The Renaissance gave birth
to a view of life which prevented humans from going to God
in accordance with their internal inspirations and it opened
the way of going to demonic forces or evil by emphasizing
the external world alone. This was the Cain-type view of
life. This Cain-type view of life upon entering the 18th
century, broke down history and tradition and judged every
human endeavor by reason and actualism. The great ideas
and achievements of John Locke (1632-1704) and Sir Isaac
Newton (1642-1727) carried forward the scientific methodology
and rationalistic philosophy of Bacon and Descartes and
laid the foundation for the Age of Enlightenment in the
18th century.
During the Enlightenment
Age, human reason became "god" for many men who
believed it would free them from error and misfortune and
lead them to perpetual peace, a utopian governemtn and a
perfect society. The philosophers, publicists, economists,
political scientists and social reformers - derived their
basic principles from Locke's firm belief in the powers
of human reason to explain all that men needed to know and
from Newton's demonstrations and formulations of natural
law. The philosophers pictured the world as a giant machine.
Man had only to discover and understand, as Newton had done
for the natural world, the laws governing man's intellectual,
moral, and social development in order to bring about a
smoothly functioning world machine. As the 18th century
proceeded, technological and scientific advances strengthened
man's faith in natural law and progress. Greater and greater
emphasis was placed on lthe intellect of humans, natural
law, and human progress rather than on the grace of God,
faith in God and accomplishing the purpose or "Will
of God" within the framework of a personal relationship
with Him. This was the Cain-type view of life or the so-called
"Enlightenment" which became the motivating power
for the French Revolution and later matured to form the
Communist viewpoint of reality.
Abel Philosophy - Foundation
of Democracy
Following the Church Reformation, philosophers, theologians
and dedicated laymen made great strides in finding and living
a more relevant Christian theology. Typical beliefs of the
developing Abel Philosophies were:
idealism - the
view that all reality is of the essence of the spirit
peitism - asserted the primary importance of feeling
(love) in being a Christian and the need for the laity
to work actively in building up their Christian life.
theism
- the belief that the concept of God can be defined and
used in an acceptable fashion
romanticism - the belief that men reached God and
the truths of the spiritual world not through common sense
or reasoned analysis, but through feeling God and nature
through emotions.
critical philosophy - analyzing philosophically
the desire of man's original nature in pursuit of both
internal and external goals.
The spiritual experiences
of the Englishman George Fox (1624-1690), founder of the
Society of Friends (Quakers), and the explorations into
the nature of the spirit world by the noted Swedish scientist,
Emmanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772), countered the rationalistic,
naturalistic and deistic temper of the age by demonstrating
the existence of the spirit world and the immediacy of God's
presence among humans. Philip Spener (1635-1705) and Hermann
Francke (1663-1727) led pietism, with its emphasis on religion
of the heart to stimulate the Protestants to live a more
enthusiastic Christian life. In England three great leaders,
John Wesley (1703-1791), Charles Wesley (1707-1788), and
George Whitefield (1714-1770), arose to combat the spiritual
lethargy of the Church of England in the form of the Evangelical
Revival. In America, at a time of spreading rationalism
and cultural confusion, the Great Awakening revival movement
and the sincere efforts of Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)
led to a tremendous renewal of a purer Christian life.
Towards the end of the eighteenth
century, philosophers began to protest against the rationalsim
and deism of the Enlightenment Age and stressed the importance
of feeling, conscience and the will. Emanuel Kant (1724-1804)
foreshadowed the Romantic Movement (1790-1840) with his
redefinition of reason as intuition. When human is confronted
with an ethical choice and asks, "What should I do?",
the moral law or conscience which God has implanted within
him will answer. Kant's redefinition of reason and his rehabilitation
of conscience marked a high point in the intellectual reaction
against the dominant rationalism of the Enlightenment period.
The Romantic movement was
a reaction against the Enlightenment and it's over-emphasis
on reason. Most of the Romantics were horrified by the religious
skepticism of the philosophers. Although the Romantic protest
aginst classicism, rationalsim and deism, (and it's support
of faith, emotion and tradition) was most clearly and passionately
expressed by the poets of the age (like Goethe, Wordsworth
and Coleridge), the philosophers also spoke out strongly.
The greatest of Kant's disciples, George Hegel (1770-1831),
attacked the tendency of the Enlightenment to see human
nature and human history only by what first meets the eye.
For Hegel, God was good and governed the world through men.
Human efforts to carry out God's Plan formed the history
of the world. Thus while Satan was recruiting leaders for
his side, God was awakening the minds and hearts of people
to a more enriched and vital relationship with Him. |
