The Enlightenment

Observers of contemporary U.S. politics should keep in mind that until the 18th Century, most European countries were sectarian Christian states. The confession of their monarchs -- Catholic, Lutheran, Church of England -- was either imposed absolutely on all inhabitants, or at the least followers of other sects were oppressed and forced to worship in secret or under constraints. England fought a civil war over religion and the back and forth between protestant and Catholic monarchs was the most salient feature of English politics. The  so-called Pilgrims who founded the settlement at Plymouth, Massachusetts left England precisely because their sect was oppressed.The Enlightenment was a complex movement with a unifying core of questioning received wisdom and orthodoxy. Until the 1500s, the culture rested on the assumption that everything there was to know was known. The truth was in the Bible, and whatever was not found there was known to the ancient Greeks. The Reformation -- the rebellion against the Catholic church ignited by Martin Luther -- shattered the universality of belief. Although protestants were just as dogmatic as Catholics, and just as intolerant,, thinkers arose who challenged the very idea of orthodoxy. The term " toleration " was coined to mean that people within any polity should be free to practice any religion, or at least any version of Christianity, because it was not possible to declare any of them to be the one true religion. Not all Enlightenmen...
Source: Stayin' Alive - Category: American Health Source Type: blogs