Verstraelen's Argumentative Analysis

Verstraelen makes the case for the secularization of Europe due to the secularism initiated during the 17th century scientific revolution that paved the way for the Enlightenment, which worshipped the concepts of reason and progress while unseating the reigning universal civilization model based on faith (pg. 100). This is key factual evidence to his thesis statement because the secularization and secularism of Europe holds important experiential information for the budding Southern Christianity that is beginning to experience the same cultural transition and, to the opinion of Jenkins, this is what lead to the decreased population thus Jenkins’ assumption for the future of Northern Christianity that culminated in Verstraelen’s opposing thesis.