To answer the first question, I truthfully believe that both sides of this argument would have plenty of evidence to soundly back up their claims. On one hand, the longstanding beliefs of the church were being challenged more and more, so it should be easy to understand why the religious establishment would be shaking in their proverbial boots. On the other hand, it could be argued that the church should have been (or should be) more accepting of new revelations and scientific facts rather than viewing those new ideas and discoveries as threats. For the sake of choosing a side, however, I will cast my lot with the church on this issue and argue that their feelings of being under attack were indeed justified.
Like it or not, religion in general
…show more content…
He was really going for the jugular when he proposed and pushed his idea that, although God did exist in some form or another, he had little or nothing to do with the world other than having created it. Essentially, Voltaire believed that God spun the universe into existence and then took a giant step back to watch it unfold without ever offering any sort of assistance or interference. To take his claims a step further – and to add insult to injury – Voltaire also didn’t accept Jesus as the essential religious figure that the church had made him out to be. For him, Jesus was nothing more than a “good fellow.” As I said, unlike the claims and ideas of Pierre Bayle, what Voltaire was suggesting was a slap in the face of the religious establishment, because he was challenging some of the very core beliefs of the church. To call this an attack on the religious establishment is to say the very …show more content…
As we have read in past weeks, the church didn’t like the idea of Galileo and other astronomers endorsing the idea of a heliocentric universe, because this went against the belief that God placed the earth at the center of everything. Even when scientific knowledge progressed through legitimate, fact-based evidence, the church was often more inclined to disregard those findings in favor of what they were used to. When something brought their beliefs into question, it would have almost been something of a knee-jerk reaction to assume that the church was being attacked. In a way, it’s as if the mindset of the church could have been summed up with the old adage, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” In the minds of many of the religious leaders and other adherents, their beliefs had been working for generation after generation, so changing things now would have seemed ludicrous at best. Why make changes if it’s worked so
The world, through different means, will always try to degrade people’s existence, but it’s up to us to rise up and act. For Nietzsche, Beauvoir and Voltaire, people should act and take the responsibilities. According to Nietzsche, people give meaning to their life by growing spontaneously, seeking out to say ‘yes’ to life to saturate it with happiness and passion. For Beauvoir, people, especially women, give their life meaning by not condemning to immanence, instead affirming their independence and transcending themselves to justify their existence. As per Voltaire, excessive optimism fades one’s sense of responsibility, taking away his or her freedom to take productive action. For Voltaire, optimism is good only when it compels people to take action, and bad when it forces people into believing that failure is inevitable.
The Bible was one of the most important pieces of text during Galileo’s lifetime. If you went against what the Bible stated then you were considered to be a heretic. The Bible indicated that the earth was in the center of the universe and the sun and the other planets revolve around it. a theory known as the geocentric model. Many scientists argued against this theory by stating that actually the sun was in the center of the universe and the earth and the other planets revolved around the sun, this theory was known as the heliocentric model. Nicolas Copernicus was one of the first out of many scientists who publically shared this theory. Later Giordano Bruno also supported this theory and because of this the Church ordered him to be burned
Voltaire used these rather repulsive acts to show the hypocrisy found in many church affiliated men of his time. One minute the minister was talking to the townspeople about charity and brotherly love, while the next minute he rudely dismissed a man in need of that very Christian ideal. While I don’t completely agree with Voltaire that the religious men of that time were so blatantly hypocritical, I do feel that they were a bit confused.... ... middle of paper ... ...
A great philosopher Liebnitz once said that this is the best possible of all worlds. Voltaire disagrees. In Voltaire's Candide, the impartial narrator travels to distant lands and experiences a range of extremes. After having spent a great deal of time away from his homeland, and having seen more than most people see in a lifetime, the narrator is forced to conclude that this may not be the best possible world because of the reality of evil. Voltaire relates this point very effectively through his mastery of language and the choices he makes, both gramatically and content-related.
...cided to condemn Galileo’s work. While it does not discredit God’s power or the Bible, the overall tone of the scientist’s letter is quite sarcastic towards the clergy. While defending his first argument, Galileo appears to undermine the intellectual capabilities of his opponents. He implies that those who interpret the Holy Writ word for word belong to the “common people” whom he describes as “rude and unlearned”, and that other “wise expositors” should be the ones who search for the true meaning of the Bible. Galileo makes a similar implication while presenting his second argument, when he writes that the purpose of the Holy Scriptures is “infinitely beyond the comprehension of the common people”. The Catholic Church likely viewed these claims as an attempt to weaken its authority, which would explain why Galileo’s discoveries were condemned for nearly 300 years.
“Ecrasons l’infame,” which is interpreted, “We must crush the vile thing.” This is the expression Voltaire used to articulate his feelings for organized religion. With many natural theists soon to follow his path, Voltaire expressed his hatred for cultural religions, opting for a universal God of nature. Given a few more centuries, Darwin would have given Voltaire the scientific theory to support his desire for atheism. But alas, with no other theory in place, intelligent individuals of 18th century France were forced to use creationism to explain the world in its beauty and organization. This, as previously stated, was not a problem for Voltaire. His issue was the moral implications that separated religious groups, often to the point of war with one another. Religious intolerance was a subject he dealt with in many of his works, especially Candide. The religious characters in this work were mostly negative with the exception of Brethren predecessor, the Anabaptist, and the old woman. His opinion of various religions was also established in Candide, although it was simply a vague one, clumping all organized religions into an “evil superstitions” category. The conclusion of this work also gave us insight on Voltaire’s view of religion as either positive or detrimental to society and the individual.
Voltaire's Candide seems to display a world of horror, one filled with floggings, rapes, robberies, unjust executions, disease, natural disasters, betrayals and cannibalism. Pangloss, the philosopher, has a constant optimistic view throughout the entire novel even despite all of the cruelty in the world. While looking back on the book I couldn't think of many characters that displayed admirable qualities. Even though Pangloss stuck to his views that everything is for the best in this best of all possible worlds, which is admirable, he is stupid and naive to still believe this after everything he and his family goes through. It was quite hard for me to find admirable characters within Voltaire's Candide, all of the characters seemed to do harm to one another in some way. Although as soon as James or Jacques, the Anabaptist, is introduced to us he seems different then any other character so far.
The Scientific Revolution, during the 16th and 18th centuries, was a time of conflict. It was not a hand-to-hand martial conflict. It was a conflict of advancement, similar to the Cold War between the United States and the former Soviet Union. However, it was between the thinkers of the Scientific Revolution, such as Nicolaus Copernicus and Galileo Galilei, and the Roman Catholic Church. At the time, the Catholic Church was the most powerful religious body in Europe. It controlled everything from education to faith to finances. Thinkers like Galileo took the risk and went against the church. This is shown through the documents below. Those documents tell the story of Galileo and how he was forced to revoke his support of heliocentrism by the church. The documents below also show the struggle between faith and reason that existed during this era of advancement by hindering the flourishment of the sciences by stating that it did not agree with the Bible and naming these early scientists as heretics.
To speak out against the Church in this time was strictly taboo. If one spoke against the Church, it was considered heresy, which is exactly what happened to Galileo. Galileo invented the telescope and began studying the heavens above and noticed changes within the stars and planets. He observed that the "stars" that surrounded Jupiter moved. He came to the conclusion through rational thinking that Copernicus' heliocentric theory was correct.
...oking at the society today, one can tell that people go to the church for prayers and they still have the same loyalty to the Church that Copernicus once had. The only thing changed is that the Church does not have control to put someone into prison or even sentence to death just because someone disagrees with the Church. Today we have the Freedom of Speech, Assembly, Petition, Press and Freedom of Religion. As Copernicus once quoted “So far as hypotheses are concerned, let no one expect anything certain from astronomy….” Scientists still wonder about questions such as are there more stars or planets in the universe? Is there life other then on Earth and much more? Simply because there are no boundaries to knowledge because when one still looks at the galaxies the mystery that God had created is still there because no one knows better then the one who created it.
Overall Voltaire is successful in promoting his ideas and beliefs. It is clear he wants to see a drastic change in religion, politics and morals in the pre-modern period. Throughout his novel Candide he is able to criticise society with a light hearted mockery but also with a seriousness using extreme examples to address his points and concerns. It is arguable that his ambitions were far too high at a time of hope and debate in the 18th century.
The conflict between religion and science was one of the major issues of the enlightenment. New theories were being developed (like Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation) which went against the teachings of the c...
... to make you commit injustices.” Voltaire studied natural sciences and reason because he was against supestition. Although he advocated religious tolerance, he believed that any one church should not have absolute power. By the time he was executed, he had already brought about the end of the power and right of the church to torture France. People in France still are not as faithful to the Catholic Church as they had been before Voltaire had introduced them to the idea of “reasoning”.
...wever, in the best interest of advancing education and an enlightened society, science must be pursued outside of the realm of faith and religion. There are obvious faith-based and untestable aspects of religion, but to interfere and cross over into everyday affairs of knowledge should not occur in the informational age. This overbearing aspect of the Church’s influence was put in check with the scientific era, and the Scientific Revolution in a sense established the facet of logic in society, which allows us to not only live more efficiently, but intelligently as well. It should not take away from the faith aspect of religion, but serve to enhance it.
The Catholic church was losing ground physically and in the hearts of the people. While there were still a great many who remained loyal to Catholicism, there were still people like Calvin, King Henry VIII and Luther who felt the need to call the Catholics out on the problems within their faith, and how it was affecting everyone else.