1. Cultural Transformations: Religion & Science 1450-1750
Ways of the World
Chapter 15

2. Cultural Trends
The Early Modern Era gave birth to two intersecting cultural trends:
Spread of Christianity to Asians, Africans, & Native Americans
Emergence of a modern scientific outlook that sharply challenged Christianity
These trends connected distant peoples
Christianity became a worldwide religion
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

3. Cultural Trends
Though Europeans were the crucial player in these two trends, they were not acting alone:
Asians, Africans, & Native Americans determined the success of Christianity in new cultural environments
Science emerged in a worldwide context
Cultural interactions were a two way street

4. Globalization of Christianity
At the beginning of the Early Modern Era Christianity was mainly limited to Europe
Christianity was seriously divided:
Roman Catholics in Western & Central Europe
Eastern Orthodox in Eastern Europe & Russia
Christianity was on the defensive against the spread of Islam:
Muslims controlled the Holy Land by 1300
Ottoman Empire seized Constantinople in 1453

5. Protestant Reformation
Began in 1517 when German priest Martin Luther issued his 95 Theses
Led to debate about abuses within the Roman Catholic Church
Luxurious life of the pope
Corruption & immorality of some of the clergy
Selling indulgences

6. Protestant Reformation
Revolutionary for challenging the authority of the Roman Catholic Church & for Luther’s differing view on how to achieve salvation
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

7. Protestant Reformation
Luther’s ideas led to a massive schism in the world of Catholicism:
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

8. The Reformation and Women
A large number of women were drawn to Protestantism, but did not have a greater role in the church compared to Catholicism:
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
Women had little opportunity to use their newfound literacy & skills outside of the home

9. 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
None had allegiance to the pope

10. Protestant Reformation
Divided societies + fractured political systems + religious differences = violence!
: France was torn apart by violence b/t Catholics & Protestant Huguenots
Edict of Nantes: guaranteed religious toleration for French Protestants
: 30 Years’ War engulfed most of Europe & was massively destructive to property & populations
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

11. Counter Reformation 1545-1563: Council of Trent
Catholic Church reaffirmed its unique doctrines & practices
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
A brotherhood of priests committed to the renewal & extension of the church & its beliefs

12. 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
Scientific Revolution & Enlightenment

13. Christianity: Outward Bound
Christianity both motivated & benefited from European political & economic expansion
Globalization of Christianity was supported by the creation of empires
Settlers & traders brought their faith with them
Attempted to replicate it in their new homes

14. Spread of Christianity
Protestants in North America
Catholics
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
Mainly responsible for spreading the Christian message beyond Europe through organized monastic orders, trade, & conquest:
Dominicans, Franciscans, Jesuits & Portuguese in Asia & Africa
Spanish & French in the Americas
Eastern Orthodox in Siberia & the Russian Empire

15. Conversion& Adaptation in Spanish America
Europeans saw their military & economic success in the Americas as a demonstration of the power & superiority of their God
Native Americans mostly agreed
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.

16. Conversion& Adaptation in Spanish America
High 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

17. Conversion& Adaptation in Spanish America
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
Interpretation of Christian beliefs within the framework & patterns of local culture
Not a copy of Spanish Christianity

18. Christianity in China
China encountered Christianity during the powerful Ming and Qing Dynasties
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

19. Christianity in China
Initially emphasized exchanging ideas & learning from Chinese culture
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
Science
Technology
Geography
Mapmaking

20. Christianity in China
A modest number of Chinese scholars converted to Christianity
Attracted by the lives of the missionaries & an interest in Western knowledge
Missionaries initially found favor in the Emperor’s court
Knowledge & skills considered useful

21. Christianity in China Missionaries had limited success overall
200k-300k converts from 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

22. Issues with Christianity in China
Missionaries lost favor with the emperor when the pope claimed authority over Chinese Christians
Forbade ancestor worship & sacrifices to Confucius
These declarations were a challenge to the emperor’s authority over his own people & an insult to Chinese culture

23. Further Issues with Christianity in China
Missionaries were willing to work with the Qing
Viewed by scholars & the elite as uncivilized figures whose rule over China was illigitimate
“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

24. A New Way of Thinking: The Birth of Modern Science
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

25. A New Way of Thinking: The Birth of Modern Science
Europe’s rebirth & development as a fragmented society gave rise to unique conditions favorable to science
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 universtities

26. A New Way of Thinking: The Birth of Modern Science
Western Europe was in a in unique position to draw on knowledge of other cultures
Islamic World
Medicine
Mathematics
Astronomy
Translation of ancient Greek classic works
16th century Globalization
Massive exchange of information through a new awareness of the wider world
Land, people, animals, plants, etc.

27. A New Way of Thinking: The Birth of Modern Science
Skepticism about established views rooted in the Reformation contributed too
Challenges to authority
Encouragement of mass literacy
Value of secular professions

28. 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
Heliocentric universe

29. A New Way of Thinking: The Birth of Modern Science
Culmination of the Sci. Revolution came from Sir Isaac Newton
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
Observation
Deduction
Experimentation

30. A New Way of Thinking: The Birth of Modern Science
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
Opposed their teachings
Seen as another attack on their authority
None of the early scientists rejected Christianity
Galileo proclaimed their compatibility
Newton was a serious Biblical scholar who saw no contradiction b/t science & Christianity

31. Science & Enlightenment
Sci. Revolution spread to a wider European audience in the 1700s
Printing techniques/printing press
Popular press (newspapers, magazines)
Growing literacy
Scientific societies

32. Science & Enlightenment
Guiding principles of the Sci. Revolution led to the Enlightenment
Knowledge is rooted in human reason, is skeptical of authority, & is expressed in natural laws
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

33. Science & Enlightenment
Enlightenment philosophy aimed at:
Divine right of kings
Aristocratic privilege
Superstition, ignorance, corruption of established religion
John Locke
Natural rights
Principles of constitutional government
Voltaire
Religious tolerance

34. Women & Enlightenment