The Enlightment and Religion

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Introduction

The era of France Enlightenment and religion have a misconception that leads one to believe that they were enemies. The Enlightenment was not against religion but it was against the superstitions and the supernaturalism of religion. Philosophes during the era of France’s Enlightenment did not look to abolish religion or the Catholic Church of France. They simply wanted a separation of religion and state because it was believed that the state was based on reason and religion was based on morality. Religion and the Enlightenment were compatible and Dr. Sorkin argues: “the Enlightenment was not only compatible with religious belief,” it actually generated new formulations of that belief. One goal that was a reflection of the Enlightenment’s goal was the freedom from cristism of prejudice and the freedom of unfitted scrutiny. This meant that one should freely be able to worship their God in their own way or lack of worship without the persecution of the state intervening. The standard-bearers of the religious Enlightenment championed religious toleration and the freedom of religious minorities, although they stopped well short of calling for state neutrality in religious affairs. In this paper it will be explored that the infamous philosphes: Voltaire, Montesquieu, Rousseau and Diderot did not oppose the Catholic Church of France but rather they opposed the power it possessed over its citizen’s religious needs. The Enlightenment was an expedition to encourage reason and to not discourage one’s belief in religion.

The Philosphes

The official religion of France was Catholicism and there was not room for any other religion within the defined walls of this country. Protestants and Jewish minorities were denied full ci...

... middle of paper ...

..., Wendy. The Independent Institute, "The Orgin of Religious Tolerance: Voltaire." Last modified January 08, 2008. Accessed February 22, 2014. http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=2095.

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Baron de Montesquieu, Charles-Louis de Secondat ." Last modified 2010. Accessed March 22, 2014. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/montesquieu/

Standofrd Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Jean Jacques Rousseau." Last modified 2010. Accessed March 8, 2014. http://plato.stanford.edu/index.html.

Steinfels, Peter S. "Exploring Religion, Shaped by the Enlightenment." New York Times, , sec. Beliefs, October 10, 2008. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/11/us/11beliefs.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 (accessed February 22, 2014).

The European Graduate School, "Voltaire: Biography." Accessed March 8, 2014. http://www.egs.edu/library/voltaire/biography/.

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