What was the character of religion in the Victorian era?

The controversies surrounding Victorian religion involve technical issues of Biblical criticism, scientific discoveries and ecclesiastical tradition. All of these subjects, I propose, arise out of the central dilemma of essential, or spiritual, authority. This essay examines the forms of religious doubt that were experienced by Victorians and argues that the focal point for these concerns was the authority of the Christian Bible. A brief introduction to the complex religious temper of the Victorian era provides a background upon which to discuss the philosophical and hermeneutical fracas over the Scriptures. As the formerly unequivocal core of Christian faith lost its unique status, other traditions attempted to replace the Bible as the source of essential authority. The endeavours of three traditions—science, church and humanism - to fill the authoritative space left vacant by the Bible are reviewed in the second section of the article.

Files: clarke-spiritual-authority-19thc.pdf