Chapter 16 Religion and Science 1450-1750
Chapter 16Religion and Science
1450-1750
Religiona personal or uniformed
experience?
Fragmentation of Western ChristendomThe Protestant Reformation
What is the Christian Church?A question
since the death of Jesus…
Jesus washes the feet of his followers and
teaches people to be kind and help others
The pope elevates himself and makes others kiss his feet
Woodcuts by Lucas Cranach the Elder
The selling of Indulgences
Martin Luther(1483-1546) German
Ninety-Five Theses (1517)
Criticized indulgences and papal power
Basic Catholic beliefs
• Salvation lost through sin–Penance = act to
gain forgiveness• Clergy = mediators
between God & humans
• Purgatory• Power of the Saints
Basic Protestant beliefs
• Faith = salvation• “Priesthood of all
believers” (no pope)• Clergy can marry• Local vernaculars• No Purgatory or
Saint Worship
Why the difference?
Catholic and Protestant churches
The Catholic Counter Reformation
Reform and Educate
Jesuits1540, founded by Ignatius Loyola
-----------------------------------Spread message
of reform and convert Africans,
Asians, and Americans
European Religious Wars
Thirty Years’ War 1618-1648
German Peasants’ War
1524-1525
Civil War in France 1562-1598
Spanish Armada attacked England 1588
The Globalization of Christianity
Christianity adapted and mixed with
cultures and traditions
around the world
China and the Jesuits
Jesuits like Matteo Ricci (1552-1610)
spread Catholicism and western maths and
sciences
Tried to make Chinese culture and Christianity appear
compatible---------------------------------------
1700s Christian missionaries were expelled - why?
Confucianism continued---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Buddhism shifted to empower laypeople (much like Luther)
Islam continued to spread local customs diversified beliefs
Some Muslims pushed for uniformity1700s Wahhabi movement = Sunni ultra-fundamentalist
Challenging Traditions in India
-------------------------------------The more personal bhakti movement
appealed to women and
challenged caste
Scientific RevolutionWestern Europe
Why Europe?
More academic independence
***Some influences from Arab scholars
Experimental Methodcontrolled experiments to
prove hypothesis and find facts
Francis Bacon(1561-1626)
EmpiricismThe only way to gain knowledge
is with experimentation
Rene Descartes(1596-1650)
RationalismDoubt everything until
proven
Major Accomplishments in Astronomy
Babylonia 400s BCE to 200s BCE
Greece600s BCE to 200s CE
Arab Middle East800s CE to 1500s CEEurope 1500s CE
Nicholas Copernicus
(1473-1543) PolishHeliocentric
Galileo Galilei
(1564-1642)
1633 Arrest and heresy trial(cleared in 1992)
Isaac Newton(1642-1727)
Laws of Motion and
Universal Law of Gravitation-------------------------------------
All objects are attracted to
each other by gravity
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Medical Advancements
Dangerous Hospitals, Purging, and Bloodletting
Wars Provided Many Corpses To Study
Andreas Vesalius
(1514-1564)Belgium
(Flemish)
1453 published
On the fabric of the human body
Edward Jenner
(1749-1823)--------------------------------
-----1796 Smallpox
Vaccine influenced by
work done by the Turks
Science contributed to European global dominance
Enlightenment1600s and 1700s
The Age of Reason (rationalism)------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Literate and Educated Elite Progress and natural rights
Governmental Philosophy
Thomas Hobbes vs John Locke
• People are evil and selfish “The condition of man... is a condition of war of everyone against everyone”
• Kings keep order• Give up rights in
exchange for order
• People are good and reasonable
• Government protects Natural Rights
• Rebel against a bad government
Absolutist
Anti-Absolutist
French SalonsPrivate Drawing Rooms to Discuss Ideas
Madame Geoffrin’s Paris Salon
Charles Baron de
Montesquieu(1689-1755)
Constitutions and Separation
of Powers
Voltaire (1694-1778) France--------------------------------
Religious Tolerance
--------------------------------
Free Speech
Adam Smith (1723-1790)
Scotland1776 The Wealth of
Nations
Free MarketLaissez-Faire
The “Invisible Hand” of the market
Smith believed this would raise the living standard of working class
Mary Wollstonecraft(1759-1796)
Education for women
1792 A
Vindication of the
Rights of Woman
Enlightenment expanded from the elite salons into The Public Sphere