A World of Darkness: thoughts on the enlightenment

A World of Darkness

Colton Clay

"It will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth, trampling it down and crushing it." Daniel 7:23 NIV

How do we know? How do we know if we are awake or dreaming? Could it be that we are within someone else's dream? These are just some of the questions which define the science of epistemology, a science which came of age during the enlightenment and gave birth to the world we know today. “Like the Renaissance, the Enlightenment was an all-encompassing trend of thought that is very hard to define.”¹ This paper will look at the effect an epistemological shift, expressed by the enlightenment, had upon the church and the cultural shifts that followed. While it could be defined in many ways, one important characteristic of the enlightenment was that it caused people to look at the world with new eyes- the eyes of reason, not those of faith.² Ideas once born give birth to civilizations. As Luther’s awakening to “the just shall live by faith,” eventually gave birth to the reformation; Descartes cogito ergo sum gives birth to western secularization.³

Distant Cousins Twice Removed.

The enlightenment may appear to be the ante-reformation, but upon a closer inspection, the two shared several similarities. During the reformation a similar question had been asked in regards to the foundation of truth, “did its finality reside in the bible or in the Church?” By asking the question “what path do we take to arrive at an agreed upon Theology” the Reformers prepared the ground for the enlightenment.⁴ The primary thinkers of the enlightenment can be compared to the reformation. The reformation was at its core a question of hermeneutics, a study of how we derive God’s will or truth, just as the enlightenment begins with the question “how do we know”. The Reformation was spawned from new developments and new curiosities in historical knowledge. Humanists such as Erasmus sparked renewed interest in antiquity which in time prepares the ground that gives rise to the Reformation. Its thinkers and reformers are empowered by the new technology of Gutenberg’s press. The Enlightenment thinkers are equally stirred by the radical changes in society that heretofore question the foundation of established belief systems. Just as a great number of the ideas present in the Reformation were promoted to advance political transformation, so to the likes of the “grub street hacks” make use of the enlightenment to rail against unearned privilege of the monarchy. Later the ideologies of the reformation and enlightenment work their way into all western forms government, occasionally as is the case of Thomas Jefferson it is even by the same pen. Both are stirred by a desire to find absolutes and both leave lasting legacies on almost all areas of western civilization. As the Reformers uphold the scripture as the source of unwavering truth, the enlightenment puts its faith in mathematics principles. Three diverging movements begin to take shape; for Roman Catholics a person need only to look to the church to find the answers, for the Reformers; sola scriptura and for the children of the enlightened age, it would become man’s own ability to reason. A legacy that has remained to this day even becoming the praxeology in many modern churches who give lip service to the theology of sola scriptura.

At the core of cogito ergo sum Descartes tastes the fruit of original sin, “you shall be like God, knowing right from wrong.” While he believed himself to be within the framework of the Catholic church, his methodology of knowledge is in many ways the seed that impregnates the world with an idea that will give birth to Daniels fourth kingdom.⁵ 
It was not Descartes alone any more than Luther single handily formed the Reformation, but his epistemology would become the source of transformation that would spark the resulting change, just as Luther’s ninety-five thesis unwittingly set so much in motion before. Newton and Locke would also have key roles to play in displacing the bible and divine revelations with mathematical principles and man’s ability to reason and experience his world. ⁶ Prior to this cultural shift the interest of Christianity and the interest of European civilization were regard as to expression of the same reality. Once the Enlightenment gave birth to secularization coupled with the dechristianization effects of the French Revolution, temporal realities began to displace Christian realities as the center of European loyalty, preoccupation and civilization.⁷

As the two began to separate in an on again off again relationship, much like, an afternoon soap opera the church found itself in unfamiliar territory. While the Christian worldview too this day holds a strong sway on culture and civilization, one would have to go back to pre-Edict of Milan to find the church occupying such a place in society as it does today. All of this is a direct result of the enlightenment's impact on western civilization. At the founding of universities, the likes of Oxford and Cambridge the study of the theology held the highest place among academia, she was the “Queen of the Sciences!” Within one hundred years after the birth of the enlightenment the Queen found she needed to justify her place at the table. For quite some time to follow, all humanities would take a back seat to the mathematical disciplines.

"Get Back to Where You First Belonged"

It could be said that all of this worked to push the church back where it belonged. For years prior to the events of the enlightenment the church was not only comfortable with the powers that be far to often it occupied that very position, to the neglect of commoner.⁸ Failing to grasp the appreciation Jesus had for the discarded outcast of this world the historical leaders of Christianity have often mislead themselves to place undue importance on political power. Forgetting their Kings own words, “At that time Jesus declared, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children” Matthew 11: 25 NIV A characteristic not confined to Christ’s first disciples, as Paul would later point out, “brothers not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.” I Corinthians 1:26 NIV The key point here being, according to worldly standards, those standards where changed by the Christianization of Rome. For ten centuries to follow, the church enjoyed a position of prominence in the minds of the west and subsequently spent less time concerned with the hearts and minds of those to whom the faith was first received. Far too comfortable with the wise and powerful decedents of noble birth, it was fitting that commoners in France would rise and dethrone the monarchy and take the church down for good measure. Christendom has taken a blow over the past three hundred years, as it’s position in society has been far less assured.

“The work of historians like Gibbon was showing that Christian doctrine had not been laid down in some once-for-all divine moment and that it was not all clearly there in the Bible, which is what people tended to assume. It was now becoming clear that Christian doctrine had developed gradually over a period of centuries. So why on earth should anyone believe it?”⁹

With the limitations of human logic and experience firmly grounded at the center of truth and discovery, Christian thought faced and continues to face an unprecedented challenge. This ostracizing of theology does not imply the church was not filled with wisdom and higher education - far from it. The Church has continued to be infused with the wisest of educators and greatest of minds to grace this world. While Comte, Darwin, Marx, Nietzsche and Freud where helping to secularize the western world, Kierkegaard, Hodge, Stuart, and Payne where formulating the diverging path of Christendom.¹⁰ Expulsion from the elite boded well for the church in many areas as she spread her reach into the highways and byways of not only west but all the world. “While Matthew Arnold's “sea of faith” may have been receding in Europe, even an outgoing tide could remain a vigorous force.”¹¹ Christianity once again, after many long years, gives adherents little in the way of social clout and mobility in European culture. While here in America a piece of the old Constantine guard still longs to make a bed in Babylon, it is only within her own house that the Queen is honored. The cost of this cultural shift will be great and the price is still uncertain. However, the opportunity that stands before the church today is nothing short of glorious. Now once again by going “outside the gate” to be with her betrothed the church may be renewed to reflect who she truly is. While many went kicking and screaming, and some still are, it is only outside of Babylon that the church will once again become a city on a hillside shining a light unto this darkened world.

1 Johathan Hill (2003). The History of Christian Thought. Downers Grove Ill. Inter-Varsity Press. 217.

2 Hill. 217.

3 This was never the intention of Descartes, he believed his ideas to work in conjunction with the Christian faith. But, as history has often shown Ideas have a life of their own.

4 In many ways they share the same principle trust in human ability, consider this observation of historian Mark A. Noll “The authority of human conscience had been proclaimed over against the authority of the church councils, in the contradiction to the weight of tradition, and in the very face of the emperor himself. Even though Luther spoke of his conscience as bound by Scripture, he had introduced, with moving power, a new principle of authority.” Mark A. Noll (2000). Turning Points: Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity: Baker Academic 156. Once ambiguity arises in regards to the interpretation of the bible, the principle sources of truth in the equation remains human conscience. The enlightenment simply replaces the bible with mathematical principles, but remains rooted in mans ability to reason.

5 Daniels fourth kingdom is like no other combined with the beast of Revelation gives the impression that this is kingdom finds highest forms in man, humanism carried to its logical conclusion.

6 Justo L. Gonzalez (2010). The Story of Christianity. New York, Ny.: Harper Collins. 240.

7 Noll. 251, 253.

8 Theology and the Church can and does offer the surest of foundations for society. But, often when given the chance to lead, embraced the same corrupting forces as any other.

9 Hill. 219, 220.

10 This list is merely a representation of contemporaries to the previous list. A full list would undoubtedly be much longer.

11 Noll. 261