Transcript Ch_15 _B_ - Religion _ Science

Christianity in Europe
 In 1500, Christianity was mostly limited to Europe
- Divisions: Roman Catholic / Eastern Orthodox
 On the defensive against Islam
- Loss of Holy Land by 1300
- Fall of Constantinople in 1453
- Ottoman siege of Vienna in 1529
Protestant Reformation
 Began in 1517 – Martin Luther’s 95 theses (discuss)
- salvation through faith alone, not good deeds
- no need for indulgences
- questioned religious hierarchy
 Luther - printing press – bible in vernacular
 Lots of divisions of Protestantism spread therefore
there were several religious wars
- 1562–1598: French Wars of Religion (Catholics vs.
Huguenots)
- 1618–1648: the Thirty Years’ War in the Holy Roman
Empire (mostly today’s Germany). Constantine, etc.
95 Theses
Catholic Reformation
 The Protestant Reformation provoked a counter
Catholic Reformation
- stopped indulgences
- ended much corruption
 New religious 0rders
- Jesuits – spread Christianity, even went to China as
missionaries
- Dominicans and Franciscans as well
Christianity Outward Bound
 Imperialism enabled the globalization of Christianity
- Spain, Portugal, France
- Portuguese missionaries led in Africa and Asia
- Spanish and French were prominent in the Americas
- Russian Orthodox missionaries worked in Siberia
 European success encouraged belief that the old gods
had been defeated
 Christians didn’t confront a literate world religion
- no holy texts = easier to convert
 Confucians, Buddhists, Hindus, and Muslims
resisted Christianity much more
Holy Virgin Cathedral - Russia
Conversion and Adaptation in
Spanish America
 Population collapse, conquest and resettlement made
conversion possible
- vast majority baptized by 1700
 Europeans tried to destroy native religions
 Sometimes had to blend Christianity with old religions
- Christian saints took on functions of precolonial gods
- many rituals survived with some Christian influence
Brazilian Savior
China and the Jesuits
 Needed government permission for operation
 Especially targeted the official Chinese elite
 Were respectful of Chinese culture, tried to
accommodate it
 Not much conversion at all
- efforts gained 200,000–300,000 converts in 250 years
Afro-Asian Cultural Traditions
 Religious elements came w/ slaves to the Americas
- Europeans tried to suppress African “sorcery”
- but elements of voodoo, Santeria, etc. remained
 Islamic “renewal” in Arabian Peninsula
- founder Abd al-Wahhab (1703–1792) was a theologian
- ended veneration of saints
- aimed to restore strict adherence to the sharia (Islamic
law)
- women were expected to subject themselves to husbands
- “idols” were destroyed
- tobacco, hashish, and musical instruments were banned
Islamic “renewal”
As a Muslim, you are
forbidden to drink
alcohol.
This is why Muslim
women must marry
Muslim men in some
countries.
Stoning. One of the consequences of
not adhering to Sharia Law in many
Islamic countries.
China – Back to Old Traditions
 China still followed Confucianism
-added Buddhist and Daoist ideas (neo-Confucianism)
 Elite Believed: kaozheng - “research based on evidence”
- emphasized need for analysis, instead of
unsupported speculation
- led to new works on agriculture, medicine, etc
- scientific approach to knowledge
 Lively popular culture among the less well educated
- production of plays, paintings, and literature
India: The Hindu/Muslim Divide
 bhakti - achieve union with the divine through songs,
prayers, dances, poetry, and rituals
- appealed especially to women
- often set aside caste distinctions
- much common ground with Sufism, helped to blur
the line between Islam and Hinduism in India
 Sikhism Spread – Blend of Hinduism and Islam
- founder: Guru Nanak.. grew in Punjab region
- evolved into a militant community in response to
hostility
Guru Nanak
The Birth of Modern Science
 Scientific Revolution - was based on careful
observations, controlled experiments, and formulation
of general laws to explain the world
 Significance
- challenged the teachings and authority of the Church
- challenged ancient social hierarchies and political
systems
- also used to legitimize racial and gender inequality
 Inventions : Microscope / Telescope
New Inventions
Why Europe???
 Islamic world - most advanced scientifically 800–1400
 China’s technology – unmatched for centuries
following the millennium
 European Conditions
- legal system allowed autonomy for institutions
- first corporations – Dutch/English East India
 Islamic world – science not in university system
 China – civil service exams – classical Confucian texts
- no autonomy for higher learning institutions
- disdain for science and philosophy
Dutch East India Company
Science as Cultural Revolution
 Aristotle and Ptolemy
- earth is stationary, at the center of the universe
- a universe of divine purpose
 Nicolaus Copernicus
- On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres (1543)
- earth and the planets revolved around the sun
- Kepler and Galileo built on his ideas
 Isaac Newton
- formulated laws of motion and mechanics
- central concept: universal gravitation
- natural laws of the universe
Isaac Newton
End of the Scientific Revolution
 By Newton’s death - different view of the physical
universe
- functioned according to mathematical principles
- the “machine of the universe” is self-regulating
- knowledge of the universe can be obtained through
reason
- the heart as a pump rather than as mysterious center
of the body’s passions, etc.
The Enlightenment
 Adam Smith – laissez-faire
 John Locke – tabula rasa
 Rousseau – social contract
 Montesquieu – separation of powers
 Voltaire – deism “like a clock”
Thanks Montesquieu and Rousseau
Montesquieu and
“separation of powers”
Rousseau and his
“social contract”
Adam Smith
European Science beyond the West
 Science became the most widely desired product of
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European culture
- but early modern Asia was only modestly interested
Mostly interested in astronomy and mathematics
Japan - some European contact via the Dutch
Ottoman Empire chose not to translate major
European scientific works
Islamic educational system was conservative, made it
hard for theoretical science to do well
Confucianism in China
19th Advances in Science and
Theory
 Charles Darwin - argued that all of life was in flux
- origin of species / the descent of man – evolution
 Karl Marx / Engels – socialism / communism’
 Sigmund Freud - cast doubt on human rationality
Reflections
 Ideas shape peoples’ mental or cultural worlds and
influence behavior.
- many early modern ideas are still highly significant
 The development of early modern ideas took place in
an environment of great cultural borrowing.
- borrowing was selective
- borrowing sometimes caused serious conflict
- efforts to stop cultural influence
- efforts to suppress the original culture