Supernatural Religion (Vols. 1-3) is a major Victorian inquiry into the historical foundations of Christianity, especially the credibility of miracles and the evidentiary status of the New Testament. Written in a rigorous, polemical prose shaped by nineteenth-century rationalism and German higher criticism, it examines patristic testimony, Gospel origins, and apostolic claims with forensic persistence. Its literary context is the age of Darwin, Strauss, and Renan, when traditional apologetics met increasingly historical methods of biblical criticism. Walter Richard Cassels, who first published the work anonymously, was a cultivated British man of letters rather than a clerical insider, a position that helped give the book its independent and controversial force. His intellectual formation in the skeptical, comparative, and philological currents of the period encouraged him to treat revelation not as inherited certainty but as a historical proposition requiring public evidence. This work is recommended to readers interested in Victorian religious doubt, the history of biblical criticism, and the intellectual pressures that reshaped modern theology. Though demanding and combative, it remains indispensable for understanding how questions of miracle, testimony, and historical method entered modern debates about Christian origins. This enriched edition has been carefully crafted to add value to your reading experience. - A succinct Introduction situates the work's timeless appeal and themes. - The Synopsis outlines the central plot, highlighting key developments without spoiling critical twists. - A detailed Historical Context immerses you in the era's events and influences that shaped the writing. - A thorough Analysis dissects symbols, motifs, and character arcs to unearth underlying meanings. - Reflection questions prompt you to engage personally with the work's messages, connecting them to modern life. - Hand-picked Memorable Quotes shine a spotlight on moments of literary brilliance. - Interactive footnotes clarify unusual references, historical allusions, and archaic phrases for an effortless, more informed read.

This 3-volume work is the result of many years of earnest and serious investigation, undertaken in the first instance for the regulation of personal belief of the author. His main object has been conscientiously and fully to state the facts of the case, to make no assertions the grounds for which are not clearly given, and as far as possible to place before the reader the materials from which a judgment may be intelligently formed regarding the important subject discussed. Fear of the results of investigation, in author's opinion, should deter no man, for the issue in any case is gain: emancipation from delusion, or increase of assurance. That which is true in Religion cannot be shaken; that which is false no one can desire to preserve.
Contents:
Miracles in Relation to Christianity
Miracles in Relation to the Order of Nature
Reason in Relation to the Order of Nature
The Age of Miracles
The Permanent Stream of Miraculous Pretension
Miracles in Relation to Ignorance and Superstition
The Synoptic Gospels:
Clement of Rome - The Epistle of Barnabas - The Pastor of Hermas
The Epistles of Ignatius - The Epistle of Polycarp
Justin Martyr
Hegesippus - Papias of Hierapolis
The Clementines - The Epistle to Diognetus
Basilides - Valentinus
Marcion
Tatian - Dionysius of Corinth
Melito of Sardis - Claudius Apollinaris - Athenagoras - The Epistle of Vienne and Lyons
Ptolemæus and Heracleon - Celsus - The Canon of Muratori - Results
The Fourth Gospel:
The External Evidence
Authorship and Character of the Fourth Gospel
The Acts of the Apostles:
The External Evidence
Evidence Regarding the Authorship
Design and Composition
Primitive Christianity
Stephen the Martyr
Philip and the Eunuch. Peter and Cornelius
Paul the Apostle of the Gentiles
The Direct Evidence for Miracles:
The Epistles and the Apocalypse
The Evidence of Paul
The Resurrection and Ascension:
The Relation of Evidence to Subject
The Evidence of the Gospels
The Evidence of Paul
Conclusions