Divine Magnetism—Natural Philosophy and Magnetic Theology in the Seventeenth Century

In this paper, I will study a curious offspring of the magnetic philosophy. In the wake of De Magnete, a fully systematised “magnetic theology” was developed by writers from both sides of the religious divide that ran across Europe. These writers formed a curious mishmash, according to current day standards, and included the poet John Donne, the natural philosopher Robert Boyle, the puritan preacher Samuel Ward, the prominent judge Matthew Hale, and the Jesuit mathematician Athanasius Kircher. In the course of my paper, I will analyse what these diverse figures had in common, so that they would all be interested to write on magnetic theology, as well as their different approaches to this subject. Beyond the confines of the history of magnetic theology, this will also allow me to detail crucial differences and changes in the early development of natural theology, when it emerged as a specific genre at the end of the 17th century.