Age of Faith and the Age of
Reason
Puritans and the Founding
Fathers
Believers become Thinkers
Power Vocab
Age of Faith:
Age of Reason:
colonialism
faith
predestination
free will
reason
parallel structure
bias
credibility
What’s around you?
Age of Faith
 Otherworldliness
 Devoted to preparing
for a world to come
Age of Reason
 Worldliness
 Devoted to this world
and its pursuits rather
than to religion or
spiritual affairs
Who is in charge?
Age of Faith
 Divine, God-centered
world
 God, the Devil, angels,
and demons regularly
affect events on earth.
Age of Reason
 Man-centered world.
 God is hands off. He
started the world then let
it go.
Deism and the Clockmaker God
 Most founding fathers
ascribed to a belief in
Deism. They believed
in God but not his
divine intervention on
earth. Human beings
and their reason were
entirely in control of
their fates.
Where is the guidance?
Age of Faith
 Live, breathe, sleep
the Holy Bible.
Age of Reason
 Reason it out!
 What do you think?
Who’s running the universe?
Age of Faith
 Providence is in
CHARGE!
Age of Reason
 Universe = machine
set in motion.
 Universe runs on its
own accord
What to think about God?
Age of Faith
 I love him, but oh do I
fear him!
 Cause for everything
Age of Reason
 Remote/impersonal
intelligence
 “First Cause”
 Started machine
(universe) then left it to
operate with math and
physical law of nature.
What about His “son”?
Age of Faith
 Son of God
Age of Reason
 Son of man
How is this different?
Enough about God, what is a
human?
 Man = Spiritual being
in the flesh
 Man: At birth is a blank
slate void of ideas and
principles
What’s my destiny?
Age of Faith
 Few “elect” chosen for
salvation
 Predestination
Age of Reason
 Pursuit of happiness.
 Free will
How to spend your time:
Age of Faith




Read the Bible!
Work!
Go to Church!
Repeat!
Age of Reason
 Proper study of man is
man.
 Look around you!
 Think about it!
 Reason it out!
 Fix it!
Government
Age of Faith
 Aristocracy:
government by the
best individuals or by a
small privileged class
(Webster dictionary)
Age of Reason
 Leadership by those
who are naturally the
best, regardless of
class.
Why is everyone so evil?
Age of Faith
 Original sin: Eve taking
fruit from the forbidden
tree
Age of Reason
 Civilization's evils
explained by unsound
social environment