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Chapter 6 - The Misunderstood Spider

John Bunyan Reads the Book of Nature

from Part II - Imagined Worlds

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 October 2023

Katherine Calloway
Affiliation:
Baylor University, Texas
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Summary

This one will explore how natural theology infused the imagination of John Bunyan. Among his imaginative works, Bunyan’s engagement with the book of nature grew between publication of the first part of Pilgrim’s Progress (1678) and the second part (1684) and his Book for Boys and Girls (1686). But Bunyan differed from the physico-theologians in his understanding of nature’s ideal audience and how far nature could bring people toward salvation. Unlike contemporary scientists, Bunyan held that no special training was required to read theological messages in nature; in fact, the book of nature was especially suitable for women and children. To derive any benefit from nature, however, a person needed a conscience already awakened to faith. Bunyan’s treatment of nature differs, on the one hand, from earlier emblem texts in which images were printed in the book—requiring no direct experience of the natural world—and, on the other, from physico-theology, which increasingly required an expert’s understanding of that world.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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  • The Misunderstood Spider
  • Katherine Calloway, Baylor University, Texas
  • Book: Literature and Natural Theology in Early Modern England
  • Online publication: 07 October 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009415231.010
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  • The Misunderstood Spider
  • Katherine Calloway, Baylor University, Texas
  • Book: Literature and Natural Theology in Early Modern England
  • Online publication: 07 October 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009415231.010
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • The Misunderstood Spider
  • Katherine Calloway, Baylor University, Texas
  • Book: Literature and Natural Theology in Early Modern England
  • Online publication: 07 October 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009415231.010
Available formats
×