Uncontrollable beliefs Flashcards
What makes a rational, reasonable, natural religion?
A religion that is in accordance with human reason/natural laws.
God as an ‘absentee landlord’
Only a few are atheist, attack on literal truth of scripture, idea of God as a creator.
What did the Persistence of ‘enthusiastic’ forms of religion mean?
That there was s: presence of divine ‘spirit within’.
Many still feel God and Satan intervening but not in the public natural world. Rather in their own person (presence of the divine acting on the human spirit)
When under the influence, people were subjected to powers beyond their control, enchanted power’.
Religious Enthusiasm uncontrollable feeling, behaviour.
When was Enthusiasm popular?
A term popularised in England mid 17thc
The time of English civil war/ revolution 1642/60.
Why was enthusiasm popular during the civil war?
It was a time for many that the world upside down due to execution of the body politic (the king), breakdown of religious order.
Blamed on zealots that were seen to put faith that king Jesus above king Charles.
Religious sects sprout up like Anabaptists, Quaker (base worship on spirit).
Social and political radicalism disrupting church services and question authority of the Church’s involvement in society, like taxes, salaries of church ministers and religious mysticism
Why was the church threatened?
By feeling thee spirit within you prevents the need to go to church and threatens the churches spiritual monopoly.
What happened in 1660?
Church and monarchy restored in England.
Enthusiast sects continued –labelled as mad, delusional.
was a, medicalisation of their outwards displays of faith.
What term was popularised?
’Reasonable religion’
Christianity shouldn’t be seen as going against human reasonableness but it should be compatible with human reasoning.
What was religion compatible with?
Natural laws – connected. Newtonianism and ‘natural religion’
Was newtonianism poipular?
This group don’t have monopoly.
The group was criticised by church who want to discuss religion as mystery, suspicious of claims by science wand wanted to enforced church authority.
When was the Christian enlightenment?
End of 17thc
What does tolerance not mean however?
More tolerance but doesn’t mean that we have anything like approaching atheism.
Emerging emphasis on rational religion trigger black lash as it offends orthodoxy.
What was thought about Atheism?
It takes away everything of a man and risks becoming degraded into a beast.
Undermine faith in a presidential God.
Who defended religion?
Robert Boyle defended god, a series speakers argued for truth of Christianity against non-believers.
Wilkins work on natural religion attempt to defend Christian orthodoxy against atheism.
Describe the spectre of atheism
Atheism is recurrent threat/spectre for Christians and represents opposite of the belief, runs the risk of people becoming immoral.
Atheism is imagined sin because it is more feared than actual happening in early mod society.
Meant what lots of things can be labelled as immorality because atheism was liked to immoral (drinker, mock clergy and therefore you’re an atheist)
What was attacked in the late 17th c?
Christian orthodoxy
Literal readings of scripture and clerical power were criticised. Anything than contradicted religion cannot be considered religious and vice versa.
Attacked claims of clergy to certain form of power saw them as manipulating people’s fears.
The continuation on attacks stems back to reformation.
Not anti-religious, continues protestant desire to transcend
What did Descartes think?
Natural philosophy (Descartes): a mechanistic universe, matter moving itself not by god.
What did Spinoza think?
‘Materialism’ focus on matter moving itself in accordance to mechanical laws. He said there is no such thing of spiritual forces moving things.
Where there any debates?
A set of ferocious debates, public debate shows the start of elements of disenchantment.
Debate on both sides led to vociferous attack on the Christian church and also defence of Christianity.
Both are oaths to modernity and aspects of enlightenment.
What can the 18thc be viewed as? An age of?
An age of religious revival, not a decline. Religion is a spent force by 18th c.
The previous decade has seen a religious upheaval
We saw dispossession of groups of religion and so, religious refugees (Moravia Transylvania, Poland). The movement of these refugees bring stars of piety to where they go, polliaisation in religion.
What awakened in England?
Evangelical awakening in England: Methodism
Established in 1740s as a movement for revival within church of England, born out of sense that religion in decline.
Methodism known both by Wesley and by critics, commentators etc by involving enthusiastic style (open preaching, collective hymn singing, open emotional star of piety)
Gibson critics – called it madness.
What was Methodism not?
Methodism was not a reactionary force.
What was Methodism opportunistic about?
Human progress, God made it possible for all to be saved rather than just a few.
Partial democratic style that meant it was popular in industrialising north than traditional ideas served by church.
Was Methodism denounced?
Denounced as a false performance, satirised. Attack on enthusiasm and on people that people who believed/practise there were considered fanatics.
Not just visual satire we see these attacks but also in letters.
Clear disdain, and concern for social order, exaggerated suspicion about what goes on behind close doors, fear of unknown or the ‘other.
What happened in 1727?
1727 deacon Paris, celebrated saint like figure, grave a sight of popular pilgrimages, strange things happening in cemetery like ‘miraculous’ healing, become a spectacle, people came to see, sent phenomenon far and wide.
