Jesus Transfigured? Allegory, Blasphemy, Christology & Enlightenment in Thomas Woolston’s Discourse on the Miracles

“Jesus Transfigured? Allegory, Blasphemy, Christology and Enlightenment in Thomas Woolston’s Discourse on the Miracles” is a lecture event hosted by Anselm House in partnership with the UMN Center for Premodern Studies.

Though regarded as relatively obscure by contemporary historians, Thomas Woolston’s trial for blasphemy in 1729 proved to be a veritable cause célèbre in London, as equally as many rushed to his defense as to his dismissal from civil society. His Discourses on the Miracles became a best-seller–having sold in the thousands and reaching six editions in a year–impacting a variety of thinkers, ranging from Voltaire to David Friedrich Strauss. This presentation will highlight salient themes from Woolston’s Discourses by situating them in the intellectual milieu of Enlightenment England.

Dr. Paul C.H. Lim is an award-winning historian of early modern England, and an Associate Professor of the History of Christianity at Vanderbilt University. His Mystery Unveiled: The Crisis of the Trinity in Early Modern England (Oxford, 2012) received the Roland H. Bainton Prize as the best book in history/theology by the Sixteenth Century Society & Conference. He is currently finishing a book entitled, Jesus Transfigured: Christology, Antiquity and Modernity in Enlightenment England. His research has been sponsored by the Folger Shakespeare Library, the Luce Fellowship in Theology, and the Louisville Institute.