The Social Context of Secularization in Europe (882 Words)

Here is your essay on the social context of secularization in Europe.

The various facets of social change. At the time of secularization in Europe, the society was waking up from the medieval slumber to whole new areas of change. There was growing rational-empirical inquiry. There was Reformation in the Church and Renaissance in the arts and learning.

Renaissance:

Between the 14th and 16th centuries, many people in Europe who could read and write began to take less notice of what their rulers and priests told them and to work out new ideas for themselves. They also became interested in the arts, and learning of the ancient Greeks and Romans. This new way of thinking and rediscovery of earlier knowledge led to an exciting period in history known as the Renaissance, a French word meaning rebirth.

Rational enquiry was the essence of this movement and this was evident in art, architecture, music, literature etc. Renaissance period emphasized on classics as contributing to thought and learning. Renaissance was a time when people became curious about the world they live in.

Rich men built libraries and universities and with the invention of the printing machine, books became more easily available not only to priests and scholars but also for ordinary people. By the end of the 16th century, Renaissance which started in Italy, with its awakening in learning and art spread to other parts of Europe. This was also the period which saw the growth of science.

Growth of Science:

The medieval European society was characterized by the overriding influence of the church. Even learning was mostly of the religious variety. The Renaissance period saw the beginning of rational enquiry. It marked an area of description and criticism in the area of learning.

This development of detachment in observation and experimentation introduced new assumptions about the nature of the world. The rational and systematic, empirical knowledge questioned the supernatural conceptions of the world and gave an awareness to man’s capacity to harness nature.

This was the period which saw the Copernican Revolution. It was generally believed that the Earth was stationary and the Sun and other heavenly bodies moved around it. Copernicus, with the help of detailed explanation demonstrated that the earth moved around a fixed sun. This finding of Copernicus shattered the very foundations on which the old world rested. The divine origins to heaven, earth and life were now being questioned.

This period also saw the growth of various disciplines of science. William Harvey discovered the circulation of blood. This led to the rethinking about the human body.

In Physics, Galileo Galilean, Johannes Kepler, and subsequently Isaac Newton shattered the earlier metaphysical thoughts of the universe. In short, the growth of science and the application of science reduced man’s dependence on religion and the divine interpretation of the universe.

Expansion of Trade and Commerce:

The 15th century AD also signaled a shift from the subsistent and stagnant economy to a dynamic and worldwide system. This expansion in trade was due to some extent, because of the initiative taken by the European states to develop and consolidate their economic and political power.

The monarchy of Portugal, Spain, Holland, and England sponsored overseas discoveries, trade and conquest. Britain, Holland followed Spain and Portugal and soon India, South East Asia, Africa and West Indies and South America came under the economic enterprise of these countries. Urodeanm markets were flooded with new commodities, spices, textiles, tobacco, cocoa, quinine, ivory, gold, silver, and above all human slaves from Africa. One of the most important results of this expansion of trade and commerce was the growth of middle class. This class, which included merchants, bankers, ship owners, became an influential and politically powerful group.

Besides these radical changes which were taking place, there emerged a break in thought and ecclesiastical organization, which is called ‘the reformation’.

Reformation:

In the 16th century, there was a movement within Christianity to purge the medieval abuses and to restore the doctrine and the practices that the reformers believed confirmed with the Bible. This led to a breach between the Roman Catholic Church, and the reformers whose belief and practices came to be called as Protestantism.

One of the principle initiators of this movement, Martin Luther King, questioned the practices of the Roman Catholic Church and called for a debate. The Papacy took this as a gesture of rebellion and proceeded to take steps against Luther as a .heretic. Martin, Luther refused to repent unless proven by Bible or clear reason. He believed that salvation was a free gift to persons through the forgiveness of sins by God’s grace alone and received by them through faith in Christ. Luther was protected by kings and princes partly out of religious conviction.

But mainly because they were interested to size the Church property and to assert the imperial independence. The obvious result of Reformation was the division of Christendom into Catholic and Protestant denominations or sects. These strengthened the growth of modem national states.

Reformation introduced radical changes in thought and organization of the Church and, thus began the trend of secularization. The Protestant conception of the divine made God personal. God thus receded to the ‘personal real’. Worldly personal activity was encouraged as a sign of faith in God.