John Edwards And John Calvin's Influence On Christianity During The Colonial Period
During the 18th century the influence of ‘religion’ on philosophers during the Colonial period went from a strong Christianity standpoint to deism being the main influence on philosophers during the Enlightenment period.
John Edwards and John Calvin were responsible for the radical views of Christianity during the Colonial period and how it affected philosophy during the time. Their idea of ‘religion’ in philosophy was God was all mighty, powerful, and controls everyone and everything. In the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy the philosophy of the Colonial period was, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God", displaying the pessimistic view of what we, God's creations, were thought of as. This belief stands true in John Calvin’s Excerpts from …show more content…
Thomas Paine and Benjamin Franklin were two influential thinkers during the time. Both of which had more open minded views about natural law and God loving his creations. In Thomas Paine's Of The Religion of Deism Compared With the Christian Religion he talks about the care God has for all those on earth, the complete opposite of Calvin’s beliefs. He says, “When we see His care and goodness extended over all His creatures, it teaches us our duty toward each other, while it calls forth our gratitude to Him.” (Thomas Paine, 2). Paine has the opinion that God cares about all those he has created and because of this we should be grateful for the life we are given. This optimistic view on ‘religion’ opposes Calvin’s belief that God is angry at everyone because of Adam’s sin. Because of deisms belief in natural law philosophers of the Enlightenment period believed the human race should have freedom of their own beliefs and opinions, including ‘religion’. Franklin was known for suspecting “God as world-creator and Jesus as providing a system of morality but with no direct commitment to the divinity of Jesus or to any organized church.” (IEP) Deism created new, free flowing ideas, that were no longer attached to religion. Franklin’s ideas along with Paine’s followed a new type of philosophy, deism, where anyone was free to believe in whatever they wanted without having to worry about repercussions from God or the
John Edwards and John Calvin were responsible for the radical views of Christianity during the Colonial period and how it affected philosophy during the time. Their idea of ‘religion’ in philosophy was God was all mighty, powerful, and controls everyone and everything. In the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy the philosophy of the Colonial period was, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God", displaying the pessimistic view of what we, God's creations, were thought of as. This belief stands true in John Calvin’s Excerpts from …show more content…
Thomas Paine and Benjamin Franklin were two influential thinkers during the time. Both of which had more open minded views about natural law and God loving his creations. In Thomas Paine's Of The Religion of Deism Compared With the Christian Religion he talks about the care God has for all those on earth, the complete opposite of Calvin’s beliefs. He says, “When we see His care and goodness extended over all His creatures, it teaches us our duty toward each other, while it calls forth our gratitude to Him.” (Thomas Paine, 2). Paine has the opinion that God cares about all those he has created and because of this we should be grateful for the life we are given. This optimistic view on ‘religion’ opposes Calvin’s belief that God is angry at everyone because of Adam’s sin. Because of deisms belief in natural law philosophers of the Enlightenment period believed the human race should have freedom of their own beliefs and opinions, including ‘religion’. Franklin was known for suspecting “God as world-creator and Jesus as providing a system of morality but with no direct commitment to the divinity of Jesus or to any organized church.” (IEP) Deism created new, free flowing ideas, that were no longer attached to religion. Franklin’s ideas along with Paine’s followed a new type of philosophy, deism, where anyone was free to believe in whatever they wanted without having to worry about repercussions from God or the