Gerald R. Cragg

THE CHURCH AND THE
AGE OF REASON 1648-1789

This span in the history of the Christian Church stretches from the age of religious
and civil strife which existed before the middle of the seventeenth century to the age of industrialism and republicanism which followed the French Revolution and the beginning of the Napoleonic wars.

The Church in general, reacting strongly against the turbulences of the Civil War
and the Thirty Years War, placed a premium on order, moderation, and stability.

Movements suspected of enthusiasm, such as Puritanism, Quietism, and Jansenism, fell into disrepute, and the authority exercised by the state in religious affairs became more pronounced.

It was an age dominated by Reason, which, until it
provoked a reaction in such movements as Pietism and Evangelicism, posed a
formidable challenge to Christianity.

In art and architecture, Baroque gave way to Rococo and then to neo-classicism
while church music was enriched by men like Vivaldi, Bach, and Handel.… (más)