In 1543 a treatise by a Polish Theologian, Physician and Mathematician called Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) was released suggesting an alternative theory to Ptolemaic’s geocentric theory of the earth being the centre of the universe. Copernicus suggested the earth and all the other planets did in fact revolve around the sun and was the first man on record to publicly question the beliefs of the church.
The treatise caused a real stir as it was questioning the Aristotelian system accepted by the tradition of the church. Before the treatise had been released no one had dared question the Ptolemaic theory, because during this period believe was that all knowledge came from the past and innovation was considered bad. Society was ruled by hierarchy with the position of God high up and the position of man low down. The beliefs of the church were considered to be the truth and anyone that questioned God was seen as being a sinner. This was the reason Copernicus’ theory did not come out until after his death, as it likely he would have been killed for daring to the question the church.
Despite the evidence Copernicus provided that the earth was not the centre of the universe, it took years for the majority of people to believe what he had said. For a long time many people believed Copernicus theory to just be nothing more than a convenient mathematical hypothesis, and it wasn’t until it was finally proved to be correct during the scientific revolution that people really started to believe he was right. The enlightenment is often linked to the scientific revolution, as they happened around the same time period, and many scientific discoveries effected the enlightenment. Scientific discoveries in the 16th and 17th century finally changed the traditional religious worldview. Inventions such as telescope by Italian astronomer, mathematician, and physicist Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) finally proved Copernicus’ theory to be correct. (Koenigsberger 1987:225)
In medieval European thought the authority was the word of God and was revealed through the teachings of the Roman church. The enlightenment challenged the established and accepted ideas of religion, myth and tradition and helped created a new faith through knowledge and reason. The enlightenment ushered a period of uncertainty for religion in Europe, and Christianity in particular was criticised by the enlightenment writers. One theory in particular that gained wide attention in the enlightenment suggested that religion was ‘the invention of cultic leaders or priests, whose prime consideration was the furtherance of their own interests’ (Yolton et al 1996: 447). As you can imagine this suggestion caused up roar amongst religions.
As already mentioned in medieval days it was considered a major sin to disagree with the beliefs of God and the church, and to criticise Gods people would obviously be taken very badly. Galileo was in fact imprisoned and nearly killed because of his beliefs and theories that questioned the traditional ideas and attitudes of the church. In order to escape Galileo had to swallow his pride and admit he was wrong, even though he knew has was correct. Although the philosophers involved in the enlightenment continued to believe in God, the findings they made meant the basis of knowledge was no longer seen as the word of God as the church believed, as described by Hamilton in his book ‘The Enlightenment and the Birth of Social Science (1992: 55-56). “For the first time man could dare know about the social arrangements under which he lived, rather than have them presented to him through the obscuring haze of a religious ideology. By knowing about these social arrangements their operation would become clear, and thus open to change.” In other words the enlightenment lead to science and natural philosophy replacing religion as the means of knowledge.
In England a philosopher called Francis Bacon (1561-1626) had a big influence on moving away from the traditional rules of the church. Bacon provided a model and believed that knowledge should be useful and science should be practical. Eventually people started to believe that they were cleverer than their ancestors and maybe modern knowledge was more advanced. By the middle of the 18th Century religious interpretation of the universe had changed dramatically. This was mainly due to scientific theories that were not so much ‘anti religious but more non-religious’. These theories helped prove that the earth was not the centre of the universe as believed by the church for so many years. Although the people involved in the enlightenment such as Copernicus and Galileo were in fact deeply religious men, the scientific laws they produced undermined the values of the church and traditional society in which they lived. During the enlightenment period ‘Europeans believed that the centre of all truth and experience was in God and that an over weaning concern with material phenomenon was a serious neglect of one's soul and one's dependence on God’. ()
“During the enlightenment faith in divine revelation, and the authority of the Church, were increasingly undermined by the new confidence in the ability of human reason to provide an understanding of the world. Similarly, the understanding of history as the chronicle of the fall of man from God’s grace, with spiritual salvation only attainable in the next world, was largely replaced by a belief in human perfectibility and the increasing faith in mans power and ability to use his new-found knowledge to improve mankind’s state”. (Badham 1986:79)
Enlightenment brought about a cultural change in what creates knowledge and what the purpose of knowledge is. After the enlightenment, history was no longer seen as ‘synonymous with God working his purpose out.’ (Smart, 1992, Pg8) Power of human reason was now used to create knowledge. In conclusion to the question, the enlightenment period challenged sources of authority dramatically, never before had people dare question the word of church until this time, and the enlightenment brought about a great deal of change in the way people perceived the world.
Before the enlightenment god had all the power, man and animals were god’s subjects who followed the rules that were set by the church on god’s behalf. The enlightenment period is often referred to as the ‘age of reason’. The enlightenment influenced people lives a great deal, and without this period, the world would not be how it is today. It enabled people to have the right to express their views freely and publicly without the fear of being imprisoned or even killed.
Bibliography
(accessed 21st October 2002)
Hamilton, P (1992) The Enlightenment and the Birth of Social Science (Cambridge)
Koenigsberger, H (1987) Early modern Europe 1500-1789 (Longman)
Badham (1986) Theories of Industrial Society
Smart, B (1992) Modern Conditions, Postmodern Controversies (Routledge)
Taylor, P et al (1998) Sociology in focus (CPL)
Yolton, J et al (1996) Enlightenment (Blackwell)