Book: The Christian Religion, as Professed by a Daughter of the Church of England

Overview
Mary Astell mounts a learned and passionate defense of the Church of England, insisting that true Christianity rests on scripture, reason, and the moral transformation of the heart. She contrasts what she sees as the sober, apostolic faith of Anglicanism with practices and doctrines associated with Roman Catholicism, which she argues have drifted from the simplicity and purity of the early church. Her prose blends pastoral concern, theological argument, and moral exhortation aimed at persuading readers to a moderate, devout Anglicanism.
Astell writes with the combined tone of a devotional writer and a philosophical apologist. She insists that the essence of religion is practical holiness and inward devotion rather than mere external ceremonies or slavish obedience to human authorities. Her appeal is to conscience and common sense as much as to scripture and tradition.

Main Arguments
Astell identifies several departures in Roman Catholic practice that she regards as incompatible with true Christianity, centering on papal supremacy, the elevation of sacramental ritual over inward faith, and what she views as an undue reliance on tradition that obscures the plain teaching of scripture. She argues that these elements lead to superstition and spiritual bondage rather than to the liberty and moral rectitude promised by the gospel.
At the same time she resists enthusiasm and gullibility, warning against sectarian excesses that substitute emotional fervor for reasoned belief. The ideal she offers is a measured religion that cultivates virtue, relies on evidence of scripture, and preserves the church as a moral and social bulwark without succumbing to authoritarian or mystical extremes.

Theology and Method
Astell balances appeals to reason with appeals to piety. She reads scripture with an eye to moral application and insists that doctrine must be tested by its effect on life and conscience. Historical appeals to the early church and church fathers appear to bolster her case for the continuity and correctness of Anglican doctrine, but her primary touchstone remains the moral teaching of the New Testament.
Her method is polemical yet irenic; argument is deployed not merely to triumph but to reform. She uses logic and careful exposition to undermine positions she considers abusive or corrupting, and she calls readers to personal repentance and reformation as the true sign of religious health.

Tone and Audience
The tone is earnest, engaged, and occasionally stern. Astell writes as someone deeply invested in the spiritual welfare of her fellow believers, addressing both clergy and laity with the expectation that reason and conscience can be trusted. Women, in particular, remain a key, if indirect, audience for her broader moral and religious instruction, since Astell consistently links private improvement and education with public virtue.
Her rhetoric combines the pastoral desire to guide souls with the intellectual confidence of a learned defender of the Anglican settlement. She seeks to reassure those uneasy with contemporary religious controversies and to strengthen the resolve of moderate churchmen.

Legacy and Significance
The treatise consolidates Astell's place among early modern defenders of moderate Anglican orthodoxy and contributes to larger debates about authority, reason, and the nature of true Christianity. It illustrates how a woman writer could engage seriously in confessional controversy while grounding arguments in moral and scriptural concerns rather than mere political partisanship.
The work remains of interest for its clear expression of a reasoned, devout Anglicanism that resists both external authoritarianism and internal fanaticism, and for showcasing Astell's characteristic blend of intellectual rigor and pastoral sensitivity.