INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION: Essay #12

Reason and Religion

  Before the Industrial Revolution took place in England, people used to accept the dogmatic theology of an early age without questioning it. But during the period of industrialization there was a really important improvement in science, which enlarged man´s understanding and made him question the whole nature of the biblical universe in which his ancestors used to believe with great faith.  The Englishman´s horizon was expanding rapidly and curiosity grew. 

 In the seventeenth century, the triumphs of reason had been so startling and astounding that it was impossible for intelligent men to accept unquestioned the dogmatic theology that used to prevail.  Science had begun to dominate people´s intellectual life so it was difficult to reconcile reason with religion. In an attempt to do this, the preacher and the publicist played down miracles, banished the terrors of hell and they stressed the reasonable nature of Christian ethics. Pope and Bollingbroke imposed “Deism”, which was the belief that reason and observation of the natural world are sufficient to determine the existence of a Creator, accompanied with the rejection of authority as a source of religious knowledge. As a consequence, Christians started to defend religion and in the twenties and thirties there was a violent theological controversial.

  Philosophy was also affected by the same skeptical spirit which was clearly represented by David Humes in his book “Treatise on Human Nature” in 1738. In literature philosophy was not as popular as theology. So that book was not spread among people maybe because it did not show revolutionary views of the world. 

  To conclude, people during the Industrial Revolution needed the light of reason as much as the nature of the physical universe or the mysteries of God. So it was very important to find a way of conciliating reason and religion so as to avoid the disputes that emerged between religious people,philosophers and scientists.