The Enlightenment And Religion Essay

Throughout the 18th century, the age of The Enlightenment brought forth major changes, which greatly altered the traditional values of the European society. As the secular theories of various philosophes were presented upon society, religion and god, became an undermined aspect in people's lives. In addition, only ideas that related to the term “reason”, were accepted in society. Therefore, the age of The Enlightenment challenged traditional European values to a near-full extent, because although god’s place in people’s lives became lost, it allowed people to break out of the social oppression which was being enforced by the authority of the church. Hence, the political and social values of traditional Europe became inconspicuous, as people
As society started to develop through various secular perspectives, the place of god and religion slowly started to crumble. Therefore, the church faced a significant decline in power, mainly due to people's lack of faith of god’s involvement in their daily lives. The chapter The Enlightenment states, “all institutions and all systems of thought were subject to the rational way of thinking if only people would free themselves from the shackles of the past, worthless traditions, especially religious ones,” (Spielvogel, 2). This ties back to the idea that, during the Enlightenment, religious beliefs were thought to be useless and ignominious, because it did not relate to scientific reasoning. This is significant because prior to the age of the Enlightenment, all social aspects were believed to be a direct result of god’s intercession. In addition, many enlightenment thinkers strongly opposed the the traditional European values of religion. This can be seen in the document known as, Philosophical Dictionary: The English Model, written by Voltaire. The document states, “These rights are...the right of every man to profess, unmolested, what religion he chooses”, (Voltaire, 11). Unlike traditional European society, this statement presents the idea of individuals being free to choose their religion, as opposed to being forced to follow the christian faith of the Orthodox Church.