...characteristic, but deeply satirical simplicity, in the preface to his great work. " It is come," says he, " I know not how, to be taken for granted by many persons,...that it is now at length discovered to be fictitious On the contrary, thus much at least will here be found, not taken for granted, but proved, that any...

...believe in the gospels,"4 and only a few years later, in 1736, Bishop Butler sardonically reported, "It is come, I know not how, to be taken for granted...persons that Christianity is not so much as a subject of enquiry; but that it is now at length discovered to be fictitious. And accordingly they treat it as...

...own. Joseph Butler wrote, in the 'Advertisement' to the first edition of his famous Analogy (1736), "It is come, I know not how, to be taken for granted...persons that Christianity is not so much as a subject for inquiry, but that it is now at length discovered to be fictitious. And accordingly they treat it...

...the comments of Bishop Butler. Writing in 1736 he bemoaned a general decay and disregard of religion: It is come, I know not how, to be taken for granted,...by many persons, that Christianity is not so much a subject of inquiry; but that it is, now at length, discovered to be fictitious And accordingly they...

...eighteenth century that "It has come to be taken for granted that Christianity is not so much a subject for inquiry, but that it is now at length discovered to be fictitious." 28 Such quotations, while always ambiguous, could be multiplied endlessly and may even have had a self-fulfilling...

...find Bishop Butler, a century later, taking up the same lamentation in nearly the same words ; eg, ' It is come, I know not how, to be taken for granted...an agreed point among all people of discernment,' (Preface to ' The Analogy '). (A) ' The whole world was darkened.' This remains matter of debate. The...

...believe in the gnspels." and only a few years later, in 1736, Bishop Butler sardonically reported, "It is come, I know not how, to be taken for granted...persons that Christianity is not so much as a subject of enquiry; but that it is now at length discovered to be fictitious. And accordingly they treat it as...

...Constitution and Course of Nature.1 In the preface or 'advertisement' to this book Butler remarks that 'it is come, I know not how, to be taken for granted...agreed point among all people of discernment, and nothing remained but to set it up as a principal subject of mirth and ridicule, as it were by way of...

...Constitution and Course of Nature (l736). S7 His Advertisement made clear the occasion of his work: It is come, I know not how, to be taken for granted,...agreed point among all people of discernment; and nothing remained, but to set it up as a principal subject of mirth and ridicule, as it were by way...

...Bishop Butler in the Advertisement to the first edition of his Analogy of Religion, published in 1736: It is come, I know not how, to be taken for granted,...not so much as a subject of inquiry, but that it is, not at length, discovered to be fictitious. And accordingly they treat it, as if, in the present age,...