05 Jan Church Authority – Protestant

Week 4 discussion

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR DISCUSSIONS: Your contributions should be thoughtful and developed. Answer all parts of the question and use concepts from the course materials. Use a professional style of communication, with attention to grammar, spelling, and typos. Do not copy and paste information into discussions—write posts in your own words and cite all sources of information used. See the sample discussion post as a guideline.

Unless your instructor specifies otherwise, choose ONE of the following questions, and give a substantive response to at least two other students. A substantive response is not simply an agreement to your peer, but the response should add significance to the post and further the discussion.

To access the rubric for discussions, click on the discussion link for that week. The rubric is located towards the bottom of the discussion instructions.

Initial discussion posts are due by Thursday at 11:30PM ET and at least two responses to fellow classmates are expected by the end of the week on Sunday by 11:30PM ET.

The progress of logic and knowledge of the physical world during the Scientific Revolution was constantly at odds with the oppositional force of religion and mysticism. How were average Europeans, and the scientists themselves, affected by the dilemma created by these forces?

What were the conditions necessary to advance astronomical knowledge from Copernicus to Newton? How did they develop during the seventeenth century?

One of our themes this semester is that before several transformations, people looked to the past in order to make sense of their universe; people lived in a world with little change; people were not particularly optimistic. All of this changed, however, over the course of several centuries. In the readings so far this semester, where do you see people beginning to look to other sources than an authority from the past; beginning to experience and expect more and more change in their lives; and beginning to expect the future to be better than the present? This question will appear again in Week 8.

Drawing on the readings, describe a day in the life of one of the following 16th-19th century people. You may use your historical imagination to prepare your post, but make sure you use the readings to provide evidence for the details you include in your account. You may cite from credible outside sources in addition to the required readings.

Ruler

Church Authority – Protestant or Catholic – This can include a monk or nun, for anyone in the Church was seen as an authority by many in society.

Intellectual – Scientist, Philosopher, Scholar, Writer, Musician, etc.

Merchant

Peasant / Farmer (The transition occurs in this period for most.)