17th Century Religion

There is no doubt that religious beliefs have control over the way that people live their lives. In the early 17th century, even as philosophers and scientists were questioning the role of religion in everyday life, a Christian identity was so integral to existence that many men or peasants were simply known as Christians. During the time of the Enlightenment and Scientific Revolution, religion and many other dearly held beliefs were being examined and scrutinized more so than they ever had been before. The consequence of this intense examination is that religion would become more and more separate from certain areas of life, allowing more freedom in individual opinion and scientific thought. Some of the spheres where religion would become
The shift from Catholicism to Protestantism specifically welcomed in the idea of a vocation or calling in which you would work and use your time productively in order to glorify God. Working and doing well in your work became part of a new religious identity. R.H. Tawney stated that the view became, “It is the first duty of the Christian to know and believe in God; it is by faith that he will be saved. But faith is not a mere profession… The only genuine faith is the faith which produces works.” Working hard was now a statement of faith. A product of working hard could possibly be making a surplus of money. Making money in excess, which would have been frowned upon in the past could now also be a symbol of piety. These changes continued in Calvinism specifically, where individuals were now allowed to charge interest on loans – which was previously considered usury, and condemned by the Catholic Church. The practice of making money from loaning others money, key in encouraging economic growth and indicative of a changing economic and religious mindset, was encouraged by John Calvin. “…Commercial enterprise was no longer to be suspected as inherently evil, but was properly a field for fulfillment of one’s religious duty.” The authors Dillenberger and Welch expanded on Calvin specifically, as he was a Protestant leader that was particularly understanding and welcoming to some of the social changes that could provide economic benefit to his followers. The change on the rule of interest, and the implementation of new values reinforce this idea specifically. Calvin encouraged, “…industry, sobriety, and thrift as a means of glorifying God…” Economic individualism was now an established, and would flourish from this point