Transcript Cultural Transformations

Cultural
Transformations
:
Religion &
Science
1450-1750
Ways of the World
Chapter 15
Cultural Trends
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The Early Modern Era gave birth to two intersecting
cultural trends:
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These trends connected distant peoples
Christianity became a worldwide religion
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Spread of Christianity to Asians, Africans, & Native
Americans
Emergence of a modern scientific outlook that sharply
challenged Christianity
Firmly est. in the Americas & Philippines
Modestly est. in Siberia, China, Japan, India
Not at all est. in the Islamic world
Science became a new and competing worldview
Cultural Trends
 Though
Europeans were the crucial player
in these two trends, they were not acting
alone:
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Asians, Africans, & Native Americans
determined the success of Christianity in
new cultural environments
Science emerged in a worldwide context
 Cultural
street
interactions were a two way
Globalization of Christianity
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At the beginning of the Early Modern Era
Christianity was mainly limited to Europe
Christianity was seriously divided:
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Roman Catholics in Western & Central Europe
Eastern Orthodox in Eastern Europe & Russia
Christianity was on the defensive against the
spread of Islam:
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Muslims controlled the Holy Land by 1300
Ottoman Empire seized Constantinople in 1453
Protestant Reformation
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Began in 1517 when
German priest Martin
Luther issued his 95
Theses
Led to debate about
abuses within the
Roman Catholic Church
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Luxurious life of the
pope
Corruption & immorality
of some of the clergy
Selling indulgences
“Nailed IT”
--- Meme from Mrs Oleson
Protestant Reformation
 Revolutionary
for challenging the
authority of the Roman Catholic Church &
for Luther’s differing view on how to
achieve salvation
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Luther believed in salvation by faith alone
Neither good works nor sacraments effect
eternal destiny
The source of belief & religious authority
was the Bible itself interpreted by the
individual
Protestant Reformation
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Luther’s ideas led to a massive schism in the
world of Catholicism:
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Some kings & princes find this is justification for
independence from the Church; also to gain
land & tax money previously held by the church
Middle-class urban dwellers found social
legitimacy in the Reformation’s idea of equal
merit of all vocations
Lower class saw the Reformation’s challenge to
authority as their opportunity to express their
opposition to the established social structure
The Reformation and Women
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A large number of women were drawn to
Protestantism, but did not have a greater role in
the church compared to Catholicism:
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End to the veneration of Mary & female saints
Closed convents
Protestant stress on the importance of reading the
Bible for yourself stimulated education & literacy
for women
Protestantism also emphasized the role of women
as wives & mothers
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Women had little opportunity to use their
newfound literacy & skills outside of the home
Protestant Reformation
 Spread
quickly within & beyond Germany
largely due to the printing press
 Continued to split into distinctive sects as
it spread through France, Switzerland, &
England
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None had allegiance to the pope
Protestant Reformation
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Divided societies + fractured political systems +
religious differences = violence!
1562-1598: France was torn apart by violence b/t
Catholics & Protestant Huguenots
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Edict of Nantes: guaranteed religious toleration for
French Protestants
1618-1648: 30 Years’ War engulfed most of Europe
& was massively destructive to property &
populations
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Peace of Westphalia: ended the conflict, redrew
some state boundaries, each European state was
sovereign & had the authority to control religious
affairs in its territory
Counter Reformation
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1545-1563: Council of Trent
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Catholic Church reaffirmed its unique doctrines &
practices
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Authority of the pope
Priestly celibacy
Monastic life
Veneration of saints & relics
Importance of good works
Corrected abuses & corruption
Cracked down on dissidents
Renewed focus on individual spirituality & piety
Creation of new religious orders like the Jesuits
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A brotherhood of priests committed to the renewal &
extension of the church & its beliefs
Protestant Reformation
 Though
the Reformation was religious in
nature, it encouraged a skeptical attitude
towards authority & tradition throughout
Europe.
 Skepticism & independent thought led to
questioning all conventional religion &
opened space for new directions in
European intellectual life
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Scientific Revolution & Enlightenment
Christianity: Outward Bound
 Christianity
both motivated & benefited
from European political & economic
expansion
 Globalization of Christianity was
supported by the creation of empires
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Settlers & traders brought their faith with
them
Attempted to replicate it in their new
homes
Spread of Christianity
Protestants in North
America
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Emphasis was on
education, moral purity,
& civic responsibility
No tolerance for
competing faiths
Little interest in
converting natives – just
pushing them off of their
ancestral homelands
Catholics
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Mainly responsible for
spreading the Christian
message beyond Europe
through organized
monastic orders, trade, &
conquest:
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Dominicans, Franciscans,
Jesuits & Portuguese in Asia &
Africa
Spanish & French in the
Americas
Eastern Orthodox in Siberia &
the Russian Empire
Conversion& Adaptation in
Spanish America
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Europeans saw their military & economic
success in the Americas as a demonstration of
the power & superiority of their God
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Native Americans mostly agreed
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Conquering people like the Aztecs & Incas had
always imposed their gods on defeated
peoples, so this imposition of Christianity was not
a new practice
Millions accepted baptism
Europeans claimed to have exclusive religious
truth & sought to destroy local gods, shrines,
temples, etc.
Conversion& Adaptation in
Spanish America
 High
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cost of conversion for native women:
Women who were previously shamans,
priests, or other religious figures in their
native religion had no role in the Catholic
Church
Convent life was reserved for Spanish
women in the Americas
Conversion& Adaptation in
Spanish America
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Some resistance to Christianity was seen, but
was quickly crushed by the colonial powers
More common were efforts to blend native
traditions with Christian beliefs
Through these efforts, distinct forms Andean &
Mexican Christianity emerged
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Interpretation of Christian beliefs within the
framework & patterns of local culture
Not a copy of Spanish Christianity
Christianity in China
 China
encountered Christianity during the
powerful Ming and Qing Dynasties
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Unlike the Americas, China’s political
independence & cultural integrity were
never threatened by European missionaries
& traders
 Missionaries
in China needed permission
to be there & sought to convert the elites,
not the masses
Christianity in China
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Initially emphasized exchanging ideas & learning
from Chinese culture
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Learning Chinese
Thoroughly digesting Confucian works
Dressing like the Chinese
Carried the secular knowledge of Europe with
them to an audience of curious Chinese scholars
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Science
Technology
Geography
Mapmaking
Christianity in China
A
modest number of Chinese scholars
converted to Christianity
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Attracted by the lives of the missionaries &
an interest in Western knowledge
 Missionaries
initially found favor in the
Emperor’s court
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Knowledge & skills considered useful
Christianity in China
 Missionaries
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had limited success overall
200k-300k converts from 1550-1800 from a
population of roughly 300 million
 .06%
- 0.1% of the population
 Christianity
offered little the Chinese
needed
 “all or nothing faith” meant converts
would have to abandon many aspects of
traditional Chinese culture
Issues with Christianity in China
 Missionaries
lost favor with the emperor
when the pope claimed authority over
Chinese Christians
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Forbade ancestor worship & sacrifices to
Confucius
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declarations were a challenge to
the emperor’s authority over his own
people & an insult to Chinese culture
Further Issues with Christianity
in China
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Missionaries were willing to work with the Qing
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Viewed by scholars & the elite as uncivilized
figures whose rule over China was illegitimate
“miracle worker” reputation damaged their
scholarly/scientific credibility
Communion = cannibalism
Miracles & supernatural beliefs were fit only for
the uneducated masses
Maybe they were spies & revolutionaries
A New Way of Thinking:
The Birth of Modern Science
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Scientific Revolution was a vast intellectual &
cultural transformation in Europe from the
mid16th – early 18th cent
No longer reliant on the Bible, the church,
ancient philosophers, or the wisdom of
cultural traditions for knowledge about the
natural world
Knowledge acquired through careful
observation, controlled experiments, & the
formulation of general laws expressed in
mathematical terms
A New Way of Thinking:
The Birth of Modern Science
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Europe’s rebirth & development as a
fragmented society gave rise to unique
conditions favorable to science
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Legal systems guaranteed some independence
for a variety of institutions
Autonomy of universities gave scholars the
freedom to pursue their studies w/o interference
from the church or state
Most major figures of the Sci. Revolution had
been trained in & affiliated with these
universities
A New Way of Thinking:
The Birth of Modern Science
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Western Europe was in a in unique position to
draw on knowledge of other cultures
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Islamic World
Medicine
 Mathematics
 Astronomy
 Translation of ancient Greek classic works
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16th century Globalization
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Massive exchange of information through a new
awareness of the wider world
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Land, people, animals, plants, etc.
A New Way of Thinking:
The Birth of Modern Science
 Skepticism
about established views
rooted in the Reformation contributed too
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Challenges to authority
Encouragement of mass literacy
Value of secular professions
A New Way of Thinking:
The Birth of Modern Science
 Prior
to the Sci. Revolution, the European
worldview was derived mainly from
Aristotle & Ptolemy
 Sci. Revolution fundamentally challenged
this view of the universe
 Initial breakthrough came from Nicolaus
Copernicus in 1543
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Heliocentric universe
A New Way of Thinking:
The Birth of Modern Science
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Culmination of the Sci. Revolution came from Sir
Isaac Newton
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Laws of motion & mechanics
Radical view that the heavens & earth obeyed
natural laws
Universe functions according to scientific
principles that can be defined mathematically
Knowledge is obtained through human reason
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Observation
Deduction
Experimentation
A New Way of Thinking:
The Birth of Modern Science
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Mostly male scientists – women excluded from
universities
A few aristocratic women were able to contribute
through their male relatives
Catholic Church strongly opposed to
developments of the Sci. Revolution
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Opposed their teachings
Seen as another attack on their authority
None of the early scientists rejected Christianity
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Galileo proclaimed their compatibility
Newton was a serious Biblical scholar who saw no
contradiction b/t science & Christianity
Science & Enlightenment
 Sci.
Revolution spread to a wider
European audience in the 1700s
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Printing techniques/printing press
Popular press (newspapers, magazines)
Growing literacy
Scientific societies
Science & Enlightenment
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Guiding principles of the Sci. Revolution led to the
Enlightenment
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Knowledge is rooted in human reason, is skeptical
of authority, & is expressed in natural laws
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These principles could be applied to human affairs
“Enlightenment” was to discover ways in which
humans could govern themselves more effectively
Philosophers of the Enlightenment shared a belief
in the power of knowledge to transform societies
Science & Enlightenment
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Enlightenment philosophy aimed at:
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John Locke
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Divine right of kings
Aristocratic privilege
Superstition, ignorance, corruption of
established religion
Natural rights
Principles of constitutional government
Voltaire
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Religious tolerance
Women & Enlightenment