History of God: Chapter 9: Enlightenment

16th century end West embarked on a process of technicalization which other civilization cudnt resist
Agrarian society was dependent on lot of factors such as crops, climate and soil erosion.
With the expansion of empire resources become limited and lead to its downfall
New west not dependent on agriculture
New set of problems, socio-political revolutions and relationship with God
Evolution of social condition in Europe - specialization, interdependence between various specialization, progressive development
Reconstitution of law
Progress - a culture based on change
Major intellectual considers themself as pioneer and explorer more than conserver of tradition
Enlighenment by means of their own exertion than rely on tradition or revelation from God.
Innovative scientist again looked Christian doctrines and wanted to research empiricaly
Pascal, 1662, child prodigy, Jansenist
Pensees, jottings of Pascal, pessimism abt human condition
He was convined that it is impossible to prove existense of God
he was the first modern to concede that belief in God is a personal choice
Faith was not rational assent but was a gamble
To opt God is all win situation
Faith was not intellectual certainity but a leap into darkness and moral enlightenment thereby
Descartes, 1650, mathematician and convinced catholic, proof of God rationally through reflexive introspection of mind
Cosmos completely Godless, no design in nature, unniverse is chaotic, experience of doubt tells us of existence of supreme and perfect being
Used idea of God to give faith in the reality of world
All admirable events on earth are mere physical events not to be related to God instead he was revealed in the eternal which he has ordained
Mystics were rare in Descartes' church and contemplation is pure cerebral activity
Newton, 1727, explained physical universe, nature and God source of activity like in Aristotle
Gravitation force drew component parts together
Proof of God's existence quoting the precision in nature's design, speed of earth's revolution(eg)
Besides God intelligent, he is powerful to manage great masses
Newton doesn't mention Bible
Time and space existed along with God but emanated from him, he created matter out of void
Considered mystery as ignorance and superstition
Trinity had been foisted on the church by Athanasius
Gentile theology founded by Noah - free of superstion
18th century Christians began to apply scientific method to Christian faith
Tindal and Toland, go back to basics, purge mystery and establish true rational religion, revelation unnecessary
Historians examining church history objectively, found fundamental dogma were developed in later centuries and not in new testament
Reimarus, 1768, critical biography of Christ questining the humanity of Christ scientific Scrutiny.
Some Christians started questioning traditional understanding of God, righteous, angered and embittered God could be the reason behind bloody Christian history - crusades, inquisitions and persecutions and lately bloodbath unleashed by reformation.
John Milton, 1674, puritan, mystical understanding of trinity
Milton's God cold and legalistic
Deism, impersonal God Deus which man can be discovered by own efforts
Voltaire, philosopher of Enlightenment, upheld idea of God, rejected cruel god and mysterious doctrines about him
Rejected Atheism equating to superstition and fanaticism
Spinoza, 1677, Jew, cast out of synagogue for his profound idea
Revered as hero of 20th ce modernity
Believed in God, not the God in bible
Prophets has been men of exceptional intellect and holiness; rites and symbols of faith could help masses
God is sum of all immutable eternal laws
No need for revelation and divine law; god is accessible to whole humanity
Cannot separate god and not-god part = atheism - impossible to say God exist
Moses Mendelssohn, 1786, opened the way for Jews to enter modern Europe
His philosophical god was personal god, has human characteristics
Relying revelation alone exclude many people frm divine plan
His philosophy dispensed with intellect and relied more on common sense
Mendelssohn defended Judaism rationally and plead toleration and respect for religion of reason.
Immanuel Kant, Critique of pure reason, 1781, enlightenment is man's exodus from self imposed tutelage
God's existence can neither be proved nor disapproved.
God as a convenience which could be misused, who fills gaps of our knowledge
Inorder to live a moral life, need a governor and that is God
John Wesley, 1791 and Zinzendorf, 1760, developed 'religion of heart' alongside the rationalism of enlightenment, Christianity of Christ
In 1738 Wesley underwent conversion experience to Moravian sect, religion simply affair of heart
Psychological effect of Christ's word on believer is the best proof of religion, doctrines abt God is useless
Margeret Mary Alacoque, 1690, indulged in masochistic act to prove her 'love' for the sacred heart
New religion of heart and rationalism of enlightenment/deism are both anti-establisment and both mistrusted external authority.
Oliver Cromwell, puritan government in England, 1649, apocalyptic excitement in people
Gerard Winstanley, founded community of 'diggers' in 1649 to restore mankind in original state
Quakers, George Fox and Naylor, preached all could approach God directly, preached pacifism, non_violence and egalitarianism
Brethren of the Free Spirit, late medieval heretics, believed god is in everything, every created thing is divine, it is reinterpretation of Plotinus's vision
Extremist Christian sects in Cromwell's England - Quakers, Levellers and Ranters were the revival of 14th ce Free Sprirt.
Ranters thought themselves as divine like Christ or new incarnation of God.
Ranters were accused of atheism and they claimed there was no distinction between god and man
William Franklin, 1650, his concubine? claimed he is her lord and Christ
John Robbins and his wife had similar claim
Jacob Bauthumely, ranter, his book The light and dark sides of God, 1650, like Sufi he believed God dwells in flesh of men and creatures
God was also present in Sin
Clarkson and Coppe, ranter, violate current sexual code and swearing and blaspheming in public
Fox, Quakers tried to restore balance.
Alternations of periods of repression and permissiveness, relaxed moral climate of enlightenment followed by repressions of the Victorian period which is accompanied by upsurge of fundamentalism
17th and 18th ce new born Christianity - unhealthy and violent and sometimes dangerous emotions and rehearsals
Great Awakening in New England, 1730, inspired by preaching of George Whitefield and sermons of Jonathan Edwards, parishioners plunged into a frenzy of religious fervour
After awakening there was a period of gradual withdrawal of spirit of god and soon Satan filled that void leading to suicidal despair
People who overcame this experience calmness and more joyful than Awakening
Many of the less privileged people found difficult to keep balance while dealing with God
Awakening is evangelical version of enlightenment, occured in the poorer colony
Messianism was essential to Edwards's religion, coming of God's kingdom
Calvanist were in the van of progress, introduced chemistry in curriculum in America, they disliked Newton's proposal of God rather preferred a God who is literally active
Judaism, in 1666 - apocalyptic year, a Jewish Messiah declared Redemption was at hand
Shabbetai, manic-depressive, claimed himself Messiah, announced Torah abrogated, expelled from his community and became wanderer, married a prostitute
Set off to Palestine to meet Nathan, an exorcist
Shabbetai annouced his Messianic mission with encouragement and persuasuion of Nathan on May 31, 1665; had followers from Jews worldwide
Arrested after arriving in Istanbul and imprisoned in Gallipoli
About his time of trial falls once again into a depression.
Sultan gave a choice of death or conversion to Islam and Shabbetai chose Islam and died as a loyal Muslim on Sep 17, 1676
This appalling news devastated his supporters and still some Jew remained loyal to Messiah
They converted to Islam but cling passionately to Judaism in secret, there is still small group Donmeh in Turkey.
Messianism never became mass movement, but its numbers cannot be undermined
Sabbatarianism flourished in Sephardic communities in Morocco, Balkans, Italy and Lithuania
Scholem's comparison of Sabbatarianism to Christianity, disciples proclaimed birth of new form Judaism after the death scandalous and apostate Messiah
Sabbatarians believed they live in messianic era nd and felt free to break away from traditional ideas abt god
Abraham Cardazo, 1706, born Marrano, Jews had been destined to apostate and god saved them through Messiah's supreme sacrifice
Cardazo's idea of 2 gods, one who has revealed himself to Israel and another who was common knowledge - god of Aristotle, Jew philosophers saadia and maimonides confused between 2 and taught they were one
Cardazo's Trinitarian theology - godhead consisted of 3 hypostases - 1. ancient one 2.god of Israel and 3. Shekinah exiled from godhead
Theology of incarnation, holy one (god of Israel) removed himself upward and Shabbetai Zevi ascended to be God in his place
Jacob Frank, 1795, led his Ashkenazi disciple into baptism in 1759, described him god incarnate, uneducated
He preached old law had been abrogated and all religion must be detroyed inorder for God to shine
Jacob followed preached cruder version of Cardazo's theology, he is incarnate of god of Israel
Inorder to ascend to god one has to descend to depths - ladder was shape of V.
After Frank's death, Frankism lost much of its anaarchism
Donmeh, the converts to Islam, were active young Turks and completely assimilated to secular Turkey
Moderate Sabbatarians were often pioneers in Jewish enlightenment
Radical Christians and Jews enabled them to work towards secularism
Hasidism, ecstatics emerged as the undisputed leader in 1730s in eastern Europe
Israel Ben eliezer, known as Besht, faith healer, exorcist and mystic, divine spark fallen were lodged in every creation, world was filled with presence of God
Hasidism was responsible to unite divine sparks trapped in his personal world - wife, servants
Devekuth, discipline of concentration was not only for elite but for all Jew to practice, to strip the veil of familiarity of world, while practising it reunites the divine spark in person or thing he was dealing to Godhead
Besht believed all beings existed in God, Hasidism would draw closer to God
Zaddik, Hadisic rabbi, avatar of his generation, people would crowd around him, a personality cult
Opposirion led by Rabbi Elijah, rational yet Kabbalist and master of Talmud
Besht can be seen as enabling simpler men and women to make the imaginative transition to the new world of modernity
Rabbi Zalman, 1813, in 1780s found a new form of Hasidism called Hobad which amalgamated philosophy with spirituality, metaphysical speculation preliminary to prayer because reveals limits of intellect
Hobad experienced ecstasy similar to Sufis experienced fana
Walli-ullah, 1762, impressive thinker, suspicious about cultural universalism
Decadent of Sufism and a new reforming movement that swing away from mysticism during 19th ce
Al-Wahhab, 1784, restore Islam to the purity of its beginnings, ibn-Saud
Muslims were beginning to step back from mysticism towards rationalistic type of piety.
Beginning of trending away from god himself in Europe
Jean Meslier, 1729, lived a life of priest died an atheist
David Hume, 1776, proof of God from the design of universe based on analogical arguments inconclusive
Diderot, 1784, was jailed for introducing similar concept in a letter
3 years before publishing the letter Diderot was a believer who believed that science can refute atheism
3 years later questioned Newton and was not convinced for external evidence of god
Diderot suggested matter is not passive, it is dynamic and has its own laws
Only nature and no God
Holbach, 1789, his book; no supernatural alternative to nature, but an unceasing chain of causes and effects
Religion created God out of despair and fear
Enlightened men should climb out of it
Poets and theologians conceived the idea of god and philosophers and scientist (including Newton) tried to save it
Nature is the only reality
Laplace, 1827, ejected God from physics