[BUTLER, JOSEPH (1692-1752)]. The Analogy of Religion, Natural and Revealed, to the Constitution and Course of Nature. To Which are Added Two Brief Dissertations: I. Of Personal Identity. II. Of the Nature of Virtue. By Joseph Butler, LL.D. Late Lord Bishop of Durham. Glasgow: Printed for Robert Urie, MDCCLXIV. [1764].
THE SIXTH EDITION. Leather-bound; hardcover; duodecimo (18 x 10.5 x 3 cm); pp. [8], i-xii, 13-356p. English text. Bound in contemporary full calf; initial and terminal blanks present; printed footnotes. Condition: GOOD. Collated complete. Binding secure with some rubbing to the joints and extremities. Interior lightly toned with some light foxing mostly confined to the endpapers. Old gift inscription neatly inked to the front endpaper.
Notes: The Analogy of Religion by Bishop Joseph Butler is a masterpiece of Christian apologetics designed to counter 18th-century Deism by proving that the difficulties found in scripture match the complexities found in nature. Rather than claiming absolute certainty, Butler uses a probabilistic argument to show that if you accept God as the creator of nature, it is entirely logical to accept Him as the author of Christian revelation. [ESTC N2553].
