Coleridge, the Bible, and Religion

Barbeau reconstructs the system of religion that Coleridge develops in Confessions of an Inquiring Spirit (1840). Coleridge's late system links four sources of divinity the Bible, the traditions of the church, the interior work of the Spirit, and the inspired preacher to Christ, the Word. In thousands of marginalia and private notebook entries, Coleridge challenges traditional views of the formation and inspiration of the Bible, clarifies the role of the church in biblical interpretation, and elucidates the relationship between the objective and subjective sources of revelation. In late writings that develop a robust system of religion, Coleridge conveys his commitment to biblical wisdom.

"The scholarship is massive yet focused and the context is exhilarating. It shows Coleridge's influence throughout the nineteenth centuryas a philosopher, political thinker, and theologian in Great Britain,Germany, and America" - Marilyn Gaull, Editor of The Wordsworth Circle "...Barbeau focuses on Coleridge's seminal and posthumously published Confessions of an Inquiring Spirit...offe[ing] much insight into the broad terrain of British Anglicanism, both in its political and ecclesiastical manifsetations." - Anglican Theological Review

JEFFREY W. BARBEAU is an associate professor of Theology at Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois, USA.