The Analogy of Religion, Natural and Revealed, to the Constitution and Course of Nature

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June 18, 2026

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Joseph Butler's The Analogy of Religion, Natural and Revealed, to the Constitution and Course of Nature argues that revealed religion is not fundamentally different from natural religion or the natural world in its complexities and uncertainties. Butler, an Anglican bishop and moral philosopher, aimed to defend revealed religion against rationalist critics, particularly Deists.1

He contended that the natural world, like revealed religion, contains elements that are difficult to understand or reconcile with simple reason. By drawing parallels between the "constitution and course of nature" and religious doctrines, Butler sought to show that the mysteries and apparent difficulties in religion were no more problematic than those encountered in understanding the natural world. This approach aimed to demonstrate the reasonableness of faith by showing that its challenges were consistent with the broader experience of existence.1

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Joseph Butler
…he published his most-celebrated work, The Analogy of Religion, Natural and Revealed, to the Constitution and Course of Nature, attacking Deist writers whose approach to God consisted in arguing rationally from nature rather than from faith in the doctrine of revelation. Butler sought to demonstrate that nature and natural religion…
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…he published his most-celebrated work, The Analogy of Religion, Natural and Revealed, to the Constitution and Course of Nature, attacking Deist writers whose approach to God consisted in arguing rationally from nature rather than from faith in the doctrine of revelation. Butler sought to demonstrate that nature and natural religion…
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English literature
Shaftesbury and others
earnest prose of Joseph Butler’s Analogy of Religion (1736), which also seeks to confront contemporary skepticism and ponders scrupulously the bases of man’s knowledge of his creator.
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earnest prose of Joseph Butler’s Analogy of Religion (1736), which also seeks to confront contemporary skepticism and ponders scrupulously the bases of man’s knowledge of his creator.
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probability and statistics
Probability as the logic of uncertainty
…Butler, in his very influential Analogy of Religion (1736), called probability “the very guide of life.” The phrase, however, did not refer to mathematical calculation but merely to the judgments made where rational demonstration is impossible. The word probability was used in relation to the mathematics of chance in 1662…
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…Butler, in his very influential Analogy of Religion (1736), called probability “the very guide of life.” The phrase, however, did not refer to mathematical calculation but merely to the judgments made where rational demonstration is impossible. The word probability was used in relation to the mathematics of chance in 1662…
Read More