Overview

This work shows that the collapse of the post-reformation confessional state was more the result of religious dissent from within, much of it orthodox, than attacks of an anti-religious Enlightenment. In sharp contrast to the Reformation-era religious conflicts which tended to pit Protestant and Catholic confessions and states against each other, the 18th century religious conflicts described in this work took place within the various confessional establishments and states that founded and maintained them, such as Russian Orthodoxy in the East and the Anglican Establishment in England and Ireland. In the course of its analysis, this work destroys the notion of any kind of privileged relationship between """"religion"""" and political or social """"reaction"""". This work reveals the religious roots of modern ideas of individual rights and limitations on government, as well as the imperative of political order and the need for social hierarchy.

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9780268040512

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Reviews

In a lengthy introduction and seven essays this scholarly work asserts the seminal influence of religion on the Enlightenment in eighteenth-century Europe. The editors . . . have produced a remarkably coherent collection that should interest serious students of the Enlightenment. . . . It is a carefully crafted book and will reward thoughtful reading. --History: Reviews of New Books

In a lengthy introduction and seven essays this scholarly work asserts the seminal influence of religion on the Enlightenment in eighteenth-century Europe. The editors . . . have produced a remarkably coherent collection that should interest serious students of the Enlightenment. . . . It is a carefully crafted book and will reward thoughtful reading. -- History: Reviews of New Books

Author Information

James E. Bradley is Geoffrey W. Bromiley Professor of Church History at Fuller Theological Seminary. Dale K. Van Kley is professor of early modern European history at Ohio State University.

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