Christianity Not as Old as the Creation:

The Last of Defoe's Performances

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Editor: G A Starr

The Pickering Masters

April 1730 saw the publication of Christianity as Old as the Creation, a work which came to be known as ‘the Deists’ Bible’. Barely a month later, an anonymous pamphlet appeared in response. Christianity Not as Old as the Creation challenged not simply the author of the volume, Matthew Tindal, but the religious philosophy of Deism in general.

Using A New Family Instructor (1727) for comparative analysis, Starr argues that there is enough convincing internal evidence – and a concurrent absence of any conflicting external evidence – for a ‘probable’ attribution to Daniel Defoe.

This is the first time Christianity Not as Old as the Creation has appeared in a scholarly edition. Starr’s attribution is not only a significant contribution to Defoe scholarship, but in making it he simultaneously provides an excellent ‘how to’ guide for scholars wishing to add other non-attributed works to the Defoe canon.

• First critical edition of the text
• New attribution to the literary canon of Daniel Defoe
• Re-evaluation of Defoe's last work
• Sheds new light on the English Deists
• Provides excellent 'how to' guide for further attribution

Related titles

• A Critical Bibliography of Daniel Defoe
• Defoe's Review 1704–13
• A Political Biography of Daniel Defoe
• The Religious and Didactic Writings of Daniel Defoe

Leaflets

• Colour leaflet

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