Comprehensive Study Notes: From Reformation Roots to Modern Critiques

Reformation & Early English Bible Translation

• John Foxe (1516–1587)

  • English church historian; lectured at Oxford.

  • Context: Protestant Reformation, persecution accounts in “Acts and Monuments.”

  • “Acts and Monuments”: Often called “Foxe’s Book of Martyrs,” this multi-volume work documented the suffering and deaths of Protestant martyrs, particularly under Mary I. Its extensive detail and graphic depictions aimed to solidify Protestant identity, justify the English Reformation, and cast the Roman Catholic Church as a persecuting, anti-Christian authority. Foxe's work presents human nature as capable of immense faith and sacrifice, but also profound cruelty and corruption when aligned with oppressive power structures.

• William Tyndale (c. 1494–1536)

  • Sought to make the Scriptures “clearly desirable” and accessible in common English.

  • Produced new English translations despite being outlawed by Crown & Church.

  • Faced rejection and persecution; ultimately executed for heresy.

• Key Themes

  • Democratization of Scripture → rise of literacy & individual interpretation.

  • Resistance from ecclesiastical / political authorities parallels later critiques of authority across the course.

Enlightenment: Reason, Skepticism, Language

• Universal claims of the Enlightenment

  • Confidence that reason can liberate humanity from superstition.

  • Assumption of an objective truth accessible through logic & science.

• Counter-currents

  • Skepticism about whether human reason alone can explain the world.

  • Early hint of linguistic turn: the “role of language in shaping reality” → reality as a social construct.

• Science as new authority

  • Empirical method gains power; later challenged by Romanticism & post-modern deconstruction.

Romanticism: Imagination, Individualism, Nature

• Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797–1851)

  • Lost her mother in childbirth; wrote Frankenstein ⇒ explores unchecked ambition & “playing God.”

  • Frankenstein presents a complex view of human nature, suggesting that unchecked scientific ambition and the abandonment of responsibility can lead to monstrous outcomes. It implies that humanity, when driven solely by intellect or desire for creation without empathy, can become destructive and isolated, highlighting the inherent flaws and moral dangers of unbridled progress.

• Key Romantic Traits

  • Celebration of emotion, imagination, subjective truth.

  • Idealization of the “beauty of the naïve” & the natural world.

  • Rejection of mechanistic Enlightenment rationalism.

• Jean-Jacques Rousseau

  • Claimed humans are inherently good; society corrupts.

  • Emphasized the self-moved individual → influential on American Transcendentalists.

19th-Century British Novel: Pride and Prejudice

• Mr Collins

  • Obsequious clergyman; heir to Mr Bennet’s estate via entail.

• Mr Wickham

  • Militia officer; manipulative liar, gambler, womanizer; elopes with Lydia.

• Themes

  • Social class, inheritance laws, marriage as economic security.

  • Contrast between authentic virtue (Darcy, Elizabeth) and performative morality (Collins, Wickham).

American Second Great Awakening: Charles Finney

• Conversion Theology

  • Salvation = giving conscious consent to turn from sin & accept Jesus.

  • Rejected traditional confession & Calvinist predestination.

• Legacy

  • Promoted revivalist methods; shaped modern evangelicalism.

American Realism & Childhood: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

• Tom v. the “new boy” → playground dominance ritual.

• Aunt Polly

  • Kind yet stern guardian; Tom converts chore (painting fence) into “fun” by manipulating peers.

• Moral

  • Insight into persuasion, value manipulation, and the ingenuity of youth.

  • For a Christian, reading Tom Sawyer can be challenging due to Tom's frequent deception, manipulation, and self-serving actions. While highlighting childlike ingenuity, his methods often disregard honesty and the well-being of others, prompting reflection on moral integrity versus pragmatic success.

Transcendentalism & Civil War Context

• Core Belief: Individual intuition > institutional authority; nature as pathway to truth.

• Civil War

  • Tested ideals of freedom; brought slavery to forefront, exposing contradictions in American self-image.

Modernity: Progress, Technology, Rights

• Faith in progress (science, tech) and individual rights (speech, conscience).

• Rising critiques: de-centering of grand narratives; assaults on traditional anchors (religion, monarchy).

George Orwell: Animal Farm

• Revolution against Mr Jones → new tyranny under Napoleon.

• Techniques of control

  • Re-definition of terms (“All animals are equal…”) and fear-mongering.

  • Demonstrates corruption of power; betrayal of founding ideals.

  • Animal Farm presents human nature (as allegorized by the animals) as inherently susceptible to corruption, greed, and the lust for power. The ideal of a liberated society (“salvation” from oppression) quickly devolves into a new form of totalitarianism, suggesting that flaws in human nature, rather than external systems alone, lead to oppression and the repeated cycle of tyranny. Language is systematically used to manipulate, with slogans and rewritten commandments (e.g., “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others”) serving as tools to control perception, rewrite history, and justify the ruling pigs’ domination and exploitation.

Ernest Hemingway: The Old Man and the Sea

• Santiago

  • Makes pact with God (“say prayers”) before battling marlin.

  • Endurance & dignity amid inevitable loss; martyr-like suffering.

Arthur Miller: Death of a Salesman

• Willy Loman

  • Aging salesman; conflict with sons, failure to achieve American Dream.

• Thematic Focus

  • Identity, self-worth, and the crushing weight of consumerist success metrics.

20th-Century Philosophy & Critical Theory

• Michel Foucault (implied)

  • Critique centers on difference & power structures; knowledge = instrument of control.

• Deconstruction

  • Questions fixed meaning; texts contain internal contradictions that unravel claimed certainties.

• Language as power echoes earlier discussion of social construction.

  • As seen in Animal Farm and the analysis of linguistic turn, language is a primary tool for manipulation, shaping reality, controlling narratives, and exerting power by defining what is true or false, acceptable or unthinkable.

Christian Orthodoxy vs. Modern Liberal Theology: J. Gresham Machen

• Argument: Moral & doctrinal truths are non-negotiable; Christianity incompatible with mere ethical sentimentalism.

• Defender of historic creeds against rising liberal Protestantism (Presbyterian, Baptist, Methodist debates).

• Teaching on Doctrine: Christian Orthodoxy insists on the immutability and foundational importance of inherited doctrines and creeds, viewing them as essential truths of the faith. Modern Liberal Theology, in contrast, often sees doctrine as evolving or less central than moral action or personal experience, sometimes reinterpreting or downplaying supernatural elements to align with modern thought.

Miscellaneous Historical References

• Lee–Pickett (Gettysburg)

  • Confederate charge; heavy losses; Gen. Lee blamed himself.

• Media Saturation (“50 media”?)

  • Suggestion that modern life shaped by mass communication flows.

Integrative Themes

• Ongoing tension between:

  • Authority vs. Individual Freedom (Church → State → Language → Economics).

  • Objective Truth vs. Subjective Experience (Enlightenment vs. Romanticism vs. Post-modernism).

  • Moral Responsibility vs. Personal Desire (Finney’s consent, Tom’s manipulation, Wickham’s libertinism, Napoleon’s authoritarianism, Willy’s materialism).

  • Role of Language

  • From Tyndale’s translation revolution to Orwell’s propaganda & post-structural theory, words continually construct and contest reality.

  • Art as Expression of Worldview

  • Literary works, like Frankenstein, Animal Farm, Death of a Salesman, and The Old Man and the Sea, serve as profound vehicles for exploring and challenging prevailing worldviews, human nature, and societal structures. They often critique existing norms, offer alternative perspectives, or expose the consequences of certain philosophical or ideological stances.

Numerical & Chronological Anchors

• John Foxe: 1516 ext{–}1587

• William Tyndale martyred 1536.

• Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein: 1818 publication (context: 1816 “year without a summer”).

• American Civil War: 1861 ext{–}1865; Pickett’s Charge 1863.

• Animal Farm: published 1945; The Old Man and the Sea: 1952; Death of a Salesman: debuted 1949.