Thesis Statement >>
Abandonment, complete and absolute to Divine Providence. It is a trusting, childlike, peaceful abandonment to the guidance of grace, and of the Holy Spirit; and unquestioning and undoubting submission to the holy will of God in all things that may befall us, be they due to the action of men, or to the direct permission of God.[1]
- Historical Context (Caussade Written mid 1700’s)
Reformation 1517, Council of Trent 1545, Golden Age founding of Jesuits one of the fruits, religious wars. By the mid 1600’s an uneasy truce between the warring factions of religious territories.
This sad situation of warring Christians gave rise to desire to find a reasonable religion and the birth of revolutions & modernism. Those who were of this age called it, The Age of Enlightenment. Louis XV (Beloved) King of France (1715-1774), his father Louis IV Sun King (1638-1715). The educated read Rene Descartes Meditations Metaphysics (1641), Thomas Hobbes (Leviathan (1651), and Isaac Newton Principia Mathematica (1687) among others. See prior episodes on modern philosophy.
Saints of the early 1700’s St. Louis de Montfort (1673-1716) and St. Alphonsus de Liguori (1696-1787) Doctor of the Church
The life of Western civilization changed because of the emergence of modern science, of a new approach to philosophy based solely on reason and of the rearrangement of the whole political system in most of Europe that eventually affected much of the world. The foundation of Western society was shaken to its base.[2]
Newton pioneered physics and Robert Boyle chemistry. These sciences not only revolutionized the physical understanding of the universe but gave birth to the application of science to practical problems- technology. … Progress based in science and technology became a major goal.
…
Frenchman Rene Descartes (1596-1650) taught that every concept should be questioned or doubted until reason could prove its validity. The emphasis of human reason is called rationalism. One aspect of these emerging philosophies was the rejection of Christianity and those who were Christians were unenlightened.
Thus, the Christian religion was relegated to the private sphere of one’s personal life and it was excluded from public discourse.[3]
Pocket history, Steve Weidenkopf
Warren Carrol zoom in on time period
Scientism interesting parallels, intellectual errors inflect populace at large
Shift in government from monarchy to democratic reality
Deference to scientific community, rapid progress to know things
In a similar situation, radical moment of radical democracy devastating to human person along with cult of sciences
Many feel unsettled in the soul
[1] Strickland 9
[2] Alan Schreck the Compact History of the Catholic Church, revised edition (Servant Books: Cincinnati, OH 2009) 89
[3] Schreck 90-91