Notes

Francis Bacon (1561-1626) was not afraid to address the lack of knowledge in his time period and classified some of the intellectual fallacies of his time period.



1. Idols of the Tribe- are deceptive beliefs inherent in the mind of man, and therefore belonging to the whole of the human race.



2. Idols of the Cave- are those which arise within the mind of the individual. This mind is symbolically a cavern and led individual biases



3. Idols of the Marketplace- are errors arising from the false significance bestowed upon words, and in this classification Bacon anticipated the modern science of semantics. Basically, the ambiguities of language.



4. Idols of the Theater- are those which are due to sophistry and false learning. These idols are built up in the field of theology, philosophy, and science, and because they are defended by learned groups are accepted without question by the masses.







There are numerous individuals whose secular philosophy affects this time period and even the 21st century..



Rousseau (1712-1778) was very influential in the areas of everyday society, educational institutions, as well as in the politics of the time period. He was also created with having a philosophy that even affected and had shared views with the modern political liberalism’s view of man.







A French intellectual, Voltaire (1694-1778) was very critical of Christianity and always attacked it with his skepticism and rational logic.







Much of the activity during this time period would lead to the scientific age with such men as Copernicus, Galileo and Newton. Galileo would directly challenge the Catholic church with his theories and would die in 1642 . Copernicus would open the door to modern astronomy. The future “new science” developed from a method of scientific inquiry into an entire philosophy of life.







European Culture in the 1700’s would be affected by the rise of absolute monarchs, the development of the opera, and puritanism. Also we would see Empiricism develop; which can be defined as the doctrine that all knowledge is derived from sense experience.



We would also see developing in this future Enlightenment the belief that human reason is the “all seeing eye” that can guide mankind, best example of which was the French encyclopedia.







During this time period there was a century of genius with such men as Cervantes (1547-1616), Descartes (1596-1650).



Famous Christians artist coming out of the Protestant Reformation would involve such as men as Bach and Rembrandt that would have a tremendous influence in the areas of art and music.







There were key events that occurred before the Protestant Reformation and would help it spread more rapidly.*The Black Plague, which started in Italy and spread across Europe in the 1400’s, was caused by fleas. This created an attitude of questioning the church’s effectiveness with a culture. The catastrophic famine that killed huge numbers, had an impact as well.



There was also the invention of the printing press in the 1440’s that created an avenue for all to hear and read what Scripture really said.







A Dutch Renaissance humanist, Catholic priest named Erasmas who died in 1536, had an unintended consequence to his translation of the New Testament. He was quite the theologian of his time period and was highly respected by even the Pope. He was certainly not afraid to provoke controversy and did precisely that with hs translation of Matthew 4:17. In the Vulgate text of the Bible, Christ is said to admonish the people to literally do penance, (one of the reasons for purgatory, and indulgences), but in 1516 Erasmas rendered this to mean ‘be penitent’. Thus he removed any connection the verse was thought to have with the sacrament of penance.​​







*The Catholic Church’s sale of indulgences, which were remissions by the Catholic church of temporal punishment on earth or in purgatory, would upset many including Luther. Luther was not the first voice of reformation of the church, as earlier men such as John Hus paid with their lives because of their proclamation for reform dying as a martyr.







Martin Luther had a tremendous influence on the Protestant Reformation and was famous for numerous view and actions. Such as “The 95 Thesis” in 1517, Solo Scriptura and Sola Fida, a person’s calling (Vocatio). Some of these would lead to his being tried before the Emperor, Charles V in the town of Worms, where Luther was ordered to recant his views.







Other key figures were involved in this Reformation.



Zwingli- who was first to lead a notable Reformation movement in Switzerland.



Calvin- who fled to Geneva from France and established a theocratic republic and government ruled by elders of the church.







The Reformation was an extremely important development with church history, and would have impact on life outside the church as well.



*It gave the people across Europe a new vision of Freedom, and once people saw the flaws of the church they begin to question the state as well.



*The keystone of the revolt against the Church of Rome was the dazzling realization that people could live in a direct relation to God with no necessity for an intermediary.



* This freedom to worship gate had been closed by the Catholic Church for centuries but was now opened with this Reformation.







Some individuals would follow in years to come and begin to look at how the Reformation affected people view of work and making money.



Adam Smith, would write a book call “The Wealth of Nations”, which revolved around the economics of a culture.



Max Weber, a German sociologist, argued that cultural differences in Europe resulted from what he called “the Protestant ethic”. When the Protestant Ethic is compared with the view of Capitalism, it is seen that they are not equal but compatible. That is, the Bible does not specifically say that Capitalism is the best form of economics.