Deism In The 17th Century

The Catholic Church during the early 16th Century was rooted throughout Europe. The Church influenced every country and its respective monarchs through the Church’s wealth and power. The Catholic Church placed a tight hold on the general populace with individuals who went against the Church being branded as heretics and excommunicated. The wealth and power of the Church eventually caused the quality of the clergy to deteriorate. Priests became corrupt and subjected to their physical desires. They frequented taverns, gambled and kept mistresses. The reputation of the clergy were horrid as the general populace was relieved that “their priest [kept] a mistress” because it “[secured] their wives from seduction” The knowledge of the clergy degenerated as well as they were no longer required to learn and teach the Holy Scriptures because the Church dictated their actions. The pinnacle of the Church’s corruption was the sale of indulgences. An indulgence was the “extra-sacramental remission of the temporal punishment” sold by priests as a temporary relief from sins. The indulgences were then sold to the general populace for money as the monetization of a priest’s services. Johannes Tetzel was a prominent preacher of indulgences who relied on the money from the sales to subsidize the rebuilding of St. Peter’s basilica in Rome. The corrupt sales did not go unnoticed as Martin Luther, in an effort to stop the corruption of the Church, posted the 95 Theses on the door of a Castle

Beginning in the Middle Ages and through the seventeenth centuries, witch trials occurred in Europe. Many people were accused of being witches some of these people were accused of being witches for not following Christian beliefs at that time and others followed witch prosecutions for goods and money. Furthermore, the stereotypes of witches at this period also had a role in causing witch prosecutions. In this essay I argue how these three components led to the death of so-called witches. Firstly, I will discuss how the Catholic Church had an impact on most prosecutions. Secondly, I will explain how social stereotypes of that period have also influenced with the causes of prosecution of many alleged witches. Thirdly, I will discuss how

The Reformation was a movement in the 16th century that was marked ultimately by rejection or modification of some Roman Catholic doctrine or practice and led to the establishment of the Protestant Churches. Although this was mostly viewed as just a religious movement, there we also many political and social aspects of it. In the beginning Johann Tetzel sold indulgences, a pardon for certain types of sin, the guilt that has been forgiven which was a position very harshly challenged by Martin Luther. Luther was later a German professor, but at this time came to be known as a seminal figure in the Protestant Reformation. Anyway, Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses which he wrote as a protest against the selling of indulgences. After this he was

They had many important supporters, but a vital one who sparked it, was Jonathan Edwards who was “the Yale minister who refused to convert to the Church of England, became concerned that New Englanders were becoming far too concerned with worldly matters” (U.S History 7b.). Because many people value wealth more than John Calvin's religious principles, Edward became livid and asserted that “‘God was an angry judge, and humans were sinners!’” (U.S History 7b.). Many people refused to listen to him, which caused Edward to spark The Great Awakening. Later in the 1740’s when George Whitefield a “a minister from Britain who toured the American colonies” (U.S History 7b.), started to express his religion perspective with sorrowness and pettiness, which magnetize the audience’s narrow mind and captivate them to hear him. His words were so captivating, he was able to “converted slaves and even a few Native Americans. Even religious skeptic Benjamin Franklin emptied his coin purse after hearing him speak in Philadelphia” (U.S History 7b). The Great Awakening was a vital event which helped all Americans to search for their religious freedom. It was the first event that all the colonies could share and worship cohesively, but it also caused political

Individuals and groups of a society can promote change of the status quo. Many people took action and spoke out against issues within society during the Reformation. The Reformation was a movement in the 16th century where people called out the Roman Catholic Church on its unjust teachings. These people include John Wycliffe, Geoffrey Chaucer, and Martin Luther. The Church did not approve of this criticism and aimed to eliminate those who defied the Church.

During the 1500s, the citizens of England were overcome with multiple transitions of religion due to their monarch. The first notable instance of religious alteration was when Henry the VIII took the throne. During his reign, he ruled the Act of Supremacy, which separated England from the Catholic Church, and so Henry VIII established the Church of England, of which he was the leader of. This individual action indirectly prompted many other spiritual changes that would take place in England during the years to come, led by his successors. Even if his ruling may have ultimately been positive, it is utterly clear that at the time, Henry VIII's reformation was motivated purely by his selfish desires for a male heir. This was very dissimilar to Martin Luther's reformation, which was led by Luther's faith and loyalty to god. Though the two men both transformed the perception of religion in Europe drastically, the advancements were made for vastly different reasons. (#8)

Such events changed the English government and the conflict between the monarch and Parliament has produced new ideas about the government. These new ideas were part of a larger cultural movement in Europe known today as the Enlightenment. During the 1600s, the scientific discoveries were led to believe that God created an orderly universe, while some citizens believed that its laws could be discovered through human reasoning and logic. Many of these influential leaders wanted to apply the laws that ruled nature to people and society. These new ideas played a big role in the affect of political thinking in Europe and the America. Another way that the Enlightenment helped to shape some of the colonies was in the terms of religion and prayer. The Great Awakening was known as a new understanding of America’s relationship to God and the Church. Instead of one dominate and powerful church, Protestant ideals based on Enlightenment principles of free will and freedom from institutions were allowed by people to choose a membership in a specific church rather than being forced into one. During the Enlightenment, the colonies were still very religious but believed that they used the ideas of

However many didn’t see eye to eye with letting people of other religions have religious freedom

For years, Christian Theism was the most prominent worldview. Christian Theist believed that God was the creator of all, and that he had laid out a plan for humanity. In the Seventeenth Century, as theist started to question their worldviews, a new view began to rise. Deism, as defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is, “Movement or system of thought advocating natural religion, emphasizing morality, and in the 18th century denying the interference of the Creator with the laws of the universe.”(2017)

The reason that the Church of England was different from other Protestants sects during the reformation was because they were started in two different ways. The church of England was started in the 1500’s by Henry the VII and the Protestants began during the 1500’s by Martin Luther.

Throughout history there have been examples of religion being regarded as traditional and of people dissenting from the traditional religion. This essay will trace the footsteps of tradition and dissent of Christianity in England between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries by looking at the statement “… a previous generation’s “dissent” itself becomes “tradition”, and a previously dominant tradition becomes dissent.” (Tradition and Dissent p72). With particular reference to the differences between Protestants and Catholics.

During sixteenth century Europe a wave of religious dissatisfaction swept the European continent. There were cries for the restructuring of the Catholic Church. These cries grew into more than just a simple remodeling of the Catholic faith they grew into the Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther is credited for the reformation movement against the Catholic Church that began in 1517.

The Protestant Reformation was a major 16th century European movement aimed initially at reforming the beliefs and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. The Reformation in western and central Europe officially began in 1517 with Martin Luther and his 95 Theses. This was a debate over the Christian religion. At the time there was a difference in power. Roman Catholicism stands with the Pope as central and appointed by God. Luther’s arguments referred to a direct relationship with God and using the local vernacular to speak to the people. Luther’s arguments remove the absolute power from the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church in general. The revenue from the taxes paid to the Church would be reduced with Luther’s ideas, in part because of

During this time people turned to religious answers for phenomena of the natural world, so this made it hard for many to accept so easily. Isaac Newton, famous physicist and mathematician, was a Deist as well. Newton’s discovery of the Theory of Gravity brought about a whole new understanding of the world. It was Newton who introduced the idea of the mechanical universe, an idea which explained natural phenomena with science or most importantly mathematics. Deists rejected organized religion and believed that reason was the basic characteristic of man. This is perfectly exemplified in a passage from Thomas Paine: “I do not believe in the creed professed by…any church that I know of. My own mind is my own church…” (Perry, Pg. 64) One of Descartes famous quotes in the time of the Enlightenment were “I think, therefore I am.” (Perry, Pg.49) Although Deism was a radical movement from previous ideologies, it did not completely ignore religious works or teachings. Thomas Jefferson found many excellent lessons and examples of moral behavior within the gospels. Deism was a departure from vague philosophical study that dealt with irrelevant ideas to rational study about things grounded to this world and reality.

Deists valued brain over heart, and were more logical thinkers. They did believe in God, but they would analyze and look over the Bible, God, and Jesus with more of a logic and reasoning point of view. Some of their fundamental beliefs were people were born with goodness, separation of church and state, the revolution, and skepticism. In the autobiography, Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson, Deism is expressed through his perspective. Throughout his autobiography, he includes deistic views on religion. “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with inherent and inalienable rights” (Jefferson, 141). Jefferson believes that all men have rights that God gave them, that no man can take away. Deists disagreed with the compilation of church and state, because they knew that not only that there are many religions and beliefs, but the church and state would have different opinions on political issues. “...a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation,” (Jefferson, 141). In which the church and state shall be separate yet strong. Although Deists believed in God, they chose logic over heart. The religious standpoints did gradually changed from the 1500s to the 1800s because old religions and ways of life start to