Doğal Din Tasavvuru Üzerinden Hıristiyanlık Okuması: John Toland’ın Tanrı, Din ve Vahiy Anlayışı

Yıl 2019, Cilt: 60 Sayı: 2, 355 - 377, 30.11.2019

Meryem Kardaş

https://doi.org/10.33227/auifd.548435

Öz

Bugün “Aydınlanma” olarak
nitelendirdiğimiz 18. yüzyıl Batı düşüncesine temel karakteristiğini veren
hususlardan biri doğa felsefesinden “bilime” doğru yaşanan sıçramadır. 17.
yüzyılda Newton’la özdeşleşen doğa felsefesinin matematiksel yasalarının
tespitine yönelik teşebbüsle Tanrı’ya, evrene ve insana yönelik bakış açısı da
değişmiştir. Bu süreçte Hıristiyanlığın akıl ve doğa ile uyumlu hale getirilme
çabalarının arttığı görülür. Doğa ve akıl ile uyumlu din arzusu Hıristiyanlık
içerisinde dinî rasyonalistler başlığı altında değerlendirilen çeşitli
yaklaşımlar doğurmuştur. Bu dönemde ayrıca ağırlıklı olarak deistler tarafından
dile getirilen “doğal din” söylemi ile karşılaşılır. Yaşadığı zaman diliminde
entelektüel kimliği ve çok sayıda eseriyle fikirleri takip edilmiş bir isim
olan John Toland da doğal din anlayışını savunanlardan biridir. Bu çalışmada
Tanrı, din ve vahiy hakkındaki görüşlerinden hareketle, Toland’ın sahip olduğu
doğal din perspektifi açısından Hıristiyanlığın geleneksel yapısına yönelik
değerlendirmeleri ele alınacaktır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

John Toland, Deizm, Doğal Din, Hıristiyanlık, Vahiy

A Reading of Christianity through the Conception of Natural Religion: John Toland’s Understanding of God, Religion, and Revelation

Öz

One of the critical issues in the philosophy of
Enlightenment was the leap from natural philosophy to science. As a result of
the quest to uncover the mathematical principles of natural philosophy, which
was identified with Newton in the 17th century, the view toward God, universe,
and mankind also changed. In this process, attempts to
harmonize Christianity with reason and nature were increased. The wish to have
a religion in harmony with nature and reason gave way to different
interpretations within Christianity described as religious rationalists. In
this period, moreover, there emerged "natural religion" discourse,
mainly advocated by deists. John Toland, who distinguished himself with his
intellectual profile and many works and whose ideas were closely followed, also
defended the concept of natural religion. By surveying Toland's views on God, religion,
and revelation, this study will examine Toland's evaluation of the traditional
structure of Christianity through the prism of his notion of natural religion.

Anahtar Kelimeler

John Toland, Deism, Natural Religion, Christianity, Revelation

Kaynakça

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