Newtonianism and religion in the Netherlands

Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 35 (3):493-514 (2004)
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Abstract

In the early eighteenth century Newtonianism became popular in the Netherlands both in academic and non-academic circles. The ‘Book of Nature’ was interpreted with the help of Newton’s natural philosophy and his ideas about a providential deity, thereby greatly enhancing the attractiveness of physico-theology in the eighteenth-century United Provinces. Like other Europeans the Dutch welcomed physico-theology as a strategic means in their battle against irreligion and atheism. Bernard Nieuwentijt, Johan Lulofs, Petrus Camper, and Johannes Florentius Martinet were prominent experts in the field. Combining Newtonian notions with Leibnizian optimism and romanticist trends, physico-theology remained popular in the Netherlands well into the nineteenth century.Author Keywords: Apologetics; Dutch Enlightenment; Physico-theology; Prophetic theology; Argument from design; Empiricism.

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10.1016/j.shpsa.2004.06.016

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Isaac Newton, heretic: the strategies of a Nicodemite.Stephen D. Snobelen - 1999 - British Journal for the History of Science 32 (4):381-419.
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