ABSTRACT
This chapter seeks to build on the previous chapters to characterise Smith’s theological views. It draws together the analysis of previous chapters. The biographical sketch of Smith shows his consistent religious position especially in some pivotal issues like his relationship with Hume. Redaction of divine names and other theological references in the corpus has been closely worked to make the claim that Smith retained a broadly Christian position in relation to the use of theological referents. There is clearly a turn towards Stoicism in later years, but not one that is ultimately at the expense of his previous Christian position. The natural theology of society has been outlined showing how the anthropology is essentially providentialist. The ‘invisible hand’ notion was then examined and presented as a broad coherence theory of human nature that is consistent with this natural theology of society.
The analysis in this chapter then continues to ask ‘who is Smith’s God’? Smith’s natural theology does contain certain deistic tendencies. There are sufficient Christian references (either implicit or explicit) to suggest that Smith retained the sort of Christian theism one could expect from a teacher of natural theology in late eighteenth century Scotland. Smith’s belief in a divine plan was hardly a radical position in his day and this was certainly shared by many Christians. He never admitted to deism and to be given this label of a deist was then a nasty slur which would have created difficulties for any professor at Glasgow University. There is also the interesting question of Smith’s anti-Catholic sentiments. A person who was a pure deist would not care much for religious controversies within any given tradition.
