Boyle's Discourse of Things above Reason (1681) was not his first sustained treatment of the relationship between reason and religion, but it was his most complete and most sophisticated treatment. He devoted two earlier works to the topic, however, and it is appropriate to consider them briefly before moving on to Things above Reason. In addition, there were other works in which Boyle touched on the subject, and I incorporate passages from those works into the discussion in this chapter when doing so helps to flesh out Boyle's views. (I have already discussed similar passages from works prior to 1660 in the Introduction and in chapters 2 and 3.)

Style of the Scriptures

The first work that Boyle devoted to the relationship between reason and religion was Style of the Scriptures (1661). Originating from his unpublished manuscript “Essay of the holy Scriptures” (written c. 1651–1652 and discussed in chapter 2), Style was written to defend scripture from objections that it is obscure, that it is unmethodical, and that it is self-contradictory. In this defense, Boyle relied heavily on various considerations concerning the application of human reason to scripture, and because his intent was to foster the reading and study of scripture, his emphasis was for the most part on reason's competence to understand the content of scripture and on the importance of human learning to prepare reason to understand. There is a heavy emphasis on the importance of the study of languages and historical context, as well as on Boyle's claim that doctrines fundamental to salvation are “expressed with an evidence proportionable to the degree of assent that they exact, and are as far forth intelligible to pious and industrious readers, as they are necessary to be understood by them.”