ABSTRACT
Philip Doddridge believed firmly in the importance of the place of arguments for the existence of God and a discussion of his attributes, based on a natural theology. The Course of Lectures also addresses the nature of space, a question of considerable moment in early eighteenth-century debate about the consequences of natural theology for an understanding of God. Doddridge was framing his discussion of the issue in terms of the language of his day, modelled closely on the work of Samuel Clarke, and, just as the Northampton lecturer had earlier propounded arguments for a natural theology, so he here mounted a case for natural law. The questions of natural theology, natural law and the role of reason were of great moment among philosophers and theologians in the early eighteenth century. The older Dissenter seemed unhappy with a morality based entirely on reason, rather than divine revelation. Using language which perhaps refers to Clarke's rational approach, Watts argues the moral law.
