Gospel According to Mark is generally accepted as the earliest of the four accounts of the life of Jesus contained in the Christian New Testament. It was written at the end of the first…

The Gospel According to S. Luke (KJV)

Saint Luke (author)

The Third Gospel of the New Testament. A parallel version with the King James Version in one column and the revised Version in another column. Luke’s writings stress the universality of the Christian faith, saying “that repentance…

The Gospel According to S. John (KJV)

Saint John (author)

The Fourth Gospel of the New Testament. A parallel version with the King James Version in one column and the revised Version in another column. The Fourth Gospel and the epistles appear to have been written with a knowledge of the…

The Acts of the Apostles (KJV)

Saint Luke (author)

The Book of Acts is profoundly important because of its account of early church history and its guidance on ecclesiastical matters such as the Trinity, the Eucharist, and baptism.

The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans (KJV)

Saint Paul (author)

Paul the Apostle has been the most influential of the early members of the church. His writings make up nearly one-third of the New Testament. Paul’s role as an apostle of the church gave him the opportunity to correspond with the…

The First Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians (KJV)

Saint Paul (author)

Paul the Apostle has been the most influential of the early members of the church. His writings make up nearly one-third of the New Testament. Paul’s role as an apostle of the church gave him the opportunity to correspond with the…

The Second Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians (KJV)

Saint Paul (author)

Paul the Apostle has been the most influential of the early members of the church. His writings make up nearly one-third of the New Testament. Paul’s role as an apostle of the church gave him the opportunity to correspond with the…

Penn: Life and Times and Work

Related Links:

Works by William Penn

Source: Introduction to The Political Writings of William Penn, introduction and annotations by Andrew R. Murphy (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2002).

INTRODUCTION. William Penn: His Life, His…
A Philosophical Commentary on These Words of the Gospel

Pierre Bayle (author)

In this defence of religious toleration, Bayle discusses the words attributed to Jesus Christ in Luke 14:23, “And the Lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be…

The Philosophical Works of David Hume, vol. 2 (1828 ed.)

David Hume (author)

An 1828 edition of Books II and II of the Treatise of Human Nature and The Dialogues concerning Natural Religion.

The Philosophical Works of David Hume, vol. 4 (1828 ed.)

David Hume (author)

An 1828 edition of An Inquiry Concerning the Human Understanding, An Inquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals, The Natural History of Religion, and additional essays.

The Philosophy and Theology of Averroes

Averroes (Ibn Rushd) (author)

A collection of Averroes’ shorter works on religion, including the relation between religion and philosophy, the nature of eternal knowledge, and methods of argument and faith.

Political Sermons of the American Founding Era. Vol. 1 (1730-1788)

Ellis Sandoz (editor)

Volume I of a large two volume collection of sermons written between 1730-1805 by people such as Jonathan Mayhew, John Wesley, Moses Mather, John Witherspoon, Richard Price, Jonathan Edwards, and Noah Webster.

Political Sermons of the American Founding Era. Vol. 2 (1789-1805)

Ellis Sandoz (editor)

Volume 2 of a large two volume collection of sermons written between 1730-1805 by people such as Jonathan Mayhew, John Wesley, Moses Mather, John Witherspoon, Richard Price, Jonathan Edwards, and Noah Webster.

The Political Writings of William Penn

William Penn (author)

This volume illuminates the origins and development of Penn’s thought by presenting complete and annotated texts of all his important political works. Penn’s early political writings illuminate the Whig understanding of English…

The Principles of Moral and Christian Philosophy, 2 vols.

George Turnbull (author)

The Principles of Moral and Christian Philosophy presents the first masterpiece of Scottish Common Sense philosophy. This two-volume treatise is important for its wide range of insights about the nature of the human mind, the…

The Principles of Moral and Christian Philosophy. Vol. 1

George Turnbull (author)

The Principles of Moral and Christian Philosophy presents the first masterpiece of Scottish Common Sense philosophy. This two-volume treatise is important for its wide range of insights about the nature of the human mind, the…

The Principles of Moral and Christian Philosophy. Vol. 2: Christian Philosophy

George Turnbull (author)

The Principles of Moral and Christian Philosophy presents the first masterpiece of Scottish Common Sense philosophy. This two-volume treatise is important for its wide range of insights about the nature of the human mind, the…

The Prose Works of John Milton, 2 vols.

Rufus Wilmot Griswold (introduction)

A mid-19th century 2 volume collection of Milton’s most significant prose works.

The Prose Works of John Milton, vol. 1

Rufus Wilmot Griswold (editor)

Vol. 1 of a mid-19th century 2 volume of Milton’s most significant prose works. Vol. 1 contains Areopagitica, The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates.

The Prose Works of John Milton, vol. 2

Rufus Wilmot Griswold (editor)

Vol. 2 of a mid-19th century 2 volume of Milton’s most significant prose works. Vol. 2 contains The Ready and Easy way to Establish a Free Commonwealth, The History of Britain, Of True Religion, and other works.

Proslogium; Monologium; An Appendix in Behalf of the Fool by Gaunilon; and Cur Deus Homo

Sidney Norton Deane (translator)

A collection of St. Anselm’s major religious and philosophical writings including the Proslogium in which he provides his ontological defence for the existence of God.

Puritanism and Liberty, being the Army Debates (1647-9)

Alexander Dunlop Lindsay (foreword)

This collection contains the Putney Debates, the Whitehall Debates, and numerous other documents about Puritan religious and political views during the English Revolution. The collection has pieces by many authors including John…

The Quran, 4 vols.

Muhammad (author)

Tradition holds that during the last decades of Muhammad’s life he received revelations from the angel Gabriel. Muhammad was instructed to repeat these revelations to his community as warnings or instructions from God. During his…

The Quran, vol. 1

Muhammad (author)

Vol. 1 of a 4 volume edition of the Quran based upon Sale’s translation of 1734 with later commentary and notes by Wherry. Vol. 1 contains Sale’s lengthy introduction.

The Quran, vol. 2

Muhammad (author)

Vol. 2 of a 4 volume edition of the Quran based upon Sale’s translation of 1734 with later commentary and notes by Wherry.

The Quran, vol. 3

Muhammad (author)

Vol. 3 of a 4 volume edition of the Quran based upon Sale’s translation of 1734 with later commentary and notes by Wherry.

The Quran, vol. 4

Muhammad (author)

Vol. 4 of a 4 volume edition of the Quran based upon Sale’s translation of 1734 with later commentary and notes by Wherry.

The Ramayana and the Mahabharata

Mahabharata (author)

A condensed version (in verse) of two Indian classics of religious poetry.

THE READING ROOM

Realism and Liturgy: Robert Eggers’s The Northman

By: Nathaniel Birzer

Robert Eggers’s newest film, The Northman, is a phenomenal movie…provided you know what you are in for. The film’s advertising, apparently, did not, selling it as another gritty and gray ‘realistic’ medieval movie. The film’s…
On Religion Considered in Its Source, Its Forms, and Its Developments

Benjamin Constant (author)

Constant worked on this study of humanity’s religious forms and development throughout his life, publishing five volumes between 1824 and 1831. He sought to relate religious forms to historical contexts and civilizational…

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Revisiting Washington’s Letter to the Hebrew Congregation of Newport

In August of 1790, George Washington made a trip to Newport, Rhode Island shortly after Rhode Island had agreed to the Constitution and to join the United States. Washington was greeted by various leaders of the city including a…

Robinson, John: A Memoir

Related Links:

John Robinson

Source: The Works of John Robinson, Pastor of the Pilgrim Fathers, with a Memoir and Annotations by Robert Ashton, 3 vols (London: John Snow, 1851). Vol. 1.

MEMOIR OF REV. JOHN ROBINSON.

SECTION…

The Rule of St. Benedict

Saint Benedict (author)

The Benedictine Rule was much more than a spiritual plan; it was a complete administrative package that included a workable daily regime. Moreover, Saint Benedict recognized the limitations of humanity and provided for differences in…

The Sacred Books of the East, 50 vols.

Friedrich Max Müller (editor)

A massive 50 volume collection of translations of Asian texts under the general editorship of the Oxford philologist Max Müller.

The Sacred Books of China: The Texts of Confucianism. Part I

Confucius (author)

Part of a collection of volumes dealing with the works of the Confucian School. This volume contains collections of historical documents, the poetry known as the Shih King, and the classic of filial piety.

The Sacred Books of China. The Texts of Confucianism, Part IV. The Li Ki, XI-XLVI

Confucius (author)

Part of a collection of volumes dealing with the works of Confucius. This volume is subtitled “a collection of treatises on the role of propriety or ceremonial usage.”

The Texts of Taoism, Part I

Lao Tzu (author)

Part of a collection of volumes dealing with the works of Taoism. This volume contains Tao Teh King (or Tao Te Ching by Lao Tsu) and the Writings of Kwang Ze (or Zhuangzi).

Scelta de prediche e scritti

Girolamo Savonarola (author)

An Italian language collection of Savonarola’s sermons, poems, letters, and his major political and religious tracts.

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Scholasticism: How a Philosophical Monopoly Succumbs to New Ideas

By: Walter Donway

How do countries and cultures evolve from domination by one philosophy, one set of beliefs, one intellectual and academic establishment, to a radically different one?
Select English Works of John Wyclif

Thomas Henry Arnold (the younger) (editor)

A three volume collection of Wyclife’s writings edited by Thomas Arnold in the original Middle English. Volume 1 contains sermons on the gospels; volume 2 contains gospel and epistle sermons; volume 3 contains numerous treatises, his…

Select English Works of John Wyclif, Vol. I

John Wyclife (author)

Volume 1 of a three volume collection of Wyclife’s writings edited by Thomas Arnold in the original Middle English. Volume 1 contains sermons on the gospels; volume 2 contains gospel and epistle sermons; volume 3 contains numerous…

Select English Works of John Wyclif, Vol. II

Thomas Henry Arnold (the younger) (editor)

Volume 2 of a three volume collection of Wyclife’s writings in the original Middle English edited by Thomas Arnold. Volume 1 contains sermons on the gospels; volume 2 contains gospel and epistle sermons; volume 3 contains numerous…

Select English Works of John Wyclif, Vol. III Miscellaneous Works

John Wyclife (author)

Volume 3 of a three volume collection of Wyclife’s writings in the original Middle English edited by Thomas Arnold. Volume 1 contains sermons on the gospels; volume 2 contains gospel and epistle sermons; volume 3 contains numerous…

A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, Vol. 1

Philip Schaff (editor)

This volume contains St. Augustine’s famous “Confessions” and numerous letters.

A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, 14 vols.

Philip Schaff (editor)

This 14 volume set contains works by Augustine and Chrysostom.

A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, Vol. 2

Philip Schaff (editor)

This volume contains St. Augustine’s famous work on political philosophy City of God and On Christian Doctrine.

A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church. Vol. 3

Philip Schaff (editor)

This volume contains St. Augustine’s On the Holy Trinity, Doctrinal Treatises on Faith, Believing; Moral Treatises on Holy Virginity, Widowhood, Lying, Patience.

A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, Vol. 4

Saint Augustine (author)

This volume contains St. Augustine’s writings against the Manichaeans and against the Donatists.

A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, Vol. 5

Saint Augustine (author)

This volume contains St. Augustine’s writings against the Pelagians.

Selected Works of Huldrich Zwingli

Huldrych Zwingli (author)

A collection of the Swiss Reformer’s major works.

Selections from the Correspondence of the First Lord Acton, Vol. I

Reginald Vere Laurence (editor)

A selection from Acton’s large mass of correspondence including a number to Gladstone on the budget, foreign affairs, Acton’s library, and women’s suffrage.

Selections from Three Works

Francisco Suárez (author)

The bulk of the selections in this volume are from A Treatise on Laws and God the Lawgiver (1612). In the Treatise Suárez presented a systematic account of human moral activity in all its dimensions, synthesizing the entire…

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Shooting from Mercury to Venus: On Dante’s Paradiso

By: Alexander Schmid

How can just vengeance itself receive a just punishment? This is the major question in the seventh canto of Dante’s Paradiso. In this second sphere of heaven, named Mercury, those who sought worldly fame and the active life at the…
The Shorter Works and Pamphlets of Lysander Spooner, 2 vols. (1834-1884)

Lysander Spooner (author)

This is a compilation of Spooner’s shorter works and pamphlets. Vol. 1 contains works on deism, law, poverty, the post office, and money, which were published between 1834 and 1861. Vol. 2 contains works on money and banking,…

The Shorter Works and Pamphlets of Lysander Spooner, Vol. 1 (1834-1861)

Lysander Spooner (author)

This is a compilation of Spooner’s shorter works on deism, law, poverty, the post office, and money, which were published between 1834 and 1861.

The Soliloquies

Saint Augustine (author)

A more intimate and immediate view of Augustine at the time of his conversion to Christianity than is given by the later work The Confessions.

Some Religious and Moral Teachings

Alban G. Widgery (introduction)

A selection of passages taken from Ghazzali’s longer works.

The “Summa Theologica” of St. Thomas Aquinas. Part I. 10 vols.

Fathers of the English Dominican Province (translator)

A multi-volume collection of Aquinas’ greatest work on philosophy and theology.

The “Summa Theologica” of St. Thomas Aquinas. Part I QQ I.-XXVI. Vol. 1.

Fathers of the English Dominican Province (translator)

Vol. 1 of a multi-volume collection of Aquinas’ greatest work on philosophy and theology.

The “Summa Theologica” of St. Thomas Aquinas. Part I QQ XXVII-XLIX. Vol. 2

Fathers of the English Dominican Province (translator)

Vol. 2 of a multi-volume collection of Aquinas’ greatest work on philosophy and theology.

The “Summa Theologica” of St. Thomas Aquinas. Part I QQ L.-LXXIV. Vol. 3

Fathers of the English Dominican Province (translator)

Vol. 3 of a multi-volume collection of Aquinas’ greatest work on philosophy and theology.

The “Summa Theologica” of St. Thomas Aquinas. Part I QQ LXXV._CII. Vol. 4 (Treatise on Man)

Fathers of the English Dominican Province (translator)

Vol. 4 of a multi-volume collection of Aquinas’ greatest work on philosophy and theology.

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T.S. Eliot’s Merging of the Classical and the Christian in Drama

By: Nathaniel Birzer

T.S. Eliot’s Murder in the Cathedral is perhaps one of the best mergings of the Classical and the Christian traditions in dramatic form that I have ever encountered. Though the subject matter is indisputably Christian, the form of…

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Tales and Maxims from the Talmud: From the Liberty Fund Rare Book Room

By: Sarah Skwire

I'm currently reading the Talmud--a record of more than 600 years worth of rabbinic teaching, commentary, debate, and discussion) at the rate of one Hebrew page a day. (I'm reading it in English, which works out to about 5 pages per…
The Teachings of Zoroaster and the Philosophy of the Parsi Religion

Zarathushtra (Zoroaster) (author)

A collection of extracts of the most important writings and sayings of Zarathushstra the founder of the Zoroastrian religion.

On Temporal and Spiritual Authority

Robert Bellarmine (author)

The political thought of Bellarmine was at the center of post-Reformation debates on the relationship between state and church; on the nature, aim, and limits of temporal government; and on the relation between religion and natural…

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The Buddha and the Quest for Liberation

By: Peter Carl Mentzel

The Buddha (Sanskrit for “The Enlightened One”) is the title given to Siddhartha Gautama (563-483 BCE). His life and teachings formed the foundations of Buddhism, one of the world’s major religions. The Buddha’s biography and…

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The Complaint of Peace

By: James Hartley

“As Peace, am I not praised by both men and gods as the very source and defender of all good things?...Though nothing is more odious to God and harmful to man, yet it is incredible to see the tremendous expenditure of work and…

THE READING ROOM

The Continuing Story of the Banning and Censoring of the Bible

By: David V. Urban

The banning and censoring of the Bible has a long and multifaceted history that continues to this day, and although it is not typically included within popular lists of banned books, it is safe to assert that the Bible is the most…

THE READING ROOM

The Holy Qur'an

By: Steve Ealy

In the twentieth century, a few communist or socialist governments banned or restricted access to the Qur’an. After the Russian Revolution, the Soviet Union restricted access to the Qur’an along with the Christian Gospels and Jewish…

THE READING ROOM

The Institutes of the Christian Religion and Calvin’s Lasting Reforms

By: Philip D. Bunn

It is so common for major, innovative thinkers to suffer at the hands of their states that it is almost a trope in the history of politics and theology. Socrates was tried and executed for impiety, Aristotle was accused of impiety…

THE READING ROOM

The Knight’s Tale and its Critics: Chaucer’s Response to Boethius’ Consolation of Philosophy

By: Nathaniel Birzer

At the heart of Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales lies the Challenge, the thing which draws out the innermost being of each of the characters, revealing a piece of their souls to their fellow pilgrims and sparking the wide-ranging…

THE READING ROOM

The Maskilim Launch the Haskalah: The Jewish Enlightenment

By: Walter Donway

“The Haskalah movement had no less a historical impact on the Jews than did the French Revolution on Europe.” —Shmuel Feiner, The Jewish Enlightenment
The Parallel Bible. Old and New Testaments (KJV and Revised Version) (PDF only)

Old Testament (Various Authors) (contributor)

A parallel version of the Old and New Testaments with the King James Version in one column and the revised Version in another column. This title is available only in PDF because of the enormous file size, HTML versions are available…

The Parallel Bible. Old Testament (KJV)

Old Testament (Various Authors) (author)

A parallel version of the Old Testament with the King James Version in one column and the revised Version in another column. This title is also available in HTML in just the King James Version.

The Parallel Bible. Old Testament (Revised Version)

Jesus Christ (contributor)

A parallel version of the Old Testament with the King James Version in one column and the revised Version in another column. This title is also available in HTML in just the Revised Version.

The Parallel New Testament (KJV and Revised V)

Jesus Christ (contributor)

A parallel version of the New Testament with the King James Version in one column and the revised Version in another column.

The Parallel Bible. New Testament (KJV)

New Testament (contributor)

A parallel version of the New Testament with the King James Version in one column and the revised Version in another column. This title is also available in HTML in just the King James Version.

The Parallel Bible. New Testament (Revised Version)

New Testament (contributor)

A parallel version of the New Testament with the King James Version in one column and the revised Version in another column. This title is also available in HTML in just the Revised Version.

THE READING ROOM

The Screwtape Letters: From the Liberty Fund Rare Book Room

By: Sarah Skwire

I will confess that I decided to take a look at Pierre Goodrich's 1948 copy of The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis because it's a book I love, and not because this edition is a particularly compelling example of the bookbinder's…

THE READING ROOM

The Spirit of Christmas, Scrooge, and Dante

By: Alexander Schmid

What could possibly connect the spirit of Christmas, A Christmas Carol’s Ebenezer Scrooge, and Dante’s Inferno? Though they are differing representations at the literal level, each work portrays a similar underlying religious…
The Thirteen Principal Upanishads

Robert Ernest Hume (translator)

These are commentaries on the Hindu sacred texts known as the Vedas.

Thirty Minor Upanishads

K Narayanaswami Aiyar (translator)

A selection from the very many Upanishads in the Indian tradition. These are based upon themes such as the Vedanta, physiological, mantras, Sannyasa, and Yoga.

The Thoughts of Blaise Pascal

Charles Kegan Paul (translator)

The collection of writings known as “Thoughts” were not published in Pascal’s lifetime. They consist of his musings about life, religion, god, sin, miracles, and other matters.

Toleration and Other Essays

Joseph McCabe (introduction)

This collection of essays by Voltaire contains a long essay on the Jean Calas case, several shorter essays on religious topics, and his famous poem on the Lisbon earthquake.

Tracts and Treatises of John de Wycliffe

Rev. Robert Vaughan (translator)

A translation of some of Wyclif’s shorter Latin works, his Treatise Trialogus, his Treatise against Orders of Friars, and other shorter works.

The Triumph of the Cross

Father John Proctor (editor)

in this book Savonarola refutes the accusation of heresy and schism, which had been laid to his charge by his adversaries.

A Vedic Reader for Students

Arthur Anthony Macdonell (translator)

To see the original Sanskrit version of the hymns please see the facsimile PDF version of the text.

THE READING ROOM

Viva Dante 700: Che può insegnarci il Sommo Poeta sul lavoro, l'amore, l'arte e la vita

By: Daniel Ross Goodman

Quest'anno ricorre il 700 anniversario della morte di Dante. Numerosi eventi sono stati programmati in tutto il mondo, soprattutto nella nativa Italia di Dante, per celebrare l'eredità del Il Sommo poeta. Ma di gran lunga il modo…

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Viva Dante 700: Che può insegnarci il Sommo Poeta sul lavoro, l'amore, l'arte e la vita : Inferno, Canto III: Dante Alighieri, Rapsodista della Libertà

By: Daniel Ross Goodman

Una serie di Reading Room su La Divina Commedia
Dante è finalmente pronto per entrare all'Inferno, o almeno così crede. Giunto all'ingresso dell'Inferno, legge un'iscrizione sulle porte che, racconta a Virgilio, lo fa fermare:

THE READING ROOM

Viva Dante 700: Che può insegnarci il Sommo Poeta sul lavoro, l'amore, l'arte e la vita : Inferno, Canto IV: Sii discernimento nell'amore

By: Daniel Ross Goodman

Una serie di Reading Room su La Divina Commedia
Dante e Virgilio lasciano il Limbo e si fanno strada nel secondo girone dell'Inferno. Questo cerchio è di dimensioni più piccole del primo (l'Inferno di Dante ha la forma di un cono…

THE READING ROOM

Viva Dante 700: Che può insegnarci il Sommo Poeta sul lavoro, l'amore, l'arte e la vita: : Inferno, Canto IV, Parte 2: Il posto dell'intelletto nella vita di fede

By: Daniel Ross Goodman

Una serie di Reading Room su La Divina Commedia
Dante e Virgilio proseguono attraverso una foresta, una foresta di <<fantasmi folti>>. Non molto lontano in questa foresta Dante vede un fuoco divampare nell'oscurità.…

THE READING ROOM

Viva Dante 700: Che può insegnarci il Sommo Poeta sul lavoro, l'amore, l'arte e la vita: Inferno, Canto 1

By: Daniel Ross Goodman

Una serie di Reading Room su La Divina Commedia
La settimana scorsa abbiamo visto come Dante scrivesse del suo viaggio attraverso l'inferno, il limbo e il paradiso come se si trattasse di un viaggio vero, realmente intrapreso (a…

THE READING ROOM

Viva Dante 700: Che può insegnarci il Sommo Poeta sul lavoro, l'amore, l'arte e la vita: Inferno, Canto I: il viaggio della nostra vita e l'importanza dei classici

By: Daniel Ross Goodman

Una serie di Reading Room su La Divina Commedia
La scorsa settimana abbiamo iniziato il nostro epico viaggio con Dante accompagnando Dante mentre si perde nei boschi, prima di incontrare il suo idolo letterario Virgilio e…

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Viva Dante 700: Che può insegnarci il Sommo Poeta sul lavoro, l'amore, l'arte e la vita: Inferno, Canto II: Il potere delle donne rette la vita

By: Daniel Ross Goodman

Una serie di Reading Room su La Divina Commedia
Virgilio, sentendo per caso i dubbi di Dante che potrebbe essere indegno per questo viaggio, rimprovera Dante per la sua codardia e cerca di rassicurarlo sul fatto che varrà davvero…

THE READING ROOM

Viva Dante 700: Che può insegnarci il Sommo Poeta sul lavoro, l'amore, l'arte e la vita: Inferno, Canto II: Surmonter le syndrome de l'imposteura vita :

By: Daniel Ross Goodman

Una serie di Reading Room su La Divina Commedia
Prima che Dante intraprenda il suo viaggio attraverso l'inferno con Virgilio, invoca le muse (gli spiriti classici delle arti, nell'antica Grecia e a Roma) per aiutarlo a ricordare -…

THE READING ROOM

Viva Dante 700: Che può insegnarci il Sommo Poeta sul lavoro, l'amore, l'arte e la vita: Inferno, Canto III, Parte 2: La fallacia della neutralità

By: Daniel Ross Goodman

Una serie di Reading Room su La Divina Commedia
Mentre Dante e Virgilio entrano nell'anticamera dell'Inferno, Virgilio dice a Dante che tutto il lamento agonizzante che sente sono le voci di coloro che <<visser sanza ‘…

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Viva Dante 700: Che può insegnarci il Sommo Poeta sul lavoro, l'amore, l'arte e la vita: Inferno, Canto VI, Parte 2: Fino a che punto si estendono i nostri doveri civici?

By: Daniel Ross Goodman

Una serie di Reading Room su La Divina Commedia
Proseguendo attraverso il terzo girone dell'Inferno, passiamo con Dante e Virgilio attraverso innumerevoli ombre delle anime dei morti che giacciono nelle pozzanghere sporche,…

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Viva Dante 700: Che può insegnarci il Sommo Poeta sul lavoro, l'amore, l'arte e la vita: Inferno, Canto VI: Perché la gola è un peccato?

By: Daniel Ross Goodman

Una serie di Reading Room su La Divina Commedia
Siamo ora nel terzo girone dell'Inferno con Dante. Ovunque guardi vede nuovi tormenti. Sta piovendo, una pioggia fredda, pesante, senza fine, che si rinnova sempre in forza e…

THE READING ROOM

Viva Dante 700: Che può insegnarci il Sommo Poeta sul lavoro, l'amore, l'arte e la vita: lInferno, Canto IV: Scappando dal limbo

By: Daniel Ross Goodman

Una serie di Reading Room su La Divina Commedia
Dante viene svegliato da un forte tuono. Si alza in piedi, si guarda intorno e cerca di capire dove si trova. È in piedi sul bordo di una valle profonda, buia e nebbiosa che…

THE READING ROOM

Viva Dante 700: Che può insegnarci il Sommo Poeta sul lavoro, l'amore, l'arte e la vita:Inferno, Canto IV, Parte 2: Sii discernente nella tua lettura

By: Daniel Ross Goodman

Una serie di Reading Room su La Divina Commedia
Dante distingue tre singole ombre di <<malfattore carnale>> che vengono verso di lui, lamentandosi e trasportati insieme all'inesorabile uragano. <<Maestro>>,…

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Viva Dante 700: Che può insegnarci il Sommo Poeta sul lavoro, l'amore, l'arte. e la vita ,Introduzione, seconda parte

By: Daniel Ross Goodman

Una serie di Reading Room su La Divina Commedia
La scorsa settimana abbiamo iniziato la nostra introduzione alla Divina Commedia di Dante con le prime tre delle sette lezioni generali che possiamo imparare dall'immortale italiano…

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Welcome to Paradise: Dante’s Paradiso

By: Alexander Schmid

Welcome to Celestial Paradise, otherwise known as the Heaven in Dante’s Paradiso. Yes, that heaven; the heaven, even, for medieval Catholics.

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Will and Blame in Dante’s Paradiso

By: Alexander Schmid

In the Sphere of the Moon in Dante’s Paradiso, Dante meets two radiant former-nuns who at first seem like “reflections in a deep pool.” So faint are they to him that they are much like a vague thought or reflection one has not yet…
Words of John Robinson. Robinson’s Farewell Address to the Pilgrims

John Robinson (author)

A collection of sermons by the English Puritan minister John Robinson who was the pastor to the Pilgrim Fathers.

The Works of John Locke in Nine Volumes

John Locke (author)

A nine volume collection of the works of John Locke.

The Works, vol. 5 Four Letters concerning Toleration

John Locke (author)

Locke was an early advocate of religious toleration. Collected in this volume are his letters or essays on this topic.

The Works, vol. 6 (The Reasonableness of Christianity)

John Locke (author)

This volume contains three pieces by Locke on the reasonableness of Christian belief.

The Works, vol. 7 (Essays and Notes on St. Paul’s Epistles)

John Locke (author)

This volume contains what Locke calls his paraphrases and notes on Paul’s Epistles.

The Works, vol. 8 (Some Thoughts Concerning Education, Posthumous Works, Familiar Letters)

John Locke (author)

This volume contains Some Thoughts Concerning Education, his posthumous works, and a number of letters.

The Works and Life of Walter Bagehot, vol. 6

Mrs. Russell Barrington (editor)

This volume contains Lombard Street, essays on Guizot & Cairnes, and The Depreciation of Silver.

The Works of John Robinson 3 vols.

John Robinson (author)

A 3 volume collection of this influential English Puritan minister’s writings, including his A Justification of Separation from the Church of England.

The Works of John Robinson, vol. 1

John Robinson (author)

Vol. 1 of a 3 volume collection of this influential English Puritan minister’s writings, including his A Justification of Separation from the Church of England.

The Works of John Robinson, vol. 2

John Robinson (author)

Vol. 2 of a 3 volume collection of this influential English Puritan minister’s writings, including his A Justification of Separation from the Church of England.

The Works of John Robinson, vol. 3

John Robinson (author)

Vol. 3 of a 3 volume collection of this influential English Puritan minister’s writings, including his A Justification of Separation from the Church of England.

The Works of Vicesimus Knox, vol. 6

Vicesimus Knox (author)

This volume contains Knox’s sermons on various passages of the Bible as well as Sermon 25 on the possibilities of perpetual peace.

The Works of that Learned and Judicious Divine Mr. Richard Hooker

John Keble (editor)

A three volume collection of the works of Richard Hooker.

The Works of Richard Hooker, vol. 1

Izaak Walton (introduction)

Volume 1 of the writings of Richard Hooker, including the editor’s introduction and the first 4 Books of his best known work Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity (1594-97).

The Works of Richard Hooker, vol. 2

John Keble (editor)

Volume 2 of the writings of Richard Hooker, including Book 5 of his best known work Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity (1594-97).

The Works of Richard Hooker, vol. 3

John Keble (editor)

Volume 3 of the writings of Richard Hooker, including Books 6-8 of his best known work Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity (1594-97) and several sermons.

The Works of Voltaire, Vol. III (Philosophical Dictionary Part 1)

William F. Fleming (translator)

Volume 1 of the Philosophical Dictionary with entries from “A to Calends” The Philosophical Dictionary first appeared in 1764 in a “pocket edition” designed to be carried about one’s person. It consists of a series of short essays on…

The Works of Voltaire, Vol. IV (Philosophical Dictionary Part 2)

William F. Fleming (translator)

Volume 2 of the Philosophical Dictionary with entries from “Cannibals” to the “Falsity of Human Virtues.” The Philosophical Dictionary first appeared in 1764 in a pocket edition. It consists of a series of short essays on a variety…

The Works of Voltaire, Vol. V (Philosophical Dictionary Part 3)

William F. Fleming (translator)

Volume 3 of the Philosophical Dictionary with entries from “Fanaticism” to the “Job.” The Philosophical Dictionary first appeared in 1764 in a “pocket edition” designed to be carried about one’s person. It consists of a series of…

The Works of Voltaire, Vol. VI (Philosophical Dictionary Part 4)

William F. Fleming (translator)

Volume 4 of the Philosophical Dictionary with entries from “Joseph” to the “Privileges.” The Philosophical Dictionary* first appeared in 1764 in a “pocket edition” designed to be carried about one’s person. It consists of a series of…

The Works of Voltaire, Vol. VII (Philosophical Dictionary Part 5)

William F. Fleming (translator)

Volume 5 of the Philosophical Dictionary with entries from “Property” to the “Zoroaster.” The Philosophical Dictionary first appeared in 1764 in a “pocket edition” designed to be carried about one’s person. It consists of a series of…

The Collected Works of Lysander Spooner (1834-1886), in 5 vols.

Lysander Spooner (author)

This is a five volume collection of the works of the 19th century American legal theorist and abolitionist Lysander Spooner. It is in chronological order of the year of publication.

A full list of Spooner’s works in both…

The Collected Works of Lysander Spooner (1834-1886), vol. 1 (1834-1850)

Lysander Spooner (author)

This a 5 volume collection of the works of the 19th century American legal theorist and abolitionist in chronological order of the year of publication. Vol. 1 contains 10 pieces from the period 1834-1850.

The Writings of Saint Francis of Assisi

Saint Francis of Assisi (author)

A collection of St Francis’s writings, including various rules, letters, and prayers.

The Writings of Thomas Paine, Vol. IV (1791-1804)

Thomas Paine (author)

Vol. 4 of a 4 vol. collection of the works of Thomas Paine. Vol. 4 (1791-1804) contains The Age of Reason and various appendices.

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Quotes

Philosophy

Adam Smith on Religion and the Rules of Morality

Adam Smith

Religion & Toleration

Buddha and his “Ten Commandments”

Buddha

Religion & Toleration

Buddha on Wandering Rightly in the World

Buddha

Parties & Elections

Captain John Clarke asserts the right of all men to vote in the formation of a new constitution by right of the property they have in themselves (1647)

John Clarke

Religion & Toleration

David Hume argues that “love of liberty” in some individuals often attracts the religious inquisitor to persecute them and thereby drive society into a state of “ignorance, corruption, and bondage” (1757)

David Hume

Presidents, Kings, Tyrants, & Despots

Edward Bellarmine grapples with the problem of a subject’s obedience to kings or popes (1610)

Robert Bellarmine

Freedom of Speech

Elisha Williams on the unalienable right every person has to think and judge for themselves (1744)

Ellis Sandoz

Quote

Frederick Douglass on Religion and Slavery

Frederick Douglass

Religion & Toleration

In Ecclesiastes, there is the call to plant, to love, to live, and to work and then to enjoy the fruits of all one’s labors (3rd Century BC)

Old Testament (Various Authors)

Religion & Toleration

Job rightly wants to know why he, “the just upright man is laughed to scorn” while robbers prosper (6thC BC)

Job

Literature & Music

John Milton on Satan’s Reign in Hell

John Milton

Economics

Lao Tzu and the Tao of laissez-faire (6thC BC)

Lao Tzu

Presidents, Kings, Tyrants, & Despots

Lao Tzu discusses how “the great sages” (or wise advisors) protect the interests of the prince and thus “prove to be but guardians in the interest of the great thieves” (600 BC)

Lao Tzu

Taxation

Luke, Taxes, and the Birth of Jesus (85)

Saint Luke

Literature & Music

Milton on Eve’s discovery of the benefits of the division of labor in the Garden of Eden (1667)

John Milton

Religion & Toleration

Noah Webster on the resilience of common religious practices in the face of attempts by the state to radically change them (1794)

Noah Webster

Religion & Toleration

Pierre Bayle begins his defence of religious toleration with this appeal that the light of nature, or Reason, should be used to settle religious differences and not coercion (1708)

Pierre Bayle

Justice

St. Augustine states that kingdoms without justice are mere robberies, and robberies are like small kingdoms; but large Empires are piracy writ large (5th C)

Saint Augustine

Religion & Toleration

St. John, private property, and the Parable of the Wolf and the Good Shepherd (2ndC AD)

Saint John

War & Peace

St. Thomas Aquinas discusses the three conditions for a just war (1265-74)

St. Thomas Aquinas

War & Peace

The 1st Day of Christmas: Jan Huss' Christmas letters and his call for peace on earth (1412)

Jan Huss

War & Peace

The 3rd Day of Christmas: Erasmus stands against war and for peace on earth (16th century)

Desiderius Erasmus

Religion & Toleration

The 6th Day of Christmas: Vicesimus Knox on the Christian religion and peace on earth (1793)

Vicesimus Knox

War & Peace

The evangelist Luke “on earth peace, good will toward men” (1st century)

Saint Luke

Religion & Toleration

The Psalmist laments that he lives in a Society which “hateth peace” and cries out “I am for peace: but when I speak they are for war” (1000 BC)

King David

Law

Thomas Aquinas on why the law should not punish imperfect men for practising vices which do not harm others (1274)

St. Thomas Aquinas

Politics & Liberty

William Emerson, in his oration to commemorate the Declaration of Independence, reminded his listeners of the “unconquerable sense of liberty” which Americans had (1802)

William Emerson

Property Rights

William Penn on property as one of the three fundamental rights all men have (1679)

William Penn

Notes About This Collection

See also the extracts, chapters, and introductions in the Religion section of the Ideas page.