1650 – 1722
Charles Leslie (1650–1722) was an Irish Anglican clergyman, Nonjuror, and religious controversialist best known for his apologetic and polemical writings. His most influential work, 'A Short and Easy Method with the Deists' (1698), argued for the historical credibility of Christianity using evidential criteria for reliable testimony. He also produced extensive Jacobite political writings defending the divine right of kings.
Developed an evidentialist criteria for miracle testimony in 'A Short and Easy Method with the Deists' (1698)
Argued that the Mosaic and Christian miracles satisfy four marks of reliable historical testimony
Produced influential Nonjuror defenses of Anglican ecclesiology against Latitudinarians and Dissenters
Edited and wrote for 'The Rehearsal' (1704–1709), a Tory/Jacobite periodical
Contributed early frameworks for probabilistic reasoning about religious historical claims