The Religious, Political, and Social Philosophies during the Enlightenment and Puritan Period - Essay Example

Inserts His/her Inserts Inserts Grade Inserts Puritan Period History gives us stories about different times and the reaction of people accordingly in that period. History is full of political, religious and social diversifications and the reaction of people to it. Puritan and enlightenment periods also refer to the history. The puritan period may be defined as the period between 1620 and 1730. People used to keep away from secular life and lived a life according to religion. They believed that no one is more powerful than god and god is regardless of everything. In the enlightenment period (1740-1820) however, people became more tilted towards their worldly lives as intellectuals like Isaac Newton changed the view of how things worked. People started to change their views about the making and survival of universe. The political, social and religious philosophies changed a lot in the puritan and enlightenment period. The people in the puritan period thought in a very different way than that of enlightenment period. (Kizer) Religion played an important role in Puritan life. They thought that they were preferred by God for a unique reason and that they must live their life in a righteous manner. Everyone was expected to be present at the meeting on the Sabbath. The ones not reading the bible were thought to be with the devil. All the preparations of this occasion were made before the occasion. The Sabbath began at sundown the night before, and the evening was spent in prayer and Bible study. The church used to be a small building in which everyone sat according to the seat assigned to them. They sat silent as the Sabbath went on and the church’s discipline in charge (the beacons) used to keep an eye on everyone and punish the mischief makers. People of the puritan age did not like music in their services. It was many years before any musical instruments were allowed in the church. So in the puritan age the religion had strong hold over the peoples mind and thus the people were more attached to it. (“Puritan Life and Religion”) It was obvious that their religion was to affect their political and social beliefs and practices as well. During the puritan age, the political ideas of the kings and queens were bitterly resented. The people in the puritan age opposed the monarchy and tried to loosen the hold of gentry on the whole society. The people of the puritan age wanted democracy as the means of controlling and running an economy. In England, the puritan movement led to great emphasis to limit the power of monarchs and to form a constitution that gives the people their right in a legal way. Moreover the people of the puritan age believed that the power of Methodist church should rise as the people of the puritan age followed it and it would be easy to pass directives from the church according to their religion. The puritan people also favored the ideas of economic protectionism and local elections. (Wilson) The puritans had strict rules for their social life as well. They paid less interest in educating their children as they thought that on reading bible is necessary to lead a pious life. Men and women were supposed to refrain from evil activities as they have to answer god for all their deeds. These rules limited the social activities of the people from the puritan era and also created a class that began to oppose them and criticize them for being strict. (Kizer) In contrast, the enlightenment period, also known as the age of awakening, gave success to ideas that were proven by experiments and could be proved. As the people of the enlightenment period were already tired of strict religious measures which restricted them from doing anything they tried to put some leniency in the religion. Although this was opposed by many individuals as being with the devil but still people were relaxed to have some relief. (“The Age of the Enlightenment”) Strict Protestantism was opposed and people were given freedom in the church. The enlightenment philosophers thought that faith in god and bible along with the use of research and development for knowledge was necessary. They believed that being pious and waiting for miracles to happen without even working hard was pointless. These philosophers approved the deist thought that there was a type of “natural religion,” fundamental facts about God and probity available to reasoning people. Natural religion was not an opponent or substitute, however, to revealed religion. It was a lead up, a needed but inadequate basis for belief. Without an added belief resting on revelation, explanation was expected to end in disbelief and depravity. (Steinfels) The enlightenment philosophers also tried to change the political beliefs of the people. As trade and communication enhanced throughout the Renaissance, the common town-dweller started to understand that things don’t always go on as they had for centuries. These merchants had their own thoughts about the type of planet they sought to occupy, and they developed into major representatives of revolution, in the arts, in government, and in the economy. They were logically convinced that their earnings were the product of their person worth and hard work, unlike the innate riches of conventional nobles. But the chief hindrances to the reform by the merchant group were similar to those faced by the rationalist theorists: absolutist kings and inflexible churches. The effort was multifaceted and many-sided, with each contributor absorbing many of the others' principles; but the general tendency is clear: independence, liberty and change replaced community, power, and tradition as core European values. Religion continued to exist, but destabilized and often distorted almost too faint. (Brians) The enlightenment theorists also gave a new social order and thinking to the people. These theorists believed that the human beings can master the universe by discovering new things about the humans’ social lives. This gave birth to new ideas in the society and strict religious rules were lifted from individuals. Enlightenment writings exhibit a transfer away from the vision that society and estate (positions of upper class and the general public) is the necessary element of societal study and towards the vision that the individual is the basis. In this approach, persons have intrinsic traits, capabilities, and rights and the social order emerged and urbanized as the result of social dealings among these individuals. In comparison to structures of thought where the holy had subjugated and where inquiring was discouraged, Enlightenment philosophers viewed human reason as overriding. No areas under discussion were to be prohibited, there were no questions that could not be asked, with all phases of human life suitable for assessment and study. In doing this, Enlightenment thinkers united the philosophic practice of theoretical rational thought with the convention of experimentation or experiential philosophy. The outcome was a new structure of human questioning that bothered the old order and liberties, put stress and confidence on science, the scientific technique and education, and obtained the practical function of asking important questions about present organizations and demanding that the unfair ones, those opposing to human nature, be changed. All social hindrances to human perfectibility were to be gradually eradicated. The new approach was an experimental and scientific one at the same time that it was thoughtful. The world was an object of learning, and the Enlightenment thinkers considered that people could recognize and be in command of the world by means of reason and empirical research. Social rules could be discovered, and society could be enhanced by means of balanced and empirical inquiry. This type of thought was reformist, and one that confronted the old order. Enlightenment thinkers were normally hopeful in viewpoint, looking on their system of thought as a way of improving the social world. (Notes on the Enlightenment and Liberalism) Works Cited Kizer, Kay. “Puritans”. nd.edu. Nd.edu, n.d. Web 6 Oct. 2011. “Puritan Life and Religion”. fervistripod.com. Tripod, n.d. Web. 6 Oct. 2011. Wilson, John F. “Puritans”. laughtergenealogy.com. Laughtergenealogy, n.d. Web. 6 Oct. 2011. “The Age of the Enlightenment”. changingminds.org. ChangingMinds.org, n.d. Web. 6 Oct. 2011. Steinfels, Peter S. “Exploring Religion, Shaped by the Enlightenment”. nytimes.com. The New York times, 10 Oct. 2008. Web. 6 Oct. 2011. Brians, Paul. “The Enlightenment”. public.wsu.edu. Public.wsu.edu, 17 Dec. 1998. Web. 6 Oct. 2011. “Notes on the Enlightenment and Liberalism”. uregina.ca. Sociology 318. 22 Sep. 2002. Web. 6 Oct. 2011. Read More