Chapter 7: Cultural Transformations: Religion and Science 1450-1750

What were the long-term and short-term causes of the Protestant Reformation?

In the short term it caused a reevaluation of people's beliefs and values along with a common lost of trust of the Holy Roman Empire

What might be the causes for the appeal of Martin Luther's ideas among many Europeans?

He actually followed the Bible trying to actually interpret instead of following the hierarchy of the pope and the Roman Catholic Church

In what ways did the Protestant Reformation transform European society, culture, and politics?

In society people began to lean more towards science, culturally people realized that they did not need go to church to get to experience the effects of go's, and politically the pope lost a lot of their influence and power.

What were the causes of the Protestant Reformation within Christianity?

Martin Luthers anxiousness about his relationship with God through the Roman Catholic Church which caused him the write the 95 Theses

How might Luther's understanding of salvation have challenged the Catholic Church of the sixteenth century?

It challenged the idea of having a pope to run the church and brought more importance on faith alone instead of going to church which opposed the Roman Catholic Church

What were the political and social factors that divided Europe for centuries?

The divide of the Catholic Church and the Protestant Church

What impact did the spread of Protestantism have on European state building?

The rise of Protestantism brought another set of religious divisions, both within states, to the world of Christendom, which was already sharply divided between the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church.

What was the impact of the printing press on the spread of Protestantism and the divisions within it?

With an increase in literacy, the more opportunities to own personal religious texts and growth of individual reading, the printing press ultimately undermined the Catholic Church and disrupted the European religious culture by spreading religious knowledge and shifting the power to the people.

What motivated European political and economic expansion in the late fifteenth century?

The spread of Christianity and spices

What areas of the world had not converted to Christianity by 1700. Why would these areas not have adopted Christianity?

The Middle East, part of the Americas, large parts of Africa, Australia/Oceania, and large parts of Southern Asia. These areas might not have fully adopted Christianity yet due to other religions already being in present in the areas and Christian missionaries having not yet fully reached those places.

How did European imperial expansion help spread Christianity?

Christianity motivated European imperial expansion and also benefited from it and missionaries, mostly Catholic, actively spread the Christian message beyond European communities in the Americas, Africa, and Asia.

Compare and contrast the spread of Christianity in the Americas to the spread of Christianity in Asia and Africa

Missionaries had larger success in Latin America and the Philippines while in Asia many people were already practicing religions and commonly rejected Christianity.

What was the effect of European Christianity on the Native American cultures of Latin America?

Disease, population collapse, loss of land to Europeans, forced labor, and resettlement created a setting that caused Christianity to be the religion that took hold in Spanish America.

What were methods of conversion to Christianity in Latin America?

War, baptisms, and inclusiveness of other religions to fit Christian ideals

What was the difference between European Christianity and Christianity in South America?

Christianity in South America commonly involved cultural syncretism, while in Europe it rarely did

Why were missionary efforts to spread Christianity less successful in China than in Latin America?

Missionary efforts in China were less successful because the missionaries offered little that the Chinese really needed, since traditional Chinese philosophies and religions provided for the spiritual needs of most Chinese. Moreover, Christianity required the converts to abandon much of traditional Chinese culture. While, Christianity had way more to offer to Latin Americans.

What were some of the scientific and religious contributions of Jesuit missionaries in China

Knowledge of science, technology, geography, and mapmaking.

Compare "blended" forms of Afro-Asian Christianity with those developed by native believers in Latin America

Latin American Christians commonly believed in spirts and deities while Afro-Asian Christians commonly believed in divination, dream interpretation, visions, and spirit possession.

What accounts for the continued spread of Islam in the early modern era and for the emergence of reform or renewal movements within the Islamic world?

Flexible and tolerant Sufi mystics frequently blended Islam with local spiritual practices. Traveling scholars offered useful series for courts. Merchants provided connection to a wider world of commerce. Many Muslims found Islamic cultural syncretism offensive which led to reform and renewal movements such as Wahhabism Islam.

How did Islam change as it spread?

As Islam spread syncretism of the religion with other cultures values became common. With cultural syncretism taking place many started movements of following Islam more authentically such as the belief in Wahhabi Islam.

What were the main elements of the Wahhabi movement within Islam?

Tobacco was forbidden, taxes not authorized by religious teaching were abolished, idols were eliminated, and books on logic were destroyed. Rights of women were also emphasized.

How did the spread of the Wahhabi movement influence the practice of Islam in Arabia?

From its base in central Arabia, the Wahhabi movement, represented a challenge to the Ottoman Empire, while it ideas subsequently spread widely within the Islamic World.

What kinds of cultural changes occurred in China and India during the early modern era?

In China the Qing and Ming dynasties Confucian were enriched by Buddhism and Daoism which led to Neo-Confucianism. Wang Yangmun argued that "intuitive moral knowledge exists within people" while the idea among the Chinese elite emerged called Kaozheng (research based on evidence). While in India, the leader Akbar formulated a state cult that combined elements of Hinduism, Isla, and Zoroastrianism. Sikhism emerged which blended Islam and Hinduism which believed "there is no Hindu; there is no Muslim; only God".

How did Neo-Confucianism differ from traditional Confucianism?

Neo-Confucianism incorporated Buddhist and daoist concepts about the meaning of life. Confucianism focused on ethics and proper behavior

What were the attempts to connect Hindu and Muslim beliefs in South Asia in the 1450's to 1750's?

Sikhism was created that connected Islam and Hindu concepts along with the Bakahati movement that came along that believe "there is no Muslim; There is no Hindu; only God"

How was the role of Guru Nanak similar to the role Martin Luther played in the reformation?

Both of them led the people around them to rethink their previous conceived notion of their religious beliefs with there beliges that were very different than the rest of their societies.

What caused the cultural changes that took place in India during the early modern period?

The spread of new religious beliefs such as Sikhism by people like Guru Nanak along with poets such as Miranai who influenced people to rethink there views of their religious beliefs.

What features of Sikhism created a distinct religious community?

Ignoring caste distinctions and untouchability and ended the seclusion of women, while proclaiming the "brotherhood of all mankind" as well as the essential equality of men and women.

In what ways did religious changes in Asia and the Middle East parallel those in Europe, and in what ways were they different?

In Europe there wasn't much cultural syncretism while in Asia and the Middle East it become very common. But, in both places people began to reevaluate their own preconceived notions of the world.

What were the causes, as well as the consequences, of the Scientific Revolution?

Causes: Renaissance encouraged curiosity, investigation, discovery, modern day knowledge. Caused people to question old beliefs. During the era of the Scientific Revolution, people began using experiments and mathematics to understand mysteries.

Effects: New discoveries were made, old beliefs began to be proven wrong.

What conflicts did the Scientific Revolution cause in Europe?

Science led to conflicts between scientists and the Roman Catholic Church along with the challenging of social hierarchies and political systems and played a role in the revolutionaries upheavals of the modern era.

Explain how the rise of universities contributed to the Scientific Revolution

Universities became "neutral zones of intellectual autonomy" in which scholars could pursue their studies in relative freedom of the dictates of state and church authorities where important discoveries and research could be made.

Why did the Scientific Revolution occur in Europe rather than in China or the Islamic world?

Europeans had access to autonomous universities. Between 1000 and 1500, Europeans gained access to Greek, Arab, and other texts that offered knowledge from outside cultures. After 1500, Europeans gained insight from various overseas adventures to the New World and the Indian Ocean basin.

Whats an example of the roles played by cities in world history?

the rise of universities in major European towns

What's an example of cross cultural interactions create change?

From knowledge of Arab research and texts Europeans were able to use to create a new explosion of knowledge

What did the scientific revolution mark a major turning point in?

Thw way Westerners saw the world around them

How was Kepler's idea that "the machine of the universe is not similar to a divine animated being but similar to a clock" different from the Catholic Church's understanding of the universe?

Kepler believed that the universes just followed a natural order while the Roman Catholic Church believed that a divine being was controlling the universe.

What was revolutionary about the Scientific Revolution?

The Scientific Revolution was revolutionary because laws formulated by Isaac Newton showed that the universe was not propelled by angels and spirits but functioned on its own according to timeless principles that could be described mathematically. A corollary of this view was the idea that knowledge of the universe could be obtained through human reason alone, without the aid of ancient authorities or divine revelation. Above all, it was revolutionary because it challenged educated people to question traditional views of the world and humankind's place in it.

What does the development of the telescope show about European cultural and economic development?

Most of the early scietnistist of the Scientific Revolution did not reject Christianity which influenced their research.

Compare the cooperation and conflict between science and religion in Christian Europe to the cooperation and conflict between science and religion in the Islamic world

In the mostly Islamic Middle East many religious people didn't have a very high understanding of science and would misinterpret scientific events based on their religion while in Europe there were massive conflicts over science and religion between scientists and the Roman Catholic Church.

How did Europe's new views of science in the Enlightenment era lead to new ideas about human government and new philosophies?

People believed that the long term effect of science could be "enlightenment". This led to many people believing in the power of knowledge to further societies which led to new ideas about human government and new philosophies.

In what ways did the Enlightenment challenge older patterns of European thinking?

The Enlightenment applied a new approach to the conduct of human affairs, one that was rooted in human reason. These ideas challenged the notion of royal privileges and claims to authority of government based on the "divine right of kings." Enlightenment also challenged established religion, accusing the Church of fostering superstition, ignorance, and corruption. It challenged older thinking patterns and promoted revolutions in America, France, Haiti, and Latin America.

What social class did Enlightenment thinkers belong to?

The enlightenment thinkers commonly belonged to upper class of Europe and many philosophers of the Enlightenment era would meet in groups at intellectual luminaries in literary gatherings in very fancy places.

How did the Enlightenment lead to new ideas about women's roles in Western society?

Many philosophers started discuss what women's roles were in society which led to more people thinking about their roles in society

What did the scientific revolution lead to?

The Enlightenment ("age of reason"), which led to major political and social reforms during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries

In what ways did European science affect major civilizations of Asia in the early modern era?

Asian civilizations were able to used to information from European science to advance their own societies in the early modern era

What effect did Dutch learning have on Japan?

The Japanese would translate European texts from the Dutch to use to make advances in their society. Eventually, a few hundred years later a European style of science would take place in its culture.

How did nineteenth-century developments in the sciences challenge Enlightenment ideas and principles?

Nineteenth-century intellectuals such as Darwin and Marx still believed in progress, but they emphasized conflict and struggle rather than reason and education as the motors of progress.