Hindmarsh, Look Upon Nothing as Separate from God: Evangelicals and the Rise of Science

Lecture Listening Guides

by David  Capes

Lecturer: Bruce Hindmarsh

Title: Look Upon Nothing as Separate from God: Evangelicals and the Rise of Science

Date: 02/16/2019

Prepared by Emma Abernathy

  1. What question did Jonathan Edwards claim was no greater question to human kind? Why

did this question seem urgent in the eighteenth century?

 

  1. What modern movement was forming at that time? What terminology did this movement

use to communicate its mission?

 

  1. What was the pressing question of the earliest revival of evangelicalism?

 

  1. How did evangelicals react to this new science in the beginning?

 

  1. What is the connection between John Wesley’s prologue and Charles Wesley’s hymn?

 

  1. How did Christian devotion “punch above its weight” at this point in history?

 

  1. What were some of Jonathan Edwards’ curious questions about natural law? Are there questions you would add along these lines?

 

  1. What is the important distinction between Jonathan Edwards’ understanding of nature

and secular understanding of nature at that time?

 

  1. What was John Wesley’s role in communicating new complex scientific ideas? How did

he foster a culture among pastors where scientific literacy was valued?

 

  1. What was John Wesley’s central hope in studying medicine?

 

  1. To Wesley, why is nature itself not enough for salvation? What is even more dazzling to

him?

 

  1. Why did James Harvey change his style mid-way through his literary career?

 

  1. What scientific descriptive words did James Harvey use in his definition of the

Christian’s Natural Philosophy?

 

  1. Why did James Harvey think it was important for the Christian to read science? Do you

think this is true today?  How do you incorporate scientific understandings?

 

  1. What are the three elements in Newtonian Cosmology that we see in Harvey’s devotions?

 

  1. For Harvey, what did the contemplation of the vastness of the universe lead him to

understand more fully about God?

 

  1. Was John Russell generally accepted or rejected by his peers and masters? Why was this

the case?

 

  1. What is a way that Russell combined art and science to attain a greater devotion?