Unit VII—The Age of the Enlightenment—1600-1800

The Protestant Reformation attacked the Catholic Church and permanently split Christendom.

The Age of Enlightenment would see advances in human affairs, but also attacks on Christianity and religion itself.

A. Rationalism (“Reason over Religion”)

1) Definition = the belief that natural reason is the ultimate criterion of anything, including matters of faith and religion.

  • If reason is the finalstandard, than nothing else is necessary.
  • This idea sees the Church as unneeded, religion as superstition and God as irrelevant.
  • In fact, this temptingway of thinking is found in Gen. 3: 3-5.

2) Causes of Rationalism

a) Secular Humanism

  • If man is to be glorified by man, than why bother about God and religion?

b) Self-interpretation of the Bible

  • Luther’s idea was that the Holy Spirit would guide Christians as they read the Bible, so the Church isn’t necessary.
  • Others took the next step; if the Church isn’t needed to read the Bible, neither is the Holy Spirit; only reason is necessary.

c) The Scientific Discoveries e.g.:

i) Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543)

  • A Polish priest, he was one of the 1st to give the theory that the sun, was the centre of the universe, and that the earth rotated and revolved around the sun.

ii) William Harvey (1578-1657)

  • An English physician, he discovered how the heart circulated blood in the human body.

iii) Isaac Newton (1642-1727)

  • One of the most famous scientists, he discovered the law of gravitation and formulated Newton’s 3 Laws of Motion.

All these discoveries did contribute greatly to scientific knowledge, which can always benefit humanity.

What they also did was reinforce the notions of rationalism that saw all faith and religion as superstition.

3) Philosophers pushing Rationalism and attacking revealed religion

a) Deism—Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)

  • Deists believed that God did exist and created the universe in perfect order, but then left it alone to follow its scientific laws.
  • They didn’t believe in a personal God that revealed truth through Jesus, since this would mess up that perfect order.

b) Empiricism—John Locke (1632-1704)

  • Knowledge can only come by experience i.e., the 5 senses.
  • God does exist because an intelligent creator must have made the world, and the world is knowable by the 5 senses.
  • Anything faith-based and imperceptible by 5 senses can’t be true e.g., the Church’s sacraments.

c) Skepticism—David Hume (1711-1776)

  • All knowledge can only come by experience, but it is very difficult for the 5 senses to give sureness.
  • So, nothing can ever be known with absolute certainty.

d) Spreading Rationalism—Voltaire (1694-1778)

  • A brilliant writer, Voltaire eagerly believed in Rationalism.
  • He did believe in religious and intellectual toleration
  • He also believed, however, that anything against Rationalism should be destroyed.
  • So, he wanted the Catholic Church and especially the Jesuits smashed (“Écrasez l’infame!” i.e., “Crush the damned thing!”
  • Voltaire’s writings were very popular, which led to the spread of both his ideas and his opposition to the Church.

Assignment

1) What is rationalism, and how does it attack the idea of Christian faith? [4]

2) Explain the causes of rationalism. [4]

3) Explain the link between rationalism and Gen. 3: 3-5 [2]

4) Rationalists believe that full scientific study is impossible with religious ideas. Do you agree or disagree? [5]