Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

History Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Religion

Religion in the Age of Enlightenment

Theology

Publication Year

Articles 1 - 3 of 3

Full-Text Articles in History

Religion, Evolution, And Sensibility: Vico And Hume On The History Of Religion, Horace L. Fairlamb Jan 2012

Religion, Evolution, And Sensibility: Vico And Hume On The History Of Religion, Horace L. Fairlamb

Religion in the Age of Enlightenment

Whereas Eastern religions are typically defined by their practices, Western religions are identified by their theological histories, beginning with the covenant between God and Abraham. These theological histories chart a cultural progress marked by divine intrusions or revelations. In contrast, modern secular histories suggest that nature, humanity, and knowledge are progressing without the need for supernatural intervention. Moreover, while traditional religions typically claimed that ultimate truth had already been revealed, Enlightenment progressivism holds that truth is not yet absolutely known, that knowledge is still evolving, and that further progress in truth depends only on natural reason. With the coming of …


Jeffrey D. Burson The Rise And Fall Of Theological Enlightenment: Book Review, Kevin L. Cope Jan 2012

Jeffrey D. Burson The Rise And Fall Of Theological Enlightenment: Book Review, Kevin L. Cope

Religion in the Age of Enlightenment

A peculiar artifact of many decades of materialist historical study is the reinforcement of a highly imaginary, cinematic envisioning of the French eighteenth century. Eager to debunk, demythologize, or otherwise demote anything even remotely religious, historians relish pictures of the French Enlightenment and French Revolution worthy of a Cecil B. DeMille or a D. W Griffith. In the rendering of continental Enlightenment now favored among fashion-forward academic professionals, the poor, the intellectual, the oppressed, and the angry increase in number and fervor while the overfed monks, the ermine-draped clerics, and the impudent aristocrats gobble up every last resource. Then, in …


Theological Enlightenments And Ridiculous Theologies: Contradistinction In English Polemical Theology, David Manning Jan 2011

Theological Enlightenments And Ridiculous Theologies: Contradistinction In English Polemical Theology, David Manning

Religion in the Age of Enlightenment

In 1730 high-churchman Richard Grey (1696-1771) delivered a sermon at St. Mary's Church, Leicester, in which he revelled in England's "Enlighten'd Age ... where the Gospel shines forth in its utmost purity:' unfettered "from those Corruptions and Superstitions, which so much disguise and dishonour it in other places:' Grey went on to use this representation of the epistemological superiority of England's established faith to lament the status of an apparently belligerent minority who would not or could not discern the truth of the Church of England. Such claims had long been part of the Church's Reformation mantra against heretics in …