part 1. can christians accept the enlightenment, steeped as it was in deism and denial of christian...
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CHRISTIAN VIEWS ON THE ENLIGHTENMENT (1650-1800)
Part 1
ENLIGHTENMENT
Can Christians accept the Enlightenment, steeped as it was in Deism and denial of Christian tenants?
Should we use our minds at all if we are fallen creatures incapable of achieving salvation at all?
RATIONALISM?
Man, therefore, has a basic rationality, though it has suffered since the Fall
It is God who wishes us to use our minds to the fullest extent while Satan wishes to simply overthrow our minds
the basic sense of inquiry at the outset of the Enlightenment was indeed God-given
ENLIGHTENMENT ROOTS
Many Roots are in the Reformation Others in the Renaissance (which
also influenced the Reformation)• Liberty• Natural Law
NATURAL LAW
Greek Roots (Aristotle)
Legal tradition installed by the Romans
impartial judgments
Pax Romana
NATURAL LAW (CONT.)
God became the source of Natural Law
To understand God, one could understand nature
“Natural Philosophy”
NATURAL PHILOSOPHY
Natural world was open to study Truth could be confirmed in nature “Science” i.e. the pursuit of
knowledge The most dominant science during
the Enlightenment was: History
THE BIBLE
“The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof“ (Exodus 9:29, Psalm 24:1, I Corinthians 10:26)
Reformers & Reformation
RENES DESCARTES
"Father of modern Philosophy“
Rationalism Man was capable
by reason to understand nature, and nature's God
TOLERANCE OF RELIGION
Thirty Years War (1618-1648)• 12 million Dead• Political
manipulation of religion
• Destruction of Germany and Lutheranism
English Civil War (1642-1651) Catholic Monarchs Laudianism and
Anglicans Debates over
predestination was the leading cause of this war
TIMELINE OF EVENTS 1618-1648 Thirty Years War 1642-1651 English Civil War 1652-1659 English Protectorate
Oliver Cromwell (1652-1658) Richard “Tumbledown Dick” Cromwell (1658-59)
1660-1688 Restored Monarchy Charles II (1660-1685) James II (1685-1688)
1688-1689 Glorious Revolution Bill of Rights William III & Mary II
JOHN LOCKE “that others, under
pretence of religion, may not seek impunity for their libertinism and licentiousness”
“The commonwealth seems to me to be a society of men constituted only for the procuring, preserving, and advancing their own civil interests.”
Life, Liberty & Property
BIBLICAL REFERENCES USED BY LOCKE AND OTHERS
Exod. 22: 21 Deut. 2: 9 Matt. 18: 15-20 Luke 20:19-26 Luke 22: 31-32 Rom. 1:1-5 I Cor. 5: 12,13 Colossians 3:2 II Tim. 2:19