Enlightenment Shouldn't End

                  “Test What I Say.” – Arthur Burt

     On first glace when reading about the Enlightenment Age, my findings glorified that the century and half period was when man left God behind and decided to finally think for themselves! I couldn’t have been further from the truth. Oh yes, this was when reason and logic superseded religion, but people were really leaving behind the mind control of automatically believing those in aristocratic authority, and that included the authority of the church. During the Englightenment Age, they were on a relentless search for truth and finding a standard for what that truth is. 

     This new thought questioned the fact that aristocracy had more rights and privileges than the common class. John Locke is credited with helping people realize that working together for the good of the whole and not only for self and power is a natural and humane way to live. This influenced the American Revolution, where the colonists wanted to be a part of a government that was “for the people, by the people” instead of being led by an all-powerful dictator. All parts complete and functioning individually first.

     Two men said things that resonate with me and many others in the 21st Century. Immanuel Kent coined the motto of the Enlightenment Age, “Sapere aude!” which means – Dare to Know! And Rene Descartes, “Doubt everything” which encouraged people to study the world from a perspective free from preconceived notions spoon-fed to them by those in authority based simply by their position in society.
  

Many men and women questions the church and some actually left the church for the more exciting Scientific realm that made their new ‘reality’ exciting as it answered the many questions that religion did not. Two groups began to form. The Rationalists who believed that all knowledge comes from reason, and the Empiricists who believed that all knowledge comes from experience. This can be compared to Plato’s analogy of the cave where personal reality is more ‘Real’ than tangible experiences of others.

    Rational Supernaturalists simply put, defend divine revelation by saying that when revelation can be proven rationally, there need not be a separation of the two, though reason has the final say. We can accept revelation because reason can explain it as believable. Deists believe there is a creator god, but once he created the world, universe, and its inhabitants, he then decided to walk away and leave it to its own demise. This way of thinking is more anti-church, in the thought that Nature is already perfect and insinuates that man’s involvement alters that perfection.

     So as Enlightenment is known for leaving religion for reason, being a Christian in the 21st Century, I have to thank them. I would not be a Christian if there was one man telling me who, what, and how to think about God and His son Jesus! It is through my personal experiences that I have proven Him to be real and I have the sciences to better understand the world around me. All things are created through Him, and by learning about His creation, it helps me better understand Him. The pendulum has swung in both directions, and the more we learn, the slower the pendulum swings. I believe that one day, we shall know more than we do today. Test what is told you, doubt their lectures, and search for the answer to the best of your ability, and know your standard for truth. Arthur Burt says that the “end of the one-man show” is coming and I believe that it is well on its way!


 (KidChaos)

 

 

Works Cited

"Age of Enlightenment." New World Encyclopedia. 2016. 18 August 2020. <https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Age_of_Enlightenment>.

Burt, Arthur. And There Shall Be No Ebb. Penmaenmawr: The Emmanuel Foundation, 2011.

KidChaos, comp. You Don't Have To Take My Word For It. Reading Rainbow. 20 February 2011. YouTube. 18 August 2020. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9nFs2PeWw0>.

Lucey, Candice. "What Is Deism? What Are Deism Beliefs?" Christianity.com. 2020. 18 August 2020. <https://www.christianity.com/wiki/cults-and-other-religions/what-is-deism-what-are-deism-beliefs.html>.

 

Comments

  1. Test for EnglishAugust 19, 2020 at 12:11 PM

    You did a very good job of answering the prompt and seem to have grapsed the essence of the Enlightenment project - to search and find "truth" and examine the role of man vs god.

    Images should be offset unless they fill the page. To do that, after you insert the image click it once and you should see the options appear as a menu line. Then click to left or right justify.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mission MommaAugust 19, 2020 at 1:22 PM

    I think I've fixed it. Thank you for your help!

    ReplyDelete

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