Was Christopher Marlowe atheist

Answer 1

Marlowe was accused of being an atheist. This was at the time an offence punishable by death and was defined very vaguely so that it could encompass denying any point of doctrine held by the Church of England. Essentially it was not that much different from heresy. One of his accusers claimed that Marlowe believed that "Christ was a bastard and his mother unchaste" which is certainly heretical but does not deny the existence of God, the definition of Atheism we would now hold. By the logic of the day, however, such statements put Jesus into disrepute and, since Jesus was God, put God into disrepute, and as far as they were concerned, that was the same as atheism.

Marlowe's accuser Richard Baines did make accusations that Marlowe told others "not to be afeared of hobgoblins", the implicit idea being that the God is no more than a hobgoblin.

However, the accusations against Marlowe were made by Baines, who disliked Marlowe intensely, and Thomas Kyd, who was probably tortured after being found in possession of an anti-religious pamphlet which he claimed was Marlowe's from when the two were roommates. Marlowe was killed before these allegations could be cleared up one way or the other. Kyd's reputation never recovered and he died penniless as a result. There must be some considerable doubt whether the accusations against Marlowe were trumped up. Indeed the balance of opinion nowadays seems to favour this view.