Relevance: sociology: Paper I & II
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 emphasised on classics as contributing to thought and learning.
Renaissance was a time when people became curious about the world they lived 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 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
As vile mentioned earlier, the medieval European society was characterised 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 out the nature of the world. The rational and systematic, empirical knowledge questioned the supernatural conceptions of the worId 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 heavily bodies moved around Secularism and Secularisation 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 Galilei, Johannes Kepler, and subsequently Issacs 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 thy divine interpretation of the universe.
Expansion of Trade and Commerce
The 15th century AD also signalled 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. European 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, shipowners, became an influential and politically powerful group. Besides these radical changes which were taking place, there emerged a break in thought and ecclesiastical organisation, 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. Marti 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 seize of 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 organisation of the Church and, thus began the trend of secularisation. The Protestant conception of the divine made God personal. God thus receded to the personal realm. Worldly personal activity was encouraged as a sign of faith in God. (See unit 10, Religion
and Economic Order, for a discussion on this).
As we already mentioned, there was a complex web of factors which contributed to the emergence of secularisation process. In our above discussion, we have given a few trends or happenings in a context in which secularisation occurred. Now that we have discovered the history behind the concept and phenomenon of secularisation, let us see what it means in the contemporary world.
SECULARISATION IN CONTEMPORARY WORLD
It is true that religion has ceased to have a kind of hold that it had in the medieval society. We no longer define our world in mystical religious terms. It seems that religious institutions ceased to be central in society. But this secularisation has not occurred uniformly all over the world. We must remember that the events we described and discussed are specific to Europe and those changes had some effect on other countries. At the same time this process of secularisation does preclude the endurance of certain religiosity and emergence of new expressions of religion.
The patterns of religiosity vary, and despite indicators of secularisation, spiritual survivals and new religious initiatives do occur. Numerous new religious movements have emerged in recent decades and these may seem to be even responses to general secularisation: since they provide meaning, purpose, association, and support for a particular section of the people. Secularisation, as we said, is conspicuously a long-term historical occurrence in Western society.
Other religious systems did organise and systematise mystical and pagan beliefs, but they did so in different ways. Hinduism and Buddhism unlike Christianity, according to Bryan Wilson have tolerated more primitive supernaturalism than eradicating them. Besides, the long-term historical process of secularisation and the extension rational-principles to all areas of social life were less intense in non-Western countries like in Asia or the Middle East. Industrialisation and technological application to some extent rationalises and routinises framework of social life. Yet, so many religious and magical practices persist alongside, leading to paradox of magical practice alongside sophisticated industrial techniques. The course of industrialisation has followed different paths and occurs in different from that a one which is available in the West.