William Wollaston (1659-1724): English Deist and Rabbinic Scholar

In the year 1724, there appeared in London an anonymous book called ” The Religion of Nature Delineated ” which was to become one of the most successful works of English Deism. It took the form of a letter addressed to ” A. F. Esq.”, and was signed by N. N., to which cryptic signature was appended the equally un revealing Hebrew notarikon NO?. The treatise comprised 218 pages and was written in pellucid and graceful language, setting out its theme under nine main heads. But not content to develop his subject logically and systematically, the author clinched his arguments by innumerable quotations from Latin, Greek, and Hebrew sources in their original texts. He was obviously extremely well versed in the languages and literatures on which he so lavishly drew, and apparently expected his readers to be sufficiently at home in the three learned tongues to appreciate the relevance of

Written by

Alexander Altmann

Published in

Volume 16

1945

Other articles within the volume

• William Wollaston (1659-1724): English Deist and Rabbinic Scholar
• A Hebrew Elegy on the York Martyrs of 1190
• The Case of Dr. Lopez
• The Case of Dr. Lopez
• More Anglo-Jewish Leading Cases
• Grace Aguilar : A Centenary Tribute
• Jewish Residents in Eighteenth-century Twickenham
• Sir Edward Brampton: AN ANGLO-JEWISH ADVENTURER DURING THE WARS OF THE ROSES
• Sir Henry Finch (1558-1625) and the first english advocates of the restoration of the jews to palestine
• Maimonides and England
• Jewish Finance in Thirteenth-century England
• The Strayings of Paul Isaiah in England, 1651-1656
• The Non-Christian Oath in English Law
• The Damascus Affair-1840
• Solomon ben Joseph Buzaglo
• Church and Synagogue in the Middle Ages
• Levi Barent Cohen and some of his descendants
• War and Jewish History
• Preface