The Infl uence of Religious Thinking on the Smithian Revolution

The idea of religious infl uences on Adam Smith’s thinking, or indeed on that of his contemporaries like David Hume, will probably strike many as implausible on its face. Smith’s great friend Hume was an open opponent of any known form of religion. Smith, as far as one can tell, was at best what American students of that time think of as a Jeffersonian deist. There is little if any evidence of Smith’s active religious participation, much less religious enthusiasm.