On one hand, the Enlightenment views saw God as a far away figure that did not interfere with the lives of humans. The Enlightenment was a period of intellectual growth that tried to explain the true nature of mankind and how it progresses. One of the most important theorists for The Enlightenment was John Locke. John Locke created a theory called tabula theory, which had important assumptions about human nature and undermined Christian assertion that humankind was inherently sinful. Another person who also criticized some of the religious views was Pierre Bayle.
Deists saw man as innately good. Through Benjamin Franklin’s writings we can see the faith in the natural goodness of man. He credited this goodness to natural human behavior as opposed to a required deep spiritual relationship. Deist and Puritans also differed on their approach at proclaiming their ideas and spreading their views. Puritan missionaries forcibly would assault those with differing views.
Whether that means it solely educates those who firmly believe in god that there are other views, or it converts a person to non religious views, it is a worthwhile read. Gould shows his view that god may have only created life, not control what it will inevitably do, that portion is left up to evolution and
He describes the pastor as a, “…literalist interpreter of Christian Holy Scripture,” and himself as a secular humanist. Wilson’s main appeal for the book is to set aside these differences in order to save the Creation. He appeals to pastor by saying he needs his help. The main idea for the book/letter is that human activities are having a destructive effect on the planet. The plant
Later in his life Franklin’s deist views remain the same, however, possibly influenced by his Puritan upbringing and the Puritan culture surrounding him, he seeks moral perfection that is commendable by Puritan standards. The very fact that Franklin was able to develop and publish such radical ideas that were completely different from and contradicted the accepted views of his society is proof of the progress made for the rights to think freely during this time of Enlightenment. At the early age of 19 Franklin published a pamphlet in which he revealed his idea of human nature as not in need of constant improvement and punishment because humans are not naturally good or evil. Humans are simply human, nothing else. Franklin does not believe human beings could possibly be evil because he does not believe evil could exist with an all powerful, good, and wise God.
The Puritans thought that you should be well educated to be ready to defend God’s Word at any time and in any area. Puritans also thought that by being well educated, you are glorifying God because you are using the gifts which He has given you, while during the Enlightenment era they were focused on edifying man. The Puritans also disagreed with the Enlightenment because they were trying to focus on worldly things rather than furthering God’s kingdom. During the Enlightenment era they were discovering new ways to make man more comfortable which would lead to man’s happiness. All of these materialistic ideas controlled the Enlightenment eras
Different to Durkheim and Malinowski, Parsons said that religion promotes consensus by doing two things; it answers the big questions in life and religious laws and society’s laws go hand in hand. For example, questions like ‘is there life after death?’ and ‘how was the world created?’ both can be given plausible answers from religion. Bellah also says that society is in need of collective rituals and civil religion reaffirms these group values. An example is Americanism and Football, they aren’t religions but they bring people together in the same way. Overall, the Functionalists ignore secularisation and conflict and their focus on the positive functions
The primary precepts are absolute and descriptive as they do not tell people what to do, but simply describe how things are and cannot be changed. The five primary precepts are ‘the preservation of life’, ‘reproduction’, ‘the nurture and education of the young’, ‘living peacefully in society’, and ‘to worship God’. Each primary precept helps lead to the flourishing of humanity as it lays down absolute moral foundations on which actions should be based, regardless of the consequences. Secondary precepts are used to make the primary precepts more flexible. The concept of flexibility in this case means that emotions, passions and
The environment has only recently been recognised as a concern and thus placed on the agenda of Christian Churches with the use of environmental ethics. These ethics are a part of environmental philosophy which considers the ethical relationship between humans and the natural environment. Ethical teachings in Christianity are based on the three fundamental issues upon which the creation stories are based. These teachings have been derived from biblical traditions highlighting the fact that God is the creator of all things, what God created was good and that human beings have stewardship and responsibility over these creations. It is therefore believed that humans must work in conjunction with God to ensure that the fragile environment is nurtured and protected.
Moreover, on his second point, “nonviolence resistance does not seek to defeat or humiliate the opponent, but to win friendship and understanding.” King thought that if there were no offenses or put downs to the enemy everything was to flow better between blacks and whites. Lastly, he concludes that the universe is on the side of justice. He brings this idea that God is on the side of truth to kind make whites feel guilty for the way they are abusing and taking advantages of the injustice of blacks. King was very religious and this was a great influence for him to be so calm and nonviolence on his speeches. In this article King states, “this, in brief, is the method of non-violent resistance.