The Enlightenment opened the doors to a revolutionary way religion had played a role in the colonist’s life. These movements focused around the basic ideology that all men are equal. The idea that their personal beliefs and opinions should be tolerated and they should not be persecuted for being of different religions. This ideology paved the way for more diverse communities, increased tolerance, and lessened religions chokehold on political involvement in colonies.
In John Lockes “The Reasonableness of Christianity” he mentions that religion is trying to pave a way to which people are equals. John Locke states “This makes it more than a name; a substantial good, worth all our aims and endeavours; and thus the gospel of Jesus Christ has delivered it to us.” John Locke was a marvelous Enlightenment thinker; his statement is saying that the scriptures in the Bible are more than just something people of one religion should live by, it is a universal code that is meant to be followed, and if followed, will pave a way for peace, happiness, and equality. The Great Awakening followed these ideals and people became more tolerant, courteous, and less judgmental to those who were different, we see this happen when towns who were just Puritan accept people who are Christian. We see similar views in Jonathan Edwards who was a revivalist preacher during The Great Awakening. Edwards states “God hath given us the Bible, which is a book of instructions. But this book can be of no manner of profit to us, any otherwise than as it conveys some knowledge to the mind” This ties in with Lockes ideas of the Bible being instructions, rather than a religious text meant for a certain group of people, rather than universal rules to be followed by everyone. Montesquieu’s views were eerily similar to those of John Lockes. In “Spirit of the Laws” Montesquieu says “When the common people adopt good maxims, they adhere to them more steadily than those whom we call gentlemen. It is very rarely that corruption commences with the former: nay, they frequently derive from their imperfect light a stronger attachment to the established laws and customs.” Montesquieu is stating here that when people adopt good beliefs, they tend to follow them more easily than those with none. This is coming from Montesquieu’s personal belief that being tolerant, peaceful, …show more content…
Another one of these ideals is the ideal of a republic. This is seen in a letter wrote by John Adams to Mercy Warren. Adams states “Public Virtue cannot exist in a Nation without private, and public Virtue is the only Foundation of Republics. There must be a positive Passion for the public good, the public Interest, Honor, Power and Glory” Here, we see a man from the Great Awakening stressing the importance of the republic and the good ideals that all must contain. The strong sense for a republic form of government came from John Locke who had a work called the “Two Treatises of Government” which was published anonymously due to the controversial views Locke had about the monarchy. Locke had stated that no man should have as much power over people as the monarchy. In the Great Awakening we see that republics are now forming because of Lockes “Two Treatises of Government” and we see the colonist’s rebel against the churches power in
In John Lockes “The Reasonableness of Christianity” he mentions that religion is trying to pave a way to which people are equals. John Locke states “This makes it more than a name; a substantial good, worth all our aims and endeavours; and thus the gospel of Jesus Christ has delivered it to us.” John Locke was a marvelous Enlightenment thinker; his statement is saying that the scriptures in the Bible are more than just something people of one religion should live by, it is a universal code that is meant to be followed, and if followed, will pave a way for peace, happiness, and equality. The Great Awakening followed these ideals and people became more tolerant, courteous, and less judgmental to those who were different, we see this happen when towns who were just Puritan accept people who are Christian. We see similar views in Jonathan Edwards who was a revivalist preacher during The Great Awakening. Edwards states “God hath given us the Bible, which is a book of instructions. But this book can be of no manner of profit to us, any otherwise than as it conveys some knowledge to the mind” This ties in with Lockes ideas of the Bible being instructions, rather than a religious text meant for a certain group of people, rather than universal rules to be followed by everyone. Montesquieu’s views were eerily similar to those of John Lockes. In “Spirit of the Laws” Montesquieu says “When the common people adopt good maxims, they adhere to them more steadily than those whom we call gentlemen. It is very rarely that corruption commences with the former: nay, they frequently derive from their imperfect light a stronger attachment to the established laws and customs.” Montesquieu is stating here that when people adopt good beliefs, they tend to follow them more easily than those with none. This is coming from Montesquieu’s personal belief that being tolerant, peaceful, …show more content…
Another one of these ideals is the ideal of a republic. This is seen in a letter wrote by John Adams to Mercy Warren. Adams states “Public Virtue cannot exist in a Nation without private, and public Virtue is the only Foundation of Republics. There must be a positive Passion for the public good, the public Interest, Honor, Power and Glory” Here, we see a man from the Great Awakening stressing the importance of the republic and the good ideals that all must contain. The strong sense for a republic form of government came from John Locke who had a work called the “Two Treatises of Government” which was published anonymously due to the controversial views Locke had about the monarchy. Locke had stated that no man should have as much power over people as the monarchy. In the Great Awakening we see that republics are now forming because of Lockes “Two Treatises of Government” and we see the colonist’s rebel against the churches power in