CLARKE, SAMUEL. - Anglican theologian and philosopher, b. at Norwich on 11 Oct. 1675, d. in London on 17 May 1729. His writings were edited by Hoadly, The Works of S. Clarke, 4 folio vols. (London 1738 ff.). An Anglican minister, C. regarded it as his mission to lead the Church of England back to the austerity of the early days of Christianity, and to this end he published various works which, together with his reputation, brought him the invitation to deliver the Boyle Lectures at St. Paul’s in London in 1704-1705.
In 1704 he dealt with the existence and attributes of God (A discourse concerning the Being and Attributes of God [Works, II]); in 1705 he developed his favourite theme: the obligations of natural law and the certainty of revealed religion (The obligations of natural religion, and the truth and certainty of the Christian Revelation [ibid.]). In 1712 he published Scripture doctrine of the Trinity [Works, IV]. This work, which caused a great stir in England and led to proceedings against C., maintains such a subordination of the Second and Third Persons of the Most Holy Trinity to the Father that the name of God would properly belong to the latter alone. Considerable resonance was also produced by C.’s correspondence with Leibniz (ibid., p. 575 ff.), in which he defends, among other things, the Newtonian concept of divine concurrence and providence against the pre-established harmony of the German philosopher.
schen Leibniz und C., Giessen 1893; G. Capone Braga, Il problema del fondamento dell'etica*, Florence 1945, p. 129 ff.