Enlightenment or Age of Reason – Spinoza (1632–1677), Locke* (1632–1704), Newton* (1643–1727), Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) and Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), Thomas Paine (1737-1809) -rejected the idea of divine revelation, the miraculous birth, life and death, and, most important of all, the divinity and resurrection of Jesus. (*excluded)

The conversation begins with the enlightenment’s move away from the Christian/Calvin theory of the “total depravity of man.” When we talk of “founding principles,” this point is too often omitted. This is NO minor point, but gets to the foundation of things.

According to the philosophy behind the Declaration of Independence, is man’s final end his own happiness, or in glorifying the gods?

One tradition comes from Aristotle the other from Paul…

There were five men appointed to the task of constructing the Declaration. Three of these men were the most influential: Jefferson, Franklin, and Adams. The most accurate way to describe these men would be enlightenment thinkers. What does this mean? It means that they rejected the idea of the depravity of man, divine revelation, the miraculous birth life and death, and, most important of all, the resurrection of Jesus. These facts are often lost in the noise…

Filed under: Random Thoughts

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