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 Oh yes, this was when reason and logic superseded religion, but people were really leaving behind the mind control of automatically believing those in aristocratic authority, and that included the authority of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

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Is this the Slow Death of Gifted and Honors Classes in Education?

Image
Gifted and Honors Programs Are NOT the Problem! It's been a while since I have written you. Forgive me for my absence. What you are about to start reading is the beginning of a project I am doing as part of my Teacher Education classes. As a parent, I had formed my own opinions about my daughters' education, teachers, and programs at their respective schools. They spent their elementary years at a Christian private school in Florida where the class sizes were small and personal instruction of students was encouraged and available. When we moved up to Georgia, we experienced a notable change.   The teachers were caring, I am not disputing that! The problem was that they did not have the time or resources available to give the one-on-one attention so many of the students desperately needed. Because of this, I saw that students were falling through the cracks. Remember, I am writing this from a parent's point of view at this point. The teachers lacked consistency. I began to n
Read more

Many Are Called ...

Image
  Few Are Chosen Revelations 12:11   And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Birth Pangs      When we read the word "and" it is always preceded by information or action that coincides with what comes after. When reading the scripture above , we should be curious about who they and him are and what is happening that needs to be overcome? How will they overcome him? We then see ' and ' two more times indicating that the blood of the Lamb, the Word of their testimony;  and not loving their lives unto death can only happen when all three things are combined. To break it down - t hey,  are followers of Jesus; h im,  is the enemy of mankind;  the Lamb, is Jesus. Revelations chapter 12 tells about the end times and gives a glimpse of what God's people will have to do to stand against the attacks of the enemy. How do they gain the victory? By faith in Jesus, the testimony of what He
Read more

Blind Science

Image
  God, Creator of All ... Even Science.   Is Science A Replacement For or An Explanation About God? God wants to know and be known by His people. Would anyone who loves their children, when told their child is hungry, give them a stone and say, “Be filled?” Matthew 7:7-12 As the Father of all creation, He is wonderous enough to not only give us the vast universe to enjoy, but He might possibly also give us the means to dissect, study, and build upon its foundations.  Every person has an inner pursuit of truth, yet, how to search for and find truth varies differently in times and between cultures. Even more diverse are the means people discover their ‘truths’. Is truth relative, varying from person to person? And what is the standard to which we should base truth?       John Bunyan wrote The Pilgrim’s Progress during his 12 years in Prison. His crime? Preaching the Word of God. Despite Bunyan’s caution of never taking a political position, those in power were concerned that he could i
Read more