Bringing together Leibniz's writings on God and religion for the very first time, Leibniz on God and Religion: A Reader reflects the growing importance now placed on Leibniz's philosophical theology. This reader features a wealth of material, from journal articles and book reviews published in Leibniz's lifetime to private notes and essays, as well as items from his correspondence.
Organised thematically into the following sections, this reader captures the changes in Leibniz's thinking over the course of his career:
The Catholic Demonstrations
The existence and nature of God
Reason and faith
Ethics and the love of God
The Bible
Miracles and mysteries
The churches and their doctrines
Grace and predestination
Sin, evil, and theodicy
The afterlife
Non-Christian religions
In preparing this reader, Strickland has returned to Leibniz's original manuscripts to ensure accurate translations of key texts, the majority of which have not been available in English before. The reader also contains a number of texts previously unpublished in any form.
Alongside the translations, this reader contains an introductory essay, explanatory notes on all of the texts, and suggestions for further reading. This valuable sourcebook enables students of all levels to achieve a well-rounded understanding of Leibniz's philosophical theology.
Lloyd Strickland has done students and teachers of Leibniz an enormous service in producing this fine selection from Leibniz's writings on philosophical theology, many of which appear in English for the first time. It will surely become a standard reference volume for many years to come. Whilst offering only a fraction of Leibniz's output on these issues, Leibniz on God and Religion serves to counter a tendency among some prominent Anglophone scholars to represent Leibniz as a philosopher whose views emerged primarily from his logical and/or scientific interests. In contrast, Strickland's volume clearly demonstrates the ways in which Leibniz's understanding of God and religion were at the very heart of his philosophical project throughout his career.
