How to Be a Shakespearean Atheist

In this lecture, Alec Ryrie points out that in the 1500s, while the stereotype atheist was a depraved amoralist, "real unbelievers" and those portrayed on stage were far from that stereotype. He refers to the "dangerous possibility ... that unbelief might discover ethics of its own." Closing line: "The preachers wanted the atheist to stick to his role as the villain in Christendom's moral economy. They should have known that the problem with an atheist is that he doesn't do as he's told."

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