RATIONALISM

Beliefs…Puritans and after…

◦ Puritans believed that their fate was predetermined, which means they felt no matter what they did, or how they acted, it was not going to change.

◦ People began to believe and wanted to believe their actions had an impact on their future.

Rationalism

Rationalists believe that there is a basic, logical, accurate way to arrive at a conclusion.

They deal with issues of truth and legitimacy.

The belief there is only one Truth in life.

All human beings are equal and can strive to be perfect.

Everyone can improve themselves.

They believe God is indeed powerful, but they do not believe He is ALL powerful.

They believe humans have control over their lives.

A person’s goal in life was to improve themselves and the world around them.

During this time..

The Rationalists are attempting to establish God’s existetnce based on rationality and reasoning instead of the Puritan beliefs.

Rather than saying, “He exists because people say so,” they wanted to offer actual proof.

Education is becoming more important and industry and architecture are booming.

Information was coming from establishments built for education and not just what was established/discussed in chuch.

Ideas were beginning to be credited with science instead of religion.

Rather than say the devil causes illness/death, Rationalists searched for more scientific answers.

Rationalism to Deism

◦Deism – Accepts the authority of human reason and rejects miracles, the trinity, and the authority of the Bible.

◦ People wanted science and religion to connect and coexist.

◦Deism and Puritanism have two different definitions of happiness.

Deism beliefs…

Accept the teachings of Christ but they don’t think he is Divine.

The birth of Christ was believed to be a miracle and since deists don’t believe in miracles, they did not believe he was divine. They do not believe he was the Son of God.

They believe that a personal relationship with God and religion is more important than attending services ritually.

Believed by a small number of highly educated & articulate individuals.

Benjamin Franklin

His parents were Puritans

He kept all of his Puritan Faith BUT he adopted Deist values.

He had a personal relationship with God.

He believed that life should be dedicated to the pursuit of happiness which is achieved by getting along with others.

Puritans believed that life should be based on the pursuit of getting into Heaven. This was their definition of happiness.

His thirteen virtues are based on Puritan teachings.