Dbq Essay On The Enlightenment

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Enlightenment The Enlightenment of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries changed the way Europeans, and the rest of the world, thought about life as a whole. From the calling for absolutism by Thomas Hobbes to the capitalist ideals of Adam Smith, ideas arose during this time that became much more individualistic, mirroring humanism. However, these ideals did not form immediately, there were mainly contributing factors. Scientists of the Enlightenment were met with social, political, and religious influences. To begin with, mainly social instances affected the Enlightenment thinkers. One such social ideal would be the realization of Henry Oldenbury, the Secretary of Royal Society, in his letter to Johannes Hevelius when he states the importance …show more content…
There were many religious figures who disagreed with science progressions. One of these was Pope Paul III. In Nicolaus Copernicus’s, a Polish priest and astronomer, On the Revolution of the Heavenly Spheres, he states to Pope Paul III how he will stop for no critics, and contrary to the Pope’s beliefs, his discoveries will aid religion as well (Document 1). As discoverer of the Heliocentric solar system model, it is obvious that Copernicus was credible in his words. However, there was also those Christian leaders who believed science was just an extension of God’s works. One specific example comes from the French Protestant theologian and founder of Calvinism, John Calvin. In his 1554 Commentaries on the First Book of Moses (Genesis), Calvin talks about how the developments of science should exist to further the glory and wisdom of God (Document 2). Though the religious leader’s eyes, science serves as just another creation of Christ. Sharing this viewpoint as well was German philosopher, Gottfried Leibniz. In his 1695 New System of Nature, Leibniz remarks how everything was put into place by God to be comprehended by the human mind and to further humanity (Document 12). This argument that science was just a benefactor of God was very influential and led to the progression of more scientific
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