Colloquia on the History of Origen's Reception "IV Origenes Cantabrigiensis - Ralph Cudworth's Sermon before the House of Commons (1647)"

Basic data for this project

Description

The daring Sermon before the House of Commons which the thirty-year-old Ralph Cudworth delivered at the height of the English civil wars is a passionate plea for religious tolerance. Orthopraxy, the love of one’s neighbour, ra-ther than orthodoxy, the belief in certain dogmas, Cudworth insists, is to be the sole criterion of true Christianity. Besides being a watershed work in the history of the notion of tolerance, the Sermon is a chief testimony of Cudworth’s Origenism. Not only does the young Cambridge Platonist share with the Alexandrian Church Fa-ther the commitment to man’s freedom, but he also translates the latter’s practical Christology into a historic early modern rational theology which views love and virtue as instrumental in the fallen soul’s redemption and renewed participation in the Father’s eternal Word.